EPISODE 366-380
Vicki is sent to the year 1795 and just in time for Barnabas and Josette's upcoming wedding. Despite initial confusion, she is given a job as Sarah's governess. During her stay, she meets the members and friends of the Collins family, each and every one of whom resembles someone from Vicki's original timeline and she finds out at that point the family history is quite different from what she's known. Then, a witch named Angelique bent on stopping the marriage arrives in the Old House and she fires up the chain of events that'll mold the history as it's been told.
Let's meet our vast cast of new characters played by familiar faces~
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas is our old Barnabas but now still human and romantically waiting for his bride-to-be to arrive from Martinique. He's the first person Vicki runs into in this timeline. He's quite noble and gentle but an unexpected visitor from his past comes to bite his ass. He's quite like the Barnabas we knew actually, minus the fangs and the aggressiveness plus the sunshine on his skin. He thinks Vicki has some kind of 6th sense when she occasionally slips her knowledge of the future.
Barnabas is our old Barnabas but now still human and romantically waiting for his bride-to-be to arrive from Martinique. He's the first person Vicki runs into in this timeline. He's quite noble and gentle but an unexpected visitor from his past comes to bite his ass. He's quite like the Barnabas we knew actually, minus the fangs and the aggressiveness plus the sunshine on his skin. He thinks Vicki has some kind of 6th sense when she occasionally slips her knowledge of the future.Sarah Collins
Barnabas' dear sister Sarah is also still alive. She mistakes Vicki for her new governess that they've been expecting and her instant liking to Vicki actually plays a big role in her getting the job. We haven't seen much of her since then, I think we're gonna witness the whole dramatic sickness and death of hers. It also seems even as the living, she had a tendency to say "I must go now" and run off. Well, even death can't change some habits.
Barnabas' dear sister Sarah is also still alive. She mistakes Vicki for her new governess that they've been expecting and her instant liking to Vicki actually plays a big role in her getting the job. We haven't seen much of her since then, I think we're gonna witness the whole dramatic sickness and death of hers. It also seems even as the living, she had a tendency to say "I must go now" and run off. Well, even death can't change some habits.Naomi Collins
Barnabas and Sarah's mother, poor Naomi is expected to be everything a woman of the 18th century is expected to be: obedient and silent. She has a good caring nature, not unlike Liz of 1900's but she has almost no authority and everything she does is questioned and controlled by her husband Joshua. Honestly it's kind of hard to buy her as Barnabas' mother but it may as well be fitting since in those days it'd be common to have early marriages and pregnancies (trivia #101 Actress Joan Bennett is only 14 years older than actor Jonathan Frid). She may have minor psychic abilities for she has nightmares about Angelique's spells. She also seems to like a drink or two.
Joshua CollinsBarnabas and Sarah's mother, poor Naomi is expected to be everything a woman of the 18th century is expected to be: obedient and silent. She has a good caring nature, not unlike Liz of 1900's but she has almost no authority and everything she does is questioned and controlled by her husband Joshua. Honestly it's kind of hard to buy her as Barnabas' mother but it may as well be fitting since in those days it'd be common to have early marriages and pregnancies (trivia #101 Actress Joan Bennett is only 14 years older than actor Jonathan Frid). She may have minor psychic abilities for she has nightmares about Angelique's spells. She also seems to like a drink or two.
The father of Barnabas & Sarah and husband to Naomi, Joshua is a tough man who shows little compassion (if not none) to those around him. All he does is order around. He's also quite an opportunist as he plans his son's and brother's weddings according to the wealth of the brides' family. Everybody one way or another obeys him but Vicki. As she's from a century where women have started to liberate themselves from the patriarchy, she doesn't mind questioning Joshua's judgements to his irritation. Well, he's totally a Roger of that century, his power comes not from self but only from his title. Oh and he gets turned into a cat by Angelique. It's nothing personal really, she just needed a diversion to push her plans forward but personally a pig could have been more fitting.Abigail Collins
Spinster sister of Joshua. She's very superstitious who first thought Vicki is possessed by an evil force because of her "immodest" clothing (thank God it wasn't Carolyn that got sent to the past) and her mysterious appearance. If it weren't for the others, I bet she'd have set the girl on fire right there on the spot. She is kinda tough but as she's a woman she doesn't really have much say in the deals. She and Naomi have some strong sister-in-law strife and it's fun to watch. If only Mrs. Johnson could see this huge social class leap her look-a-like took.
Spinster sister of Joshua. She's very superstitious who first thought Vicki is possessed by an evil force because of her "immodest" clothing (thank God it wasn't Carolyn that got sent to the past) and her mysterious appearance. If it weren't for the others, I bet she'd have set the girl on fire right there on the spot. She is kinda tough but as she's a woman she doesn't really have much say in the deals. She and Naomi have some strong sister-in-law strife and it's fun to watch. If only Mrs. Johnson could see this huge social class leap her look-a-like took. Jeremiah Collins
Jeremiah; younger brother of Joshua and Abigail, whom we've known as Josette's husband and Barnabas' sworn enemy from the established history. It turns out he's Barnabas' uncle and had no connection with Josette until Angelique came along and cast a lovespell. Under the spell, the two secretly meet and kiss and can't pull themselves away even though they try. Also they both have the mark of the devil, a pitchfork, appearing/disappearing on their hands. His "resemblance" to Burke often surprises and saddens Vicki. He's also one of the few people who find Vicki's oddity interesting.
Jeremiah; younger brother of Joshua and Abigail, whom we've known as Josette's husband and Barnabas' sworn enemy from the established history. It turns out he's Barnabas' uncle and had no connection with Josette until Angelique came along and cast a lovespell. Under the spell, the two secretly meet and kiss and can't pull themselves away even though they try. Also they both have the mark of the devil, a pitchfork, appearing/disappearing on their hands. His "resemblance" to Burke often surprises and saddens Vicki. He's also one of the few people who find Vicki's oddity interesting.Millicent Collins
A distant cousin of the family, she is actually everything Carolyn would have been in this century. She's naive yet flirty and reminds me of Cécile de Volanges from "Les Liaisons dangereuses". Joshua wants his brother Jeremiah to marry her (yuck @ the incest factor) because of her family's wealth but Jeremiah isn't interested. She comes to the Old House from New York specifically for Barnabas & Josette's wedding. I really like the way actress Nancy Barrett performs this character, she totally shines among those who play their new characters rather similar to the ones of the 1960's.Angelique Bouchard
Ahh finally, Angelique!! She's Josette's maid who arrives one day before the bride does. It turns out Barnabas and her had an affair some time ago in Martinique and she's still in love with him. But when Barnabas rejects her, she resorts to magic to ruin the wedding. She also has the caretaker of the house under her influence to do her bidding. I think she'll be my new favorite character. Her piercing eyes and her little French accent are amazing. She also has a slight resemblance to Nicole Kidman. For some reason, I can't take her as a real villain probably because she doesn't really want to kill people, just make them you know, miserable and act out of their wills.Josette du Pres
Our good old Josette, now in flesh and blood (of Maggie Evans), arrives in Collinwood as an excited bride. Too bad soon after her reunion with her husband-to-be, she falls victim to her maid Angelique's spell and hopelessly falls in love with Jeremiah. After people begin to suspect something's up, her marriage with Barnabas is pulled one month forward in a rush but she disappears on the night of the ceremony. It's so nice to finally see this character as a living person and witness her progress as she goes from being Barnabas' fiancee to Jeremiah's wife and leading to her suicide at Widow's Hills.Andre du Pres
He is, not surprisingly, Josette's father. His wife is apparently dead. He's too arrogant to find American way of things acceptable. He's proud of his French heritage. When he finds out about his daughter and Jeremiah, he confronts and persuades him to leave. But just when Jeremiah was about to leave, his brother Joshua Natalie du Pres
Josette's snobby, tarot-loving aunt who refuses to drop the title countess from her name. She positively hates Barnabas' father Joshua. And when I said tarot-loving I meant tarot-obsessed. She's almost always reading the cards and suspects evil is around but she does it with a certain sophistication that is not to be confused with Abigail Collins' outright superstition. It was her who first saw Jeremiah and Josette kiss and made the urgent wedding plans. She also suspects Vicki to be a witch and subtely presses the girl about it. I think she shows some similarities to Julia Hoffman with her belief in the supernatural and her determination to seek it out. Just watch your neck around Barnabas.Ben Stokes
Matthew of the 18th century. He's the caretaker who is not so bright and easy to manipulate. Angelique's spell totally bound him to her, he can't even speak about it without choking. He hates his boss Joshua but has loyalties to Barnabas and Jeremiah, which sometimes causes problems when he's forced to do something against them for Angelique. But he did get happy when she turned Roger Joshua into a cat. He even almost chopped it with an axe. We haven't seen the actor Thayer David for the past 130 episodes or so, it's nice that he's brought back. Just as long as he stays away from Vicki or the Bill Malloy of this century, it's all good. It was also pretty hilarious when Vicki first saw him and tried to run away in panic.
Matthew of the 18th century. He's the caretaker who is not so bright and easy to manipulate. Angelique's spell totally bound him to her, he can't even speak about it without choking. He hates his boss Joshua but has loyalties to Barnabas and Jeremiah, which sometimes causes problems when he's forced to do something against them for Angelique. But he did get happy when she turned Nathan Forbes
Lieutenant Forbes is a naval officer and works for the Collins family. He's one of the first people Vicki ran into in this timeline but she learned her lesson when Nathan turned out to be nothing like Joe Haskell. He tried to get his way with her more than once and is shamelessly casual about it. He also starts to show interest in Millicent Collins after learning about her family's fortune. I'm so glad Nathan is so different from Joe. It must be a terrific experience for the actors to experience this kind of variety within the same show. He does have a rather distracting bulge though, if you catch my drift.- I'm totally enjoying the time travel story. The costumes, the change of characters, witnessing the whole history making is a great experience. Such a creative show this is!!
- Vicki believes she's there to change some things. Be careful Vicki, you might just erase the whole Collins family of the 1960's from existence. Also, her slips about the future seem like they're gonna cause her some trouble so I might watch that tongue too if I were you.
- It is also possible to read this "time travel" concept as Vicki's figurative escape into another yet familiar world to deal with Burke's death. Here is a curious dialogue to support this thesis
Jeremiah: And is he reason you may leave us one day?
Vicki: Right now, he's my reason for staying here
- I am beginning to see the Old House as a new place and not as the place Matthew held Vicki captive for days or the gloomy house Barnabas lived in. The magic of the "cinema" I suppose.
- Angelique is amazing.
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| Talk to the hand, Ben! |
3 comments:
Angelique is The Bomb!!!
Yeah, she has poor Ben stammering, stuttering and choking when he tries to speak.
I was thinking "but can he write down her name?" then I watched the next episode ;)
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