Friday, April 2, 2021

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

You can stream today's episode free on TubiTV 

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...

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

The cliché is so true, “Breaking up is hard to do”. At sixty plus years of age, Dark Shadows remains a part of my youth that I have never been able to leave behind. It is ironic that “Dark Shadows: Resurrection” was to have been the title of the aborted 2020 CW revival; as I discussed yesterday, it was also the alternate title of the 265 “imagined” episode summaries posted online around twenty years ago. I must add that this fan written wrap-up is probably better than anything we would have seen on television due to actor availability issues. It was 1000 times better than Sam Hall’s TV Guide article on the future of the core characters.
John, I have always had a crazy dream in the back of my mind that these daily stories (complete with Friday cliffhangers) could someday be re-posted with photos of appropriate characters within the daily entries. Of course, it would be necessary to obtain the permission of author Jim Berkin in order to undertake such a project. The author appears to still have an active WordPress blog although he has not done anything with Dark Shadows in recent years. Well, we can dream anyway…
Thanks again, John and Christine for your time and effort. Dan R

Anonymous said...

In DS tradition, you have lost an episode. It appears that there is no entry for Episode # 1227 from March 9, 1971. If it is still in your files, would you be able to re-post it.

John Scoleri said...

Yeah - we found out this morning that 1227 was pulled for somehow having upset some unknown community standards. We can't for the life of us figure out what it is, but as soon as we do (or as soon as they admit there's no issue), that post will be live again.

Good eye — I was sure it would be back before anyone realized it was gone!

Jeff Baker said...

I think 1227 is a "Lost Episode," or they were missnumbered somehow. And I liked the opening narration; very appropriate for the end to what is in effect a Gothic Romance Paperback on screen. And Thayer David (that wonderful voice!!) was perfect to have narrate! I think Gordon Russell named some company he ran "Second Footman Ltd." And your ending to this blog was perfect too! We can always start again! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMZFHOKvkME

Billy said...

Thank you I enjoy reading your blog

Paul Haney said...

Thank you, John & Christine, for the fun ride! Back in 2016, I got the idea to watch these episodes one-per-weekday on the "50 years ago today" schedule. I was wondering how many others were doing the same and then someone suggested I check out this blog. I wish I would've known about it from Day 1, but I jumped in fairly early and looked forward to checking out your comments every single morning since. I've now been thru the entire series at least 3 times, since the DVDs started coming out. I think I need a break, at least for awhile! The show debuted the year I was born (1966) and I only have hazy memories of watching it with my Mom when I was about 4-5 years old. I do remember Barnabas giving me nightmares! And of course, I always had a major crush on KLS. Thanks again for your entertaining comments on the series.

Anonymous said...

Unadulterated and uncensored is always better than sanitized to meet community standards. Could you send a copy of your unedited entry # 27 to dredington@ptd.net. It will be interesting to compare the difference when # 1227 reappears.

D.Wor said...

I'd also like to leave appreciation for this. It is a lovely reference guide with fun insights from two viewers. (Loved Christine's line about Brutus knowing it was the last episode!) I hope this stays up a long time or if it doesn't it can be uploaded elsewhere. It's a wonderful alternative to other sites. Thank you.

ANNETTE said...

Thank you for your wonderful blog! I came across it in recent weeks and have looked forward to watching several episodes and reading your associated blog! Thank tou! Job well done!!!

Christine said...

Thanks for all the lovely appreciation! Stay tuned...

John Scoleri said...

Be sure to check out our series wrap-up post on April 5th for our look back at the best (and not-so best) of the original series, as well as the official announcement of what's coming next!

Anonymous said...

Will there ever be a remake of dark shadows I know it's very hard to replace original characters

Anonymous said...

Hi John and Christine – I just finished watching the entire series on the FREEVEE app. I didn’t find your blog until after I finished but it is absolutely wonderful! Question for you… I recently read that Barnabas did not appear until episode 211. However, when I started watching on Freevee, he appeared within the first few episodes that I watched in “Season 1”
Any idea why they wouldn’t have the first couple hundred episodes? A truncated syndication package, perhaps?

John Scoleri said...

Welcome aboard, and rest assured — it's NEVER too late to jump into the discussion.

When MPI first began releasing the show on video, they assumed the interest was in Barnabas, and therefore they needed to get to him more quickly. So the initial home video releases and a lot of the streaming packages start with a brief recap of the period before his arrival.

Due to overwhelming support of the fan base, the eventually got around to releasing the first few hundred episodes under the title, Dark Shadows - The Beginning. I don't know if Freevee has those episodes under a the different heading, but you can check here to see the different services streaming the show: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/dark-shadows

Christine said...

Thanks for the compliment, Anonymous! We had a wonderful time blogging about this show.

You'll find Dark Shadows: The Beginning on Freevee under that title: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0143JHTFW/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s1

Not everyone appreciates the beginning episodes, but I enjoyed them and found they gave me a whole new perspective on the characters. It was interesting to see the Collins family history established from the very beginning episodes.

Anonymous said...

John and Christine – thanks so much for the insight! I’ll need to check out those early episodes.
Tom from Collinwood, errrr North Carolina :)

Anonymous said...

As a little more background, I remember seeing a few episodes as an elementary schooler during the original run. There was always a lot of chatter at school about Quentin and Barnabas. Long live Dark Shadows!
Tom from NC

Anonymous said...

The elementary school girls LOVED Quentin. As a fourth grader, I could only dream of such sideburns 😁
Tom

Anonymous said...

Barnabas is still out there, somewhere in the Dark Shadows...

John Scoleri said...

I definitely think we haven't seen the last of Barnabas and the rest of the Collins clan!