DARK SHADOWS 457
457
“Mr. Barnabas, he ain’t dead.”
“But I was with him when he
died.”
“It’s little Daniel you’re
after now, ain’t it?”
Nancy B. 1795. The name
Victoria Winters is used in the narration. Also “as that journey nears its
end…” reprise. Naomi opens the coffin
and shuts it. We do not see Frid. Ben comes in and takes her out. She seems to
be in shock. New stuff before the theme. Filler: a pan from the portrait of
Barnabas to the foyer to the drawing room. In the drawing room, there’s
something on the ceiling: not sure if it is a light fixture or…wires that we
should not see.
Ben tells Naomi some info: it
is a curse like a sleeping sickness. This, too, reminds me of a Poe story.
Perhaps TOMB OF LIGEIA? Ben tells her
that Angelique was the witch and she seems surprised but should not be: Joshua
already told her that. Was she drunk at that time and forgot? Joshua is in
Okay hold the fort: THIS IS
YET ANOTHER INSTANCE of LIES from good person to good person really making
things so much worse. IF only Ben or Joshua confided in Naomi more info…
Naomi then thinks Nathan was
wrong about Barnabas being the strangler. When Ben finds out that it was he
that did this, he wants to follow through with his promise and kill Nathan. Ben
flubs when he says, “I warned him what he…what I’d do…” Naomi orders Ben to stay here.
Ben wants to find Nathan and
kill him but Naomi stops him. FOOL! I WANTED BEN TO KILL NATHAN! Naomi tells Ben she can handle Nathan now. NO
SHE CANNOT! She wants Ben to get a carriage and take Daniel to the Rev. Bland
in town. Naomi flubs, “I want him to stay here…stay there.”
She wants Ben to tell Bland
about Nathan. Ben asks if Riggs (unseen) can take the boy…it will be night
soon. Ben wrings his hands. Naomi leaves. Ben spots and stares at Nathan,
making him nervous. Ben tells him that he saw lots of evil men in prison, scum
but none compare to how low Nathan is.
Hmmm. WHY didn’t Joshua
instruct Ben to CHAIN Barnabas in his coffin BEFORE all of this?
Ben then tells Nathan about
him taking the boy into town…another idiot. In fact, Ben wants Nathan to try to
stop him so Ben can kill him in retaliation.
After they leave, Millicent
notes how all the servants use the front door once Joshua has left Collinwood.
Nathan tells Millicent what Naomi is doing and Millicent admits she thinks
there is wisdom in what Naomi is doing. She repeats the witch is here. OH BTW
WHERE IS NATALIE in all this? I don’t
think we see her again until 1796.
Nathan vs Naomi. Nathan
admits he testified at Vicki’s trial out of necessity. She knows he is
blackmailing Joshua and wants him to leave Collinwood. She and Joshua will care
for Millicent who will stay here. They will take care of her.
Her actions DO save Daniel
(who grows up to be a murdering horror story but that’s another story for a
much later time). She also flubs over “What was important” to “What is
important…”
Then Naomi stupidly tells him
Ben’s story. Nathan mentions Maude and repeats that Barnabas is the Strangler. During
this, there is something on Naomi’s face and she has to touch it to wave it
away: a fly? A hair? Fuzz?
In the Tower Room, the coffin
opens and Barnabas is in it. THIS SHOT WAS USED AS PART OF NEW JERSEY NETWORK’S
PROMOS FOR DS pledge drives to get money for public TV to keep DS on.
Nathan gets this, “Mrs.
Collins, I don’t know what you saw and I don’t care.” He also flubs over, “He hadn’t had…he hadn’t
been able to kill her.”
Naomi has a voice over.
Barnabas has a voice over. Close up on Barnabas’s eye. He summons Millicent. “Come
to meeeeeee.”
Millicent is staring at the
portrait. Naomi in green asks what she is doing. Naomi tries to dissuade her
from leaving.
Later, she follows Millicent outside
to the garden (Millicent seems to have left the door to Collinwood partially
closed).
There, Naomi sees Barnabas
start to bite Millicent, baring his fangs. Just before he bites, there is a
jump on some copies of this episode.
In a well done shot, Naomi
views this from afar and screams two times. Barnabas, startled, stops and
stares at her. Five second credits.
An interesting ep and I was
waiting to see how Naomi would react to this. The meeting between son and
mother was upcoming and who would not want to see that???? A strong ep.
I can’t help but wonder, with
the absence of Josette’s storyline here now that she is dead and not returning
any time soon, how much of this is gay subtext? Barnabas is not acting out of
love but out of survival, doing what he must to live, horrifying his mother.
To his credit, Frid has
extreme close ups here a lot and he still manages, even as a vampire, to look
quite good. He also acts with his eyes during these and during his voice overs.
The angles of the camera, the
shots themselves, the movement of the camera, the sets, the music are all
superior to garbage like STRANGE PARADISE which is static and boring. It’s also
superior to most prime time shows, too. This episode proves all of that. The
credits say 1968.
Episode 456: An Illogical Explanation | Dark Shadows Every Day
Dark Shadows Before I Die: Dark Shadows Episode 457 - 3/26/68 (dsb4idie.blogspot.com)
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