Dark Shadows Episode 341 - 10/16/67

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A bat appears outside the window of Woodard's office. Barnabas materializes inside, and Julia pleads with Barnabas to let her talk to him. Woodard says he won't go along with them, and asks what Barnabas plans to do. He replies nothing, and says Dr. Hoffman will take care of it. Woodard says death isn't his first fear. Barnabas dares him to say what he fears. He says he prefers anything to becoming the undead, and regrets he won't be able to destroy Barnabas. Julia tells Woodard that she's trying to cure Barnabas. Woodard refuses again, and says that if he is turned, he'll attempt to destroy himself, but not before telling everyone about what Barnabas is.

He accepts his fate, and Barnabas tells Julia to proceed. She removes the hypodermic from her purse. Woodard shames Julia, who says she can't kill her friend. Barnabas tells her to give him the syringe. He takes it and as he's about to inject him, Woodard looks over Barnabas' shoulder and says, "Sarah." Barnabas hesitates, turns and asks where she is. Woodard tries to escape, and Barnabas grabs him and injects him while London Bridge plays in the background.

Barnabas poses Woodard's body in his desk chair. Julia is upset and asks to leave.

Barnabas asks her to check him to confirm there are no other signs of foul play. She can't bring herself to look at him. She says she knows the medicine she prepared. He asks if she planned to leave the hypodermic needle on the table. She asks if they can go. Barnabas asks if she plans to leave her notebook. She collects it from Woodard's pocket. The phone rings and they stare at it.

In his office, the sheriff asks Dave to answer his phone.

Barnabas and Julia leave the office, and Julia hears Woodard's voice say she no longer has friends. She asks Barnabas if she heard him. Barnabas says he knows a dead man when he sees one.

Sam Evans is drinking in The Blue Whale when the sheriff walks in. He asks the bartender if Woodard showed up. Sam asks if he's looking for Dave, and says he was there about two hours ago. The sheriff says Dave called, telling him he was coming to see him, and never showed up. Sam asks if he had to go to the hospital, and the sheriff confirms that they're looking for him, too. Sam asks if the sheriff checked his office. He tells Sam he called and there was no answer. Sam asks if Dave was on to something. Sam says he was rushed out when he stopped by earlier. There's a scream outside, and several folks run out. The sheriff returns and says it was just a woman afraid of a bat. Sam is suddenly worried about Dave. He says he's going to check his office. As they start to leave, outside the window of the bar they see a bat. The sheriff tells Sam they've got overworked imaginations.

Woodard's dead body is slumped in his chair when the sheriff and Sam arrive and knock at the door. The sheriff asks Sam to break the door down, and after doing so, they find his body. The sheriff starts to call the hospital, and Sam says it's too late. Sam suggests he was murdered, and the sheriff agrees, but says there's no sign of foul play. He says they'll find out soon enough. He calls the coroner.

Julia throws the syringe used to kill Woodard into the fireplace. Barnabas credits her for assisting in Woodard's murder. She says she'll give it all up, and starts to throw her notebook into the fireplace. Barnabas stops her, and tells her that he's now the only friend she has. She again hears Woodard's voice telling her she has no friends.

Our thoughts
                                                                
John: Nice try using the old 'Hey, it's your sister's ghost' trick, Dave. Too bad that Sarah didn't find you worthy of saving. Who can blame me for being off by a day. Didn't the murders always used to happen on Fridays?

Christine: It's a new era on Dark Shadows, where an innocent man can be murdered in cold blood on a Monday. Truly horrifying! The impact may have been greater had Gerringer still been in the role. We were still getting to know Peter Turgeon as Woodard. Barnabas seems to relish tormenting Julia.

John: There's a new sheriff in town. And he's still no Dana Elcar.

Christine: No, he's far more incompetent than Elcar as Sheriff. If it weren't for Sam, Woodard's body may not have been discovered for a few more days. Sam even had to be the one to break down the door to his office.

John: Was throwing the murder weapon into Barnabas' fireplace the best idea? It will be interesting to see if we haven't in fact seen the last of Dr. Woodard. Will his ghost return? And won't his mysterious death lead David to believe that Barnabas had to be responsible?

Christine: Yeah, I'm not sure if that will entirely dispose of the evidence. It seems Woodard has already begun to haunt Julia, reminding her that she no longer has friends. David probably doesn't need crystal ball confirmation to know that Barnabas is responsible.

Sheriff Patterson: A woman got a little scared because she saw a bat. 

Sam: A bat?

Sheriff Patterson: You know how women are. They're afraid they'll get caught in their hair.  

Sam: Women who are afraid of bats shouldn't hang around the waterfront. There are always bats flying around here at night. But she didn't have to scream like that.

Sheriff Patterson: Yeah, for a minute I thought I had a murder on my hands.