Dark Shadows Before I Die: Dark Shadows Episode 520

Monday, June 25, 2018

Dark Shadows Episode 520 - 6/24/68

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Julia finds Roger fidgeting in the foyer, and he asks her if she's seen Cassandra. She asks who saw Cassandra last, and Roger says Vicki did. He says she's disappeared, and he's going to call the police.

Barnabas arrives at Collinwood, and Julia tells him Cassandra has disappeared. She says that he has escaped her. Barnabas can't bring himself to believe she's truly gone. She tells him that Trask may have finally gotten his revenge. She says if Trask has completed his task, then his skeleton should be back in the basement at the old house.

In the basement of the old house, Barnabas says that if the skeleton is gone, then Trask may still be out there. Julia shows him that Trask's skeleton is there. Barnabas realizes that Angelique may truly be gone. He asks her to show herself if she's still there, and then realizes she wouldn't reveal herself even if she were.

Roger tells Julia that the sheriff assumed that he and Cassandra fought. He says he's concerned about his sister, as she thought Joe Haskell was Nathan Forbes. Liz enters the room, interrupting them, and refers to Roger as Joshua and Julia as the Countess. When they refer to her by her name, she says they're plotting against her. She says they can lock her in a room, but she won't forget about Barnabas. She says her son has been seen, and Roger exclaims that she has no son. She asks Julia if she has a son named Barnabas. Julia explains that she's not a Countess. Roger tells Liz to stop, and then asks her what has happened. She says that she knows Barnabas is not dead, and that he knows where he is. Julia says Barnabas is at the old house, and Liz says that she must go to him. Roger says that Barnabas is their cousin from England. Liz says that she still loves her son, even if he is one of the living dead.

Roger doesn't understand her. He says the Barnabas she refers to died 200 years ago. She tells them to stop calling her Liz; that her name is Naomi. She goes upstairs and Julia suggests that he should consider putting her in a hospital.

Julia tells Barnabas about Liz believing she is his mother, and that she knew her son was one of the living dead. He wonders what will happen if she makes the connection. He says Roger knows more about the family history than the others. He tells Julia that just because she wants to think that Angelique is gone doesn't make it so. He says who else could make Liz think she was Naomi Collins. Julia says that Cassandra may have started something, but Trask took her away. He says Angelique will not be satisfied until Liz speaks the word vampire. Julia asks what happened to his mother, and he tells her she took her own life. Julia tells him to go to Liz, with a firm belief that the Barnabas Naomi knew is dead.

Liz writes a note to Joshua and pours herself a brandy. She wonders why she's doing what she's doing. She returns to the desk, and pulls out a powder which she pours into her drink. She drinks the brandy, and says she can now face Barnabas as he is.

Julia and Barnabas arrive at Collinwood, and she asks him to tell her what happened the night his mother died. He says he was in the tower room. He says she had written a note to his father. Julia spots the note in the drawing room, and they rush to the tower room.

Liz approaches the tower room, and outside the door asks Barnabas to let her in. She goes inside, and the room is empty. She clutches her chest when Barnabas arrives. He tells her she's under a spell, and she's not Naomi, nor is he her son. Barnabas asks her what she did. He says they must get to a doctor. He asks what she took, and she says it's too late. She passes out, and he tells Julia to do something.

Our thoughts

John: Strange how the scene with Barnabas and Julia was staged just inside the front door of Collinwood, and not even in the foyer proper. I wonder if there was some reason they didn't use the foyer.

Christine: Maybe they thought they'd be less likely to be overheard there. I'm wondering why Trask's skeleton would return to Barnabas' basement, instead of choosing a more suitable resting place. Of course, now we know the real reason his skeleton disappeared was so he could don a bridal gown and veil to appear in Sam's dream as the skeletal bride. ☺️

John: If Cassangelique is truly gone, shouldn't Liz be free of her spell? I guess it depends on what it means for a witch to be gone. Obviously Barnabas remained a vampire for 200 years while Angelique was idle...

Christine: What makes you think she's been idle the past 200 years? The fact that Liz remains under her spell indicates she's not entirely gone, though her power may have dissipated enough to fool Trask, since he's returned to his cozy place behind the wall. Liz seemed to almost come out of it enough to question what she was doing before going to get the poison Cassandra placed in the drawer in the last episode.

John: So Roger figured out that Liz was referring to the original Barnabas, but didn't seem to concerned about her claims of his being the living dead; nor the implication that if in fact he were, the two Barnabas' might actually be the same. Good thing for Barnabas' sake that Roger is so distracted by Liz' behavior and the fact that Cassandra is missing.

Christine: Roger wouldn't believe in the living dead anyway. He says he'd never put his own sister in an institution, but didn't he agree to that in Episode 158? By the way, what's been going on in the tower room over the past 200 years? It only had a coffin in it the last time we saw it, and now it looks like Henry Bemis has been taking his lunch there.