It truly is a shame that this episode is in a very bleak black and white, with the episode looking more like a Kinecope than what actually aired. It all surrounds the pending arrival of Josette, her wacky Aunt Natalie and her beautiful maid, a name that will live in infamy in Collingwood for centuries to come and beyond, Angelique. She is played by a beautiful blonde, Lara Parker, and if vampires in 1967 are dangerous, witches in 1795 are even more so. Angelique makes her arrival first, and it's a shame she isn't greeted with color as she certainly is a colorful character. Of course you have to have a thunderstorm to greet a witch, and the camera focuses on Parker in a way that is indication that she's going to be delightfully deadly.
"I taught Josette to love color. There's so little here." More ironic words were never spoken as Grayson Hall makes her entrance as French Countess Natalie DuPres who somehow escaped the guillotine (this is 1795 after all), and has a penchant for tarot cards. She instantly creates a bond with Barnabas, foreshadowing Julia's relationship with him centuries later. When Victoria meets her, she's transfixed by the cards, but Natalie sees something that she doesn't like and ends the reading. The idea of a wicked woman being in the house certainly points the finger at Victoria, but the audience knows different. Outside of the lack of color, this is a genuinely superb episode, but the show has been consistently superb lately so that's nothing new.
"I taught Josette to love color. There's so little here." More ironic words were never spoken as Grayson Hall makes her entrance as French Countess Natalie DuPres who somehow escaped the guillotine (this is 1795 after all), and has a penchant for tarot cards. She instantly creates a bond with Barnabas, foreshadowing Julia's relationship with him centuries later. When Victoria meets her, she's transfixed by the cards, but Natalie sees something that she doesn't like and ends the reading. The idea of a wicked woman being in the house certainly points the finger at Victoria, but the audience knows different. Outside of the lack of color, this is a genuinely superb episode, but the show has been consistently superb lately so that's nothing new.
