Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Episode 217 - 4/26/67

Jason examines the blood on his jacket when Willie sits up from bed and asks what time it is. Jason asks to see the wound on Willie's wrist. He says the wound doesn't look bad, but Willie's right arm appears to be drained of blood. Jason asks how he got hurt, and Willie says he was in a fight in a bar. Jason doesn't believe him. Willie starts mumbling incoherently, and Jason tells him to rest.


Carolyn tells Vicki that Willie is back, and will be staying for a while. She explains that he's sick, and they don't know why he collapsed in the foyer. Vicki is not happy to have Willie back in the house. Carolyn agrees, but explains they can't send him away while he's sick. She says he was acting differently than before. Jason comes downstairs and tells Carolyn Willie's sleeping. He says there's a small cut on his wrist, and while it doesn't account for it, he seems to have lost a lot of blood. Jason asks Vicki to have Mrs. Johnson prepare a tray for Willie.


Carolyn takes Jason into the drawing room and asks where Willie disappeared to. Jason says he doesn't know. She then asks what he meant when he told her she could get her mother into trouble by asking questions. He explains that he's her mother's friend, and he's protecting her. She says she knows her mother is in some kind of trouble, and she knows he's the cause of it.


Willie tosses and turns in bed, saying, "Don't let it get dark again. I'm scared!"


Vicki brings Willie a tray and he's startled when she sets it down. She says Mrs. Johnson prepared some dinner for him. He asks her if it's dark outside. She says it's still light, and he says there's still time. He asks Vicki to leave, and he gets out of bed. He puts on his coat and as he starts to leave, Jason enters. He says he has to get out of the house. Jason tells him he's too sick to leave. He takes Willie's coat off of him, and helps him back into bed. Willie appears to fall asleep, and Jason leaves the room. As soon as he's gone, Willie gets up and goes to the window. He sees that it's dark, and realizes that it's too late. He hears the beating heart, and says that he's coming.


Willie sneaks downstairs, stumbling as he reaches the bottom of the staircase. He walks to the portrait of Barnabas and hears the heart beating again.


Jason paces in the drawing room, and spots Willie in the foyer trying to leave the house. He begs Jason to let him go. Jason asks where he has to go. Jason brings him back into the house. They start up the stairs together, when Willie pushes Jason and runs out of the house. A car starts and takes off.


Willie is back in the cemetery. We hear another car pull up, and Jason appears with a flashlight. He calls out for Willie. Willie approaches the Collins family crypt and goes inside. Jason continues searching for him.


Inside the crypt, Willie pulls the lever to open the secret door. He once again hears the heart beating.


Jason comes to the crypt and steps inside. He calls for Willie, though there's no sign of him. He exits the crypt, unaware that there is a secret door. After he's gone, we hear the heart beating once more. 

Our thoughts

John: So I'm guessing Jason didn't go to medical school. Does he think one of Willie's arms was drained of blood, but the rest of him is fine?

Christine: I guess the writers were struggling with how to indicate that Barnabas is only taking little sips out of Willie and not sucking him dry, which is why he's still alive.

John: I don't know if we're supposed to believe Willie is faking how sickly he is, or if he becomes stronger when heeding the call of his master, but there are several points where he seems to bounce too quickly between unable to stand and ready to run a race.

Christine: The call of his master could certainly provide him with unexpected bursts of energy, though it did appear that he was trying to get Jason to relax his guard by collapsing against him so he could make a fast getaway through the front doors, worthy of a David Collins escape.

John: I've been anxiously awaiting Barnabas' return, particularly our getting to see him reconnect with Willie. Looks like tomorrow will be the day.




2 comments:

Grant said...

I just saw the Dan Curtis TV version of PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY again. Even though he plays an on and off character, John Karlen is great as usual whenever he's in it (especially in one of the later scenes where he's being blackmailed).

Jeff Baker said...

The episodes without our favorite v**pire remind me of what I once read about the novel Dracula. The Count actually appears in very little of the book "but his presence is felt on every page."