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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Oh!Carol Christmasson" data-source="post: 411733" data-attributes="member: 8">Episode 604-607 is absolutely brilliant, Knotsian soap. It's the way the story connects all the characters, but in very different ways.Instead of monsters and histrionics we see the Collinsport bunch plotting to get and suffering from love, jealousy, loyalty, betrayal and at this point nobody really knows who's got the upperhand.Eve is the centre in all of this although she herself isn't important (yet).The E.VE. experiment has caused a rift between Vicky and Jeff, and while things didn't turn out the way Barnabas intended it to be, it was actually meant to destroy poor Jeff. Barnabas wanted Vicky and the only way to get her was to possess Jeff's body.But now it is Jeff who has sort of rescued Elizabeth Stoddard, and Vicky is part of her storyline. This creates a moment for the two ex-lovers to reconcile and even have a romantic embrace.This moment is quite unexpectedly witnessed by Barnabas and his reaction is very telling.Meanwhile, Barnabas, Julia and professor Stokes have decided that Eve needs to be destroyed because of the evil of Danielle Roget inside her.Nicholas Blair has anticipated their move (or his magic mirror told him, and I don't remember exactly) and allows Barnabas to trespass his house - only to have him surprised by Angelique who still has a major axe to grind.Angelique bites Barnabas and turns him into her love slave, just like she did with Joe and Jeff ("and Lord knows how many others", would Blake Carrington say).However, Nicholas Blair informs Angelique that he will be in charge of this new relationship, and this gives him the power to control Barnabas."Control" in Dark Shadows has no concrete meaning. This situation is the more convoluted version but sometimes it doesn't take more than telling a person (in person or from a distance) what to do, "and you won't be able to resist my power". Needless to say, the deceitful version is much more fun to watch.Angelique, who's terrific as the vampire femme fatale, immediately disobey Nicholas' orders and indulges herself on another snack of Barnabas.But! courtesy of the very underrated Dr. Lang the bloodsucking starts to affect the other half of Barnabas, Adam, who is very important to Nicholas (the details of his plan have yet to be revealed).It's all a metaphor for drugs and addiction. Nicholas is addicted to power, Angelique is addicted to Barnabas and Joe is addicted to vampire sex.The scene between Barnabas and Angelique made me think of how it all started, and the way Angelique was portrayed as a villainess from the very beginning.But let's not forget that upper-class Barnabas had had an affair with servant Angelique, and while it may be true that he stopped loving her or never loved her that much to begin with, it is very likely that he was meant to marry another upper-class woman anyway, if not Josette than someone from another rich or powerful family.Especially in those days.In other words, Angelique was f*cked from the very beginning, literally and figuratively. It's no excuse for all the horror she's caused but it does put things into perspective, imho.And it is especially in these episodes, now that she no longer calls the shots, that she comes off as a tragic and pathetic person.[ATTACH=full]54641[/ATTACH]If we'd consider Dark Shadows characters at their very best, then badly behaving David Collins from the first stories is my #1 favourite.But Joe Haskell is one of the few characters who's consistently good - and so shockingly good as the villain in the witch trial story - and he's currently wasting away in his no-man's-land caused by Angelique (losing the sympathy points I just gave her).[ATTACH=full]54643[/ATTACH]And that's another Dark Shadows couple on the rocks. And just like Jeff he can't her the truth about his behaviour. Soap opera isn't about problems or mistakes, it's about the difficulty to communicate in a TV format that is all about bla-bla communication.When he visits Angelique, his dealer, she brutally cuts him off. Now that she's regained control of Barnabas, all her hunky victims can go suck themselves.Joe can't take it anymore, hates the creature he's become, and when he fails to stabs Angelique he stabs himself to death.Take note, Barnabas, that's real   sacrifice.</blockquote>

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