In the laboratory, Barnabas implores Julia to speed up the experiment. She says she'll do it, but she'll take no responsibility for the consequences. After the treatment, she asks Barnabas how he feels. He slowly gets up, and says he feels a numbness in his hands. She says they shouldn't have accelerated the treatments. Barnabas says he's regaining feeling, and he can tell that it's working.
He wants to go outside and she tells him he's having an exaggerated reaction from an exaggerated treatment. Barnabas says he'll go to the room at the top of the house to watch the sunrise. Julia says it's too dangerous. He agrees to wait until tomorrow, and he decides that he will share the moment with Vicki.
Carolyn and Vicki are in the drawing room. Julia walks in, and Carolyn goes to get some coffee from Mrs. Johnson. Julia tells her she's pleased she's gone ahead to restore the West Wing. She gives Vicki what she thinks is a piece of the chandelier. She rocks it in front of Vicki. Julia uses it to hypnotize Vicki. She tells Vicki that she will do as she tells her, when she tells her. She leads Vicki out of the room.
In the old house, Julia leads Vicki into the basement of the old house. Vicki sees a coffin, and asks why it's there. She asks whose it is. Julia tells her that what she sees she will never forget, and never remember. She tells Vicki to open the coffin, and she says she doesn't want to. Vicki opens it and sees Barnabas, his face oddly green.
Julia closes the coffin, and asks Vicki what she saw. She says it was Barnabas, and Julia leads her out of the old house and back home.
In the drawing room, Julia takes her out of her trance.
Carolyn comes in with coffee for them. Vicki asks to see the crystal again. Julia asks if she wants to see if it matches the chandelier, and Vicki tells her she wants to wait until, and pauses. Julia asks what's what's wrong, and Vicki clearly has some issue speaking of Barnabas.
Barnabas joins Vicki in the drawing room. She is somewhat startled to see him. She tells him that Julia found a crystal she thinks matches the chandelier in the foyer of the West Wing. She said she wanted to wait to check until he was there. He says he has a request of her. He tells her that he thinks if she were to watch the sunrise from Widow's Hill, it would give her a whole new perspective on it. They agree to watch the sunrise together. He raises his hand and she gasps. He says he injured it this afternoon, and tells her to forget about it. He excuses himself, and suggests they postpone their viewing of the sunset.
Julia is in her laboratory when Barnabas enters. He asks her to look at him, to see any difference. She says he appears to be upset. He tells her to look closely, and maybe she'll see him age before her very eyes. He reaches out to her with his left hand, which has withered like an old man's.
Our thoughts
John: Since when does Julia need an Oscilloscope for her experiments? I imagine all that extra equipment will come in handy when it's time to create new life.
Christine: Since when does she need to strap Barnabas down for treatment? Kind of a kinky Dr. Frankenstein role play they've got going on there.
John: Wouldn't Julia be perfectly happy if Barnabas exposed himself to daylight prematurely? Or have her feelings for him exceeded her loathing of him over Dave Woodard's murder?
Christine: Did you not see the look on her face when he said he wanted to share his first sunrise with Vicki? She is completely enamored with Barnabas. It's just not very clear why.
John: Just when Barnabas' plan was starting to come together, and despite Julia's attempt to keep Vicki away, his treatment starts to go bad. Now, it is a bit odd that his hand would begin aging before the rest of him, but it still makes for an interesting week ahead.
Christine: Peter Murphy lends a hand once again to play the part of Barnabas' aging hand, fresh from his stint as Burke's shrouded corpse in Episode 346. He is obviously a man of many talents.
Jonathan Frid was perfect in this! Barnabas' joy at the prospect of seeing the sun again comes through in his expression and voice. Again, perfect! (Of course, we know it won't go well!)
ReplyDeleteVery well-written episode and although I doubt it was intentional, Julia's hypnosis of Vicky can be seen as the perfect background story for why Vicky could never put together the two and two that added up to the Barnabas she knew in the past and the one she knew in tbe present being one and the same Barnabas.
ReplyDelete"You will never forget. But you will never remember."