Dark Shadows Episode 1245 4/2/71 - The Finale!

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Morgan goes to the room and unlocks the door. He steps inside holding a gun. The ghost of Brutus appears and says he shall not have them, they are his! 

In the secret room, next to the corpses, Bramwell tells Catherine that it's almost dawn. They embrace. He asks if they ended it. She says Brutus will try something else. Bramwell says that they have defeated him repeatedly, and can do so again. He asks if after this night, she has any doubt that they were meant to be together. He says he has money now, and they will leave Collinwood. 

Brutus appears before them, laughing about their plan, and calls to Amanda. He calls her to him. Bramwell tells him it's over. Brutus calls her and says that all he wants is Amanda's forgiveness. Catherine says yes and approaches him. She asks Brutus if he still loves her, and he says he never stopped loving her. He tells her to come to him and they will be together for all eternity. She tries to go to him, but Bramwell holds her back. Bramwell is mysteriously choked again, and Brutus laughs at him. Catherine comes out of her spell and Brutus says that he must die. They hear a rooster. Brutus tells her to come to him, and she says she ever will. She say s they will bury the bodies in holy ground, and Amanda will finally have peace. She tells him to go from this house and never return again. She says it's done. He asks if she refuses him, and when she says she will never come to him, he says she has won, and disappears.

She tells Bramwell the curse is over, and he says that it's because of their love. He says they must be meant for each other. She says she will leave with him today. She then realizes that Morgan will never let them go. They exit the secret room, and run into Morgan with his gun. He points out that Bramwell has ended the curse, and probably wants some sort of gratitude. He says he's not going to get it, or Catherine, and shoots him at point blank range. 

Catherine consoles Bramwell. She tells Morgan that if he kills Bramwell, he'll have to kill her, too. He picks her up, when Julia and Kendrick come in. Morgan threatens to shoot Catherine if they try to stop him. They run out, and Kendrick follows after them. Bramwell tells Julia that he'll be alright as she helps him out of the room. Kendrick returns and says he lost them. Bramwell tells him that they took a secret passage. Kendrick asks Julia to check on Melanie, and goes in search of Morgan. 

Flora tells Julia that she should be looking for Morgan. She says she could talk to him. Julia asks what she'd say. She says they need to check on Melanie. They go into the tower room and find her asleep. Flora wakes her. Her first words are, "Mama, did something happen to Kendrick?" Flora tells her that she's well now. She asks where Kendrick is, and they say he'll be there soon. She says she never should have married him, and they explain that Bramwell and Catherine stayed in the room, the curse is over, and so is she. She asks if they're okay, and Julia says they left the room sane. Melanie assumes Kendrick left her, and Julia offers to go get him. She asks her mother why he's not there, and she says he'll be happy to see her. She adds that her father would have loved to know that the curse was finally over. Flora says it will never be the same without Justin, without Gabriel, and with Morgan the way he is. Melanie asks her to tell her everything that has happened. 

Julia goes into the drawing room. Kendrick comes through the secret panel. Julia initially thought it was Morgan, but when she sees him, she tells Kendrick that Melanie is alright. He says he heard Catherine and Morgan, and Bramwell is upstairs searching. He goes upstairs to see Melanie.

Bramwell finds Catherine's handkerchief in the secret passages.

Melanie asks her mother if Morgan's madness is real, and not the result of the curse, and she says it is. Melanie says Catherine never intended to hurt Morgan. Kendrick comes in and hugs Melanie. He says he can't stay long. She tells him to be careful, and they kiss.

Morgan and Catherine end up on the roof of Collinwood. He says Bramwell will find them there, and calls to him. He tells Catherine to look down, and ask her to imagine falling to her death. He says her lover is coming. She screams for Bramwell not to come. When he comes out onto the roof, Morgan points out that he has come to watch Catherine die. Bramwell asks Morgan to let him take her place. Morgan says she is going to die first, and then he is going to die. Bramwell apologizes for turning Morgan into who he is now. Morgan says that this is the way it has got to be. Kendrick comes up from behind Morgan. Catherine runs free, and he Kendrick and Bramwell grapple before Morgan falls through the railing. 

Flora is despondent about Morgan. She says it's hard not to blame Catherine and Bramwell. Julia reminds her that they ended the curse. She then says they have to make arrangements for Morgan's funeral.

Melanie tells Kendrick that they can't leave yet. He assures her that Julia can take care of Flora. She agrees to leave with him. They kiss passionately.

Catherine and Bramwell also kiss passionately. He tells her that everything will be alright. She expresses guilt for being responsible for Morgan's death. He tells her that they will leave Collinwood, and they will forget everything that happened there. She says she won't forget — she says she will remember to follow her heart. They kiss again.

Flora tells Bramwell that the family has been split apart in troubled times, and suggests that perhaps now they should stay together if they possibly can. Kendrick comes in and asks if Melanie's ready. They say Harris is bringing her home from the cottage, where she was saying goodbye to Carrie. He tells Flora he appreciates her understanding when Harris and Stokes come in with an unconscious Melanie. He says that he found her lying in the woods. Stokes says she was attacked by a wild animal. They look at her neck — there are two bite marks. They all wonder what could have happened. Stokes says if he didn't know it wasn't possible, he says he'd swear there was a vampire at Collinwood!

We see Bramwell... and then transition to the repainted portrait of Barnabas Collins. Professor(?) Stokes provides a voice-over saying:

There was no vampire loose on the great estate. For the first time at Collinwood, the marks on the neck  were indeed those of an animal. Melanie soon recovered, and went to live in Boston with her beloved Kendrick. There they prospered and had three children. 

Bramwell and Catherine were soon married, and at Flora's insistence, stayed on at Collinwood, where Bramwell assumed control of the Collins' business interests. Their love became a living legend, and for as long as they lived, the Dark Shadows at Collinwood were but a memory of a distant past...

Our thoughts:  

John: You know what they say, sometimes you feel better after throwing up. I was kidding when I suggested that Bramwell and Catherine's love might end the curse. If anyone, I thought it would have been Kendrick and Melanie's love (considering they got their own little Robert Cobert love theme!). After 160 years of blustering about, it's sad to see Brutus fold his hand against this particular pair... But if you think about it, Brutus got both madness and death — in the form of Morgan Collins. So did he really lose? 

Christine: Brutus gave up too easily. It's almost as if he knew it was the last episode and that continuing the curse would be futile. 

                                                                                                                           

John: For the second time, at point-blank range, Morgan was incapable of dealing a lethal blow to Bramwell! And not only is it non-lethal, it's all but forgotten by the end of the episode!

 
Christine: I couldn't figure out why Catherine seemed to be laughing while being dragged off by Morgan. I suppose extreme stress can cause a person to laugh in inappropriate situations. Much like having the giggles during a funeral. 

 

John: I love how they wanted viewers to think that Melanie might be dead in bed this morning.

 

Christine: I love how Kendrick was flossing with Melanie's hair and then smooched it to try and be subtle about pulling it out of his mouth.

 

John: Back to the rooftop precipice from episode 1191, where Daniel made Gabriel (NOT of parallel time) fall to his death! I was kinda hoping Justin might appear to make it more like the last time... 

 

Christine: That was a very satisfying scene. Morgan's fall seemed entirely natural and Kendrick almost going over the edge with him lent some realism to the event. 

John: We can't bring Quentin back for one episode, but we can have Harris the servant show up for the first time ever? Come on!

 

Christine: Quentin was out because of appendicitis and was unable to return. Harris the servant was played by show writer, Gordon Russell, which seemed entirely appropriate. 

 

John: Well, that was something of a surprise to end on. I have to admit, I'm of mixed emotions. I love the fact that it basically ended with Melanie brought in with a vampire bite! And while I welcomed a denouement, they didn't need to so solidly deny the possibility of there being a vampire in parallel time. Worse yet, we are provided with summations on these, to be frank, throwaway parallel time characters. How nice it would have been for them to bring us back to 1971 one last time, and tells us what happened to the characters we actually cared about; those we came to know and love (and hate) over the past five years. 

 

Christine: It is disappointing that the principal characters were left mostly dead with an unresolved storyline, but to try and touch base with them in this final episode would have felt too rushed and may have done a disservice. While it is a little sickening that Catherine and Bramwell's love was legendary and banished the "dark shadows" from Collinwood, in a way it provides some resolution to Barnabas and Angelique's story. The nice thing is, we can go back and revisit those characters we knew from the beginning. I'm ready to start over again with the beginning episodes. How about you? 

 

THAT'S IT! IT'S ALL OVER! OR IS IT???

We've concluded our five year mission, but you haven't heard the last of us...