Lang tells Julia to turn the main switches off. He complains to her about his heart, and she grabs a hypodermic needle and gives him a shot. He then asks about Barnabas' pulse, and tells her to give him a shot that he hands her. Not knowing what it is, she asks what he'll be like if he lives. Lang asks her to help him into a chair. She starts to get an ambulance and he tells her not to.
Barnabas comes to, and realizes that he's still in his own body. Julia tells him Lang had a heart attack during the procedure, and he says that Cassandra is trying to kill him. He tries to get up so they can stop her, but he can barely walk. Lang apologizes to Barnabas. Julia says she'll go to Collinwood, and Barnabas says that he must do it.
He leaves, and Julia tells Lang she'll take him to the hospital. He tells her that Barnabas will become a vampire because his medication is becoming less effective. He then says the body will decompose within 48 hours, so she must try again. He points her to his books with the details on his experiment. She says she might kill Barnabas, and Lang assures her that there is time to save Barnabas.
At Collinwood, Cassandra continues to poke at her Lang-doll.
Lang writhes in agony. Julia goes to get more medication for him, and while she's out he grabs his microphone and records a message for her, saying that if Barnabas AND his creation live, Barnabas will be free (pausing for a classic Lang-face), and healthy as long as Adam lives. He says Adam will drain Barnabas' affliction from him, but not suffer from the disease himself. But if Adam dies, Barnabas will be as he was before.
Lang screams. Julia returns and he tries to give her his message, but dies.
Cassandra de-pins the Lang-doll as Mrs. Johnson says she doesn't take orders from her. Cassandra asks her what she means, and Mrs. Johnson shows her a note demanding they have breakfast when they want it.
Barnabas enters and asks to speak to Cassandra. Mrs. Johnson leaves, and Barnabas tells her that if she kills Lang, she will burn. He asks her what she wants. He says that he will be hers but is interrupted when the phone rings. He goes in for her neck when Mrs. Johnson interrupts them to say it's Julia for Barnabas.
Julia tells Barnabas that Lang is dead.
Barnabas tells Cassandra that she killed Eric Lang.
Julia tells Barnabas that the last thing Lang said was, "If they both live, then... listen..." They stand over his tape recorder, unsure of what he meant. Barnabas tells her they will go on with the experiment. Barnabas tells her that he's beginning to have urges again. He says he must escape Angelique's curse.
Julia uses Lang's notes to setup the laboratory equipment. She's exhausted, but she presses on. She nods off, and the nightmare begins. She hears a knock on the door. She answers it, and is beckoned by Mrs. Johnson.
She is led to a door, which is closed and locked after she goes through. She hears Mrs. Johnson's disembodied voice recite the same words and finds herself in a foggy room full of doors. She opens the first and sees skully. She opens the second and sees the guillotine fall. She opens the third to see Lang's headless creation reach out to her. Finally, she opens the fourth and sees a skeleton dressed in a wedding gown. She snaps awake, terrified.
Our thoughts
John: I'm thinking that Lang's reel to reel recorder wasn't supposed to play classical music—and when he couldn't figure out how to turn it back on, they zoom in so you can't tell he's not actually recording. Of course the thought of him not recording his last words is even funnier than Julia and Barnabas not getting the hint to listen to the recording.
Christine: It was funny when Barnabas told Julia they must not be emotional over his death and she immediately becomes emotional. Dear Dr. Lang, Dark Shadows will be a much quieter place without you. Your expressions of agony will truly be missed.
John: Barnabas leaves Cassandra mid accusation, and is suddenly back at Lang's office. Odd that for someone who was just part of a botched medical experiment, he seems to have bounced back quickly. Must be related to his getting his vampowers back.
Christine: Barnabas asks Cassandra the question that's on all our minds: Does she still want him? I couldn't tell from his lecherous grin if he was going to smooch her or bite her or both.
John: Julia's dream was the first where we got to see a bucket of dry ice generating the fog. Obviously Mrs. Johnson is up next. I'm anxious to see how quickly it gets to Vicki before getting back to Barnabas himself. I do kind of hope it cycles through Carolyn, David, Roger and Liz first... just to see what other creepy imagery they can come up with!
Christine: I wonder what will be behind Mrs. Johnson's dream door? It would be cool if it were the seaweed laden corpse of Bill Malloy. Does the skeleton bride represent Julia's fear of dying before she can become a bride, or the fear that she'll have to die to become Barnabas' bride? Through sight and sound and faceless terror, you may find 1960s dream related musical accompaniments linked within each dream curse post by trial and error. Today's dream music from Pink Floyd was released April 12, 1968.
Dark Shadows Before I Die Round Robin Nightmare tracker:
- Wide-eyed skull
- Guillotine
- Lang's Headless creation
- Skeletal bride
Mrs. Johnson's Recitation of the Dream Curse
Through sight and sound and headless terror,
through endless corridors by trial and error,
a blazing head of light will burn,
and one door leads to the point of return.
Julia's Recitation of the Dream Curse
Through sight and sound and faceless terror,
through endless corridors by trial and error,
ahead a blazing light does burn,
and one door leads to the point of return.
Julia's Recitation of the Dream Curse
Through sight and sound and faceless terror,
through endless corridors by trial and error,
ahead a blazing light does burn,
and one door leads to the point of return.
Dr. Lang's Recitation of the Dream Curse
Through night and sound and faceless terror,
through endless corridors by trial and error,
a head of blazing light does burn,
and one door leads to the point of return.
Maggie's Recitation of the Dream Curse
Through sight and sound and faceless terror,
through endless corridors of trial and error,
a blazing head of light shall burn,
and one door leads to the point of return.
So Cassandra kills Lang ACCIDENTALLY? Either way, Mrs. Johnson carries on that tradition of the interfering housekeeper in a weird story. SORT OF - she charges into a room to tell someone off instead of SNEAKING into a room like a "normal" horror story housekeeper. And she evidently manages to CAUSE something bad to happen instead of just finding out about it. If only she'd waited five minutes longer to hit Cassandra with "I don't take orders from you!" Dr. Lang might've been carried on as a character.
ReplyDeleteI kind of wish they would've kept Dr. Lang on as a character. As crazy as he was, he pretty much nailed it as the mad scientist and made this particular storyline more interesting.
DeleteJen
This reminds me of the time Mrs. Johnson told Laura Collins that the family was going to hold a seance, causing Laura to work her fire magic on Dr. Guthrie, who died in a fiery crash as a result. We'd better keep an eye on Mrs. Johnson to see how many other people may perish due to her interfering ways.
Deletehttp://dsb4idie.blogspot.com/2017/03/episode-185-31067.html
It was a bit disappointing that Lang didn't get a chance to die at the hands of his creation...
ReplyDelete