Friday, June 2, 2017

Dark Shadows Episode 245 - 6/2/67

Barnabas comes downstairs and tells Willie that as he's a Collins', it means he's a man of his word. He tells Willie that he has to go see the doctor.


In the doctor's office, Burke asks if Willie is really coming in to provide a blood sample. The doctor confirms that Barnabas promised he would. Burke asks if Maggie's disease could be caused by a wild animal. The doctor reminds Burke that a wolf didn't steal the blood samples from his office. And he tells Burke that he doesn't think Willie is responsible for these events.


Barnabas serves the doctor a drink, and calls for Willie. When Willie appears, Barnabas reminds him that he may be helping Maggie Evans. As the doctor begins to draw blood, Barnabas waxes poetic about blood. The doctor compliments Barnabas on the drink. Barnabas then asks if he can see the slide. He asks if the doctor hopes to find similar results between Maggie and Willie's blood. The doctor asks if Barnabas can keep Willie around the house until he has the results of the blood work.  As the doctor is leaving, Barnabas tells him to be careful with the madman out. Barnabas says that whoever he is, he must be both more than a man, and less than a man. He goes on to say that he loathes the man very, very deeply.


At The Blue Whale, Burke asks Vicki to dance, but she declines.  She starts to talk about Maggie, and when Burke stops her, she agrees to dance. As soon as they start to dance, Vicki says maybe Burke should take her home. He tells her the doctor might stop by with more news on Maggie. Vicki says she hears a dog howling, but Burke did not. She then references the dogs she heard the night Maggie was attacked. She asks him to play more music; good and loud. Burke opts for soft and soothing, and they continue dancing. They pause when they hear a dog howling outside.


Back in his office, the doctor examines the slide with Willie's blood. A dog howls outside.

Willie begs Barnabas to let him leave. He tells Barnabas that after the doctor looks at the slide, they'll be back to get him. Barnabas asks what he'll tell them if they do come back to get him. He asks if Willie will betray him. Willie assures him he'll say nothing, and Barnabas is unconvinced. Barnabas points out that Willie betrayed him before, and then pushes Willie to the ground. Willie says he doesn't understand Barnabas. Barnabas says that he won't be less loyal to  Willie, that Willie is to him. He pulls out a slide with Willie's blood. Willie realizes that Barnabas switched the slides. He's excited that Barnabas is protecting him. Barnabas says that he protected Willie this time, and he may or may not in the future.


Back in The Blue Whale, the doctor tells Burke and Vicki that Willie's blood didn't provide much additional information. The doctor says that it was as if Maggie was accepting something inhuman into her blood. Outside, the dogs continue to howl.


Our thoughts

John: Maggie's got her hair up again, meaning this is another special date. I guess things just didn't work out with Frank Garner.

Christine: That relationship sure fizzled out after Frank Garner went on the grave digging expedition with Joe and Peter Guthrie to exhume Laura Murdoch Radcliffe when we last saw him back in Episode 180. It could have something to do with Burke stepping in to put the moves on Vicki in Episode 189.
 
John: Everyone is still circling the drain regarding Maggie's condition, however the v-word remains noticeably absent.

Christine: That's because they don't seem to know anything about vampire lore in Collinsport. It's a very sheltered fishing village that's remained unexposed to classic horror literature. We get our first clue that Barnabas is not happy being a vampire when he tells Dr. Woodard how much he loathes the madman on the loose.

John: While it's no surprise Barnabas swapped slides on the doc, am I the only one who thinks it would be tough to create a matching one without having seen the original? I guess maybe they all look alike.

Christine: One delicate little blood flower painted on a slide looks the same as any other, apparently. It's just a little disconcerting to hear Dr. Woodard describe some of the most beautiful sights he's seen. I guess he doesn't get out much, though he does seem to enjoy a tipple of Collinport's time honored medicine.

"Now, unknown to yourself, you may have some very...tragic...malady." -Barnabas

"After all, blood is the life force. It reaches in to the deepest recesses of both the heart and the brain.  It is the familiar of our complete being. To surrender even one drop of it is to suggest a partial surrender of one's utmost self." -Barnabas


"It's like a delicate little flower painted on glass." -Barnabas


"I guess some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen in my life have been microscopic views of hideous malignancies." -Dr. Woodard

1 comment:

Los Thunderlads said...

It was pretty funny that Burke stopped Vicki as she was starting to recap the same material he and Dr Woodard had just gone over. I half-expected him to cry out, "No! The audience has already heard that!"