DARK SHADOWS 619

“I…I’ve got no choice. No matter how dangerous it is, I’ve got to have a showdown with Nicholas Blair.”

“It…It’s…Angelique Collins!”

“You know a lot more than you’ve been telling. I know that you’ve been under the spell of a vampire.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Dr. Hoffman, I never play games.”

“Barnabas is the victim of a vampire.”

“But what I don’t understand is why you’ve allowed it to go so far.”

“I don’t make serious mistakes.”

“I do believe I’ve upset you.”

“Yes, it is getting late in the day, isn’t it?”

“Don’t try my patience, doctor. Don’t do it.”

“Dr. Hoffman, I rather admire you for coming here this afternoon.”

“If anything happens to Barnabas Collins, Adam will die.”

Julia. Oddly and maybe a first, the narration (which makes note of day time horror) stops and Barnabas in a very close reprise says some lines and then the narration starts again. It makes note of a special strange mental bond that exists between Victoria Winters and Barnabas Collins, she has sensed he is in need of her help. The narration also, earlier, mentions he is lost in the woods.

Different but very close reprise. After hearing his groan, this time, Vicki wipes hair from her head which she did not do last time in the cliffhanger and Vicki here, when she finds him on the ground and he says it is too late, she says, “No! Barnabas, it isn’t! It isn’t!”

She reacts normally but he says Julia can’t help him, no one can, no doctor but only her. She says, “IDU.”

She asks if she hides him, what will she tell the great many people that are worried about him. His answer, “IDK.” And “It doesn’t matter now.”

He trusts her? Gosh.

She says, “IDK where I can take you.”

She knows of a secret door to the West Wing of Collinwood which no one has used for years.

Joe in hospital. What is that weird spot on the wall near and around part of the door and wall? A shadow? A stain? WTF?

Joe voice over/internal monologue about hoping Angelique will come to him tonight. Hasn’t any doctor looked at the fang marks on his neck? Julia comes in and closes the blinds at his request. When he asks about Barnabas she tells him maybe he can tell her where Barnabas is. “You know a lot more than you’ve been telling. I know that you’ve been under the spell of a vampire.”

His answer, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She tells him that it happened to her, too. She reveals it was Tom Jennings and the same thing that happened to him, a stake driven through his heart, must happen again. She asks who the vampire is. He explains she must know how impossible it is to reveal who is the vampire controlling one. Talks shifts to someone who is controlling the vampire. She asks Joe to tell her what that means. His answer: “IDK.”

“Don’t try to pretend you don’t know because I know you do.”

When she asks if it is Nicholas Blair, Joe worries for her and tells her to stay away from that man. That she cannot go to that house as she just told him she would go and question him. She believes Joe told her more than she hoped he would and tells him it is all right.

He asks what she’s going to do.

“I…I’ve got no choice. No matter how dangerous it is, I’ve got to have a showdown with Nicholas Blair.”

Vicki brings Barnabas to a room that looks suspiciously like the one Adam was kept in and that Adam kept her in. Why does she think that no one has used this? Did Blair wipe her memory? It’s been so long ago, I can’t recall! She asks why Barnabas wants to hide from everyone.

As Blair answers the door to a knock from Julia, we see a studio light on the ceiling gleaming at us. He seems genuinely delighted to see her and she gives him a good afternoon. He meant to call her to thank her for the delightful evening they spend at the Old House. She suggests they level with each other and stop playing games. “I know what you are and you know why I’m here.”

“Dr. Hoffman, I never play games.”

“Barnabas is the victim of a vampire.”

He fakes amusement and lies to her. She says, “But what I don’t understand is why you’ve allowed it to go so far.”

He explains: “I don’t make serious mistakes.”

She explains what she realizes he does not know: that Barnabas disappeared last night and is weak and if not found, he may die. Bravely, she reveals that she knows he has a plan involving Adam and his mate, which he was behind the creation of…Eve. He still fakes innocence but asks if she knows where Barnabas is but she would not be at his house if she did.

Julia smiles, “I do believe I’ve upset you.”

He fakes he must get to his work. “Yes, it is getting late in the day, isn’t it?” she taunts him.

“Don’t try my patience, doctor. Don’t do it.”

As she asks if Barnabas is in his house, we see a mic shadow on the far upper left.

They know if Barnabas dies, Adam will, too. He will do everything he can to help her. Before she exits, he stops her, “Dr. Hoffman, I rather admire you for coming here this afternoon.” Not sure what he means, he shows her out, smiling, her being puzzled. She leaves.

In the woods, Julia gets her own voice over. She thinks Blair was lying when he said he didn’t know where Barnabas was. That wasn’t a lie, actually. She thinks maybe he isn’t aware of where Barnabas is but knows when the sun goes down, he must take some kind of action but not what that action will be. She must stay and watch.

Barnabas asleep for hours, wakes up. He asks Vicki what time it is. She says, “IDK.” He asks if the sun has gone down and when she tells him it has, he asks her to bring him a cross. She says, “IDU” and he says, “There’s no need for you to understand.”

Angelique goes into the room where Nicholas is, “Good evening, Nicholas. You’re looking very chipper these days. I think Maggie Evan’s company has had a good effect on you.” He is smelling a carnation or something.

In scary silence, he’s rather even more menacing but he slaps her. When she claims ignorance, she says, “IDK what you’re talking about.” He explains. She tells him she left Barnabas in a hut in the woods between Collinwood and the Old House. He explains that under ordinary circumstances he would let her have her precious Barnabas but he can’t now. “If anything happens to Barnabas Collins, Adam will die.” He also adds, “If you’ve gone too far this time…” He’s punished her before and it does not seem to affect her.

He wants her to get Barnabas back to the Old House.

And wants her to stay away from him. He tells her that she has made him late for Maggie and when she admits that he does very well in looking after his own interests. “Well, that’s one of the advantages of being the master, my dear.”

He kisses the flower and touches her cheek with it.

He is stunningly creepy.

He takes his hat and gloves and leave. Earlier Julia had her own gloves.

Outside, Julia has another voice over. She is about ready to leave when she sees Nicholas leave his house. She wonders if he is going to where the vampire is hiding and if she should follow him. She contemplates going inside to get Barnabas out if he is in there. Julia hides behind a tree as a woman comes out of the house.

After Angelique passes her, she comes out and Julia gasps, raises her hand and touches her own face. “It…It’s…Angelique Collins!”

Review: just terrific again. Moving everything along. Everyone is in top form again. Nicholas is a very multi leveled villain.

Dark Shadows bloopers to watch out for:

When Barnabas moans, “Please, Vicki… trust me,” there’s a clatter in the studio.

When Nicholas walks to the door, the camera pulls back too far, and you can see one of the studio lights.

If Nicholas’ house is called “the House by the Sea,” then why is Julia able to spy it on from what is apparently a deep forest? I’m super confused by what the landscape is like “near the sea” these days.

While she’s watching Nicholas’ house, she makes a big deal about how the sun will be going down soon, and we hear birds chirping on the soundtrack — but the lighting suggests that it’s the middle of the night.

Given the blocking on their tiny little sliver of a forest set, there is a one hundred percent chance of Angelique seeing Julia as she walks by, but she doesn’t.

FROM BEFORE I...

Our thoughts

John: How would Vicki know about a secret door that hasn't been used for years? All of the secret doors we know about seem to be under heavy rotation...

Christine: Yeah, I think the secret's out on the secret door.

John: I have to give Julia credit for throwing down the gauntlet, saying she's going to have a showdown with Blair. It was quite the battle of wills, and even Blair, without admitting anything, compliments her on her efforts.

Christine: That was an entirely enjoyable exchange! It's precisely the reason Barnabas should be psychically dialing Julia for help instead of Vicki. I wonder where Vicki is going to find a cross. Do you think she'll have to go all the way to Bangor to get one? Angelique will surely have chroma-keyed herself into the West Wing room by then.

John: The only thing more exciting than Blair's psychological battle with Julia was his physical altercation with Angelique. Love the buildup from his silent rage to the clearly telegraphed bitch slap. Frankly, I thought this might have been the last straw for Angelique. After so many failed attempts to control her, we know that she can't be trusted. It seems to me that he's basically risking all of his plans on the hope that she doesn't fail him again.

Christine: It seems certain that she will disobey him again, despite his flowery threats. If he doesn't expect it, then he's not as powerful as we've been led to believe.