DARK SHADOWS 186

 

DARK SHADOWS 186

 

Another terrific episode of DS.

 

In what might be a first, there is NEW MATERIAL before the credits and before the reprise. It’s difficult to tell but the reprise looks and sounds exactly the same…maybe…but of course, as mentioned, it happens AFTER some new material featuring David, Sam and Vicki who are waiting for Guthrie in the Old House.

 

Everyone is in top form and there’s not a flub in sight though Sam does sound as if he says, “I’m not sorry,” when he meant “I am sorry,” but it’s difficult to hear. There’s one bang from behind the scenes and some light or lights outside the Old House window but it could be the candles reflecting.

 

The rapport between everyone is wonderful here: between Joe and Burke at the Blue Whale and later at the Old House; between David, Vicki and Sam at the Old House; and…

 

…David Ford does a great job of conveying Sam’s nervousness. I love it when David wants to show Sam the rest of the Old House, comments on this using Sam’s last name, and Sam says, “He will not.”  Sam also admits maybe he IS a coward and he doesn’t want to go through with the séance after Joe and Burke arrive with news that Guthrie is dead, out of ear shot of David. When David returns down the steps with Joe after showing Joe around, Sam sees the innocence in David and relents.

 

The séance is amazing and while everyone is in top form, this is really David Hensey’s full on episode and he’s top notch in this. His rendering of David possessed by David Radcliff is amazingly chilling and wonderfully scary for all the right reasons within the plot. Burke stupidly still insists that the fire, even though his initial reactions do not suggest or imply this, that it was just an accident and Laura had nothing to do with it. Sam knows differently. BTW Hensey is not just great during the seance but throughout the entire episode as he relishes a visit with Josette, the Old House and bantering with Sam. He also feels a wind is in the house. Amazing performance.

 

Just a fascinating, wonderful episode. It’s  a shame in a way that Barnabas HAD to come into the show to save it. In a way it was a far better show before him, if I’m honest.

 

Past review:

186

      We hear a bang or two in the Old House. During the reprise, it's, well,

      not really a reprise. There's a ton of new stuff before the car crash. The

      stock we see is clearly Louis Edmonds in the car at the dashboard and the

      crash is exactly the same. I don't believe we saw this stock in the crash

      in 185. Burke is in the Blue Whale when Joe gets a call from Maggie.

      Maggie overheard two state troopers talking about the crash and

      that...Peter Guthrie (or Pete as Frank Garner used to call him) is dead.

      At this time, there is no reprieve for characters, even out of a

      cliffhanger...Pete is DEAD! Gone, finito. In some ways, the entire Laura

      storyline is revived and remade as the Barnabus one...with some

      differences and some changes...evil supernatural being, unsure as to

      whether or not the he/she was supernatural, the reveal that she/he was,

      the scientist researching into it ends up dead (or as a ghost haunting

      another scientist), and the being is totally evil...of course, Barnabus's

      story took a definite turn with Sarah basically reviving some good part of

      him deep down...

 

      When Burke and Joe find out about this, Joe takes off for the Old House

      and Burke goes with him. The heroes. They leave the door to the Blue Whale

      open. David wants to show Sam upstairs and says, "You should see the

      ATTIC!" Vicki talks David out of moving around. Sam doesn't want to see

      anything in the Old House. There's a light outside the window and then two

      or three as the ep goes on. Joe and Burke arrive, Burke gets Joe to get a

      tour of the house courtesy of David, just to get David out of the room so

      that he can tell Vicki and Sam about Guthrie. Sam blames Laura immediately

      but Burke doesn't seem to accept it. Vicki is upset, "He was our friend.

      He was trying to help us. He was more than that. He was our last hope." As

      Vicki and Burke talk a cobweb from the chandelier gets stuck on both their

      heads. Vicki decides to go ahead with the séance but Sam is about to back

      out...until Burke tells him about David and helping David. Sam still

      hasn't made up his mind when Joe and David come back down. Burke has

      already told Sam to think about that innocent kid. Wait, hold the phone.

      This IS David Collins he's talking about. Innocent? Not really.

 

      Joe tells them that he doesn't think the Old House is very spooky only

      medium spooky. When Sam sees the wide eyed doe David, he agrees to go

      ahead with the séance in a touching sequence. It makes you like Sam a bit

      more. Joe and Burke will wait outside and Vicki tells Burke that no matter

      what he hears, not to interfere. He agrees! Sam, David and Vicki hold the

      séance. David rubs his nose and breaks the circle but no one notices. It’s

      not important. It's a flub.

 

      In funny fashion, David moans. He says he is David Radcliff and when he

      says he's in his mother’s room, it sounds like WOMB. Yup, that’s right. As

      he goes on he stops and says, "OHHHHH," and that too is funny, hilarious

      in fact. I love this kid. David goes on and says, "A little house, a

      little little house by the sea..." he tells them someone will die by fire

      there. The door opens.

 

      A GREAT EPISODE with everyone in top form from Sam to Burke to Joe to

      Vicki. Great atmosphere and the story is moving up in pace...Laura is not

      even seen in this ep but her threat is felt...again a great ep! I always

      felt DS is best when the reactions of people to others' dying is

      discussed, felt, and shown to have repercussions. A few future ones to

      keep in mind include "YOU killed Natalie Dupres," for some reason that

      always stuck with me as did Rachel Drummond's death. Here, it's Vicki

      feeling Guthrie's death as well as Joe's well acted response to Maggie's

      phone call (we don't see Maggie, she's on the phone and I think we hear

      her voice). Even Burke has a response to this. It's really well acted and

      well done from all involved. I am anxious to find out how David will react

      to Guthrie's death. One other thing: it is rare on DS but...when things

      like this happen, sometimes characters pull together and that makes DS

      great too but again, it often is the opposite but sometimes....

 

 

 

 

Uhm, major issue here: if this happens every 100 years...then the lady

      that burned in Laura's hotel room or room in Phoenix was...the one after

      the last 100 years...so...why's everyone thinking that now it has to be

      100 years exactly and that David's in so much danger. If you examine it,

      it doesn't make sense almost as if the writers were making this up as they

      went along. They were! I mean, do you get it? If 1967 was the target year,

      they already had one Laura get reborn so why is she being reborn only a

      few weeks after the last one?

 

 

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