Dark Shadows Episode 470 - 4/12/68

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Vicki comes downstairs in the middle of the night. Roger opens the drawing room doors and tells her she was eavesdropping. He sends her to her quarters, and says he's going into Collinsport to get a new frame for the portrait of Angelique. She tells him that all the shops are closed, and he tells her he is not Roger, he is Joshua Collins—Mr. Collins to her.

Vicki tells him the painting is doing something to him. She tells him that he's Roger, and that Angelique is making him think he's Joshua. She says Angelique is responsible. He takes the portrait and tries to leave, and she refuses to let him.

She tells him that he's under a spell. She explains that if he leaves with the painting, something bad will happen to him. Vicki picks up the phone and asks him what it is. She tells him it's proof that he's Roger not Joshua, and it's the 20th not 18th century. He gets wobbly and asks her if the phone is for him.

She tells him he was trying to convince her that he was Joshua Collins. She takes the painting from him and puts it back on the easel. She says she's going to take it back so it can be sold to Professor Stokes. She says it can't be in the house. He asks her to sleep on it. He says he'll have a nightcap and then go to bed himself. After Vicki retires upstairs, Roger returns to the drawing room and stares at the portrait once more, mesmerized. He takes it and starts to leave. Vicki sees him take the portrait outside and she calls for him to come back, but it's too late. She goes into the drawing room and lies down.

Vicki wakes up in the drawing room, There's a knock on the door and it's Jeff. He says she looks exhausted. She asks him what's the matter, and he says he has a question to ask her about Barnabas. He asks if she's in love with Barnabas. She tells him she is not. He then asks if she's planning to marry him, and Vicki asks him who told him that. She explains that before the accident, she and Barnabas were going away together to be married, but she doesn't see how she can go through with it. She says she should go to the hospital, and Jeff says she should wait until he's out. It's not safe for her or Barnabas. He says there's a reason he cannot answer her questions about himself—he works for Dr. Lang. He asks if she trusted Peter Bradford, and when she says yes, he asks her to trust him as well.

Barnabas gets dressed and pauses to look in the mirror.

Vicki arrives to see him. She asks how he's feeling, and he says he feels splendid. They step out onto the balcony, and he says they have a lot to talk about. Vicki tells him that she has proof she lived in 1795. She and Julia went to the mausoleum and found the secret room. He asks her to tell him about it. She says she started to remember all the terrible suffering that was caused by Angelique Collins, who used her witchcraft to torture and kill others to get Barnabas. He tells her that the history books don't mention that.

Vicki adds that she started to think if there was a reason why everything happened to her after the seance. She says she went to save someone, Daniel Collins, which would have ended the Collins family name. She said the other person was Peter Bradford. Barnabas says that he's gone, and Vicki says that she is sure Jeff Clark is in fact Peter Bradford. Barnabas says that she belongs in the present, and Peter Bradford belongs in the past. She says that she cannot run away and marry him. She apologizes to him.

Barnabas goes to see Dr, Lang. He says that Vicki has decided not to marry him. He says there's no need for the doctor to continue his treatments. If Vicki won't marry him, then there's no need for Lang to experiment on him.

Barnabas gets up to leave, and the doctor says he can't run out on him now. He says he saved his life, and he deserves at least a moment of his time. He asks if Vicki mentioned someone else. Barnabas says there is. The doctor asks if it's Jeff Clark. Barnabas is surprised. Lang says that Clark works for him. He asks if Vicki changes her mind, would he still work with him. Barnabas says he doesn't want him talking to Vicki. Jeff enters with a box, and Lang introduces him to Barnabas. He escorts Barnabas out, and returns to opens the box. He says it's a perfect specimen, and unveils a human arm.

Our thoughts

John: Vicki seems a little too happy dealing with Roger/Joshua. Smiling as he treats her quite harshly! And where exactly did Roger go with the portrait in the middle of the night? And isn't getting it out of Collinwood what Vicki was suggesting needed to happen, anyway?

Christine: I thought he was going to a midnight custom frame shop to pick up a more suitable frame. Angelique could be compelling him to bring her portrait back to the Old House so she can be there to welcome her dear husband, Barnabas, when he returns home. I wonder why she hasn't been able to squeeze a floating head out of that thing yet.

John: Man, Barnabas sure is self-centered. Because Vicki doesn't want to marry him, he's willing to go back to being a cursed bloodsucker, forced to live at night and sleep in a coffin by day! Entitled much, Mr. Collins?

Christine: I am a little disappointed with the writers for that. I realize that Barnabas typically acts like a pouty child when he doesn't get his way with women, but it doesn't make sense for the reluctant vampire, who's appreciating his image in the mirror and loving the daylight, to want to give that up over a girl at the first sign of rejection. I'd expect him to at least try out some of his Barbados magic to get her back before deciding to give up being human. Also, what's all this talk about getting married all of a sudden? I had the impression it was going to be more of a common law vampire arrangement. I'm surprised that Dr. Lang's offer to meddle in Barnabas' love life in order to get him to continue his treatment doesn't raise Barnabas' suspicions. He was far more mistrustful of Julia, who was not even half as twitchy and maniacal as this guy.

John: Seeing the arm in a box reminds me of Jeff Clark's silly wave on the side of the road. It would have been funny to find out he was waving a severed arm that he just dug up when Vicki and Barnabas spotted him.

Christine: Too funny! Vicki claims she went back in time to save Daniel, but doesn't it seem like Daniel wouldn't have needed saving had Vicki not traveled back in time? If not, then how was there a Collins family in existence if Daniel had been killed by Noah Gifford in 1795 before she traveled back in time? So confusing. I assume that is Dr. Lang's castle where Barnabas went for a consultation, which seems appropriate for a specialist in bizarre medicine.