Thursday, August 9, 2018

Dark Shadows Episode 554 - 8/8/68

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Jeff and Barnabas separately search for Vicki. Barnabas hears the dogs howling, and wonders what that means. Jeff meets up with him and asks if he's seen anything. As neither of them has, he suggests they should call the police. They split up again, with Barnabas troubled by the dogs, yet claiming to be worried about Vicki.


Blair stands over the coffin in which Angelique's body rests. He then leaves the basement and shuts the door when he's startled by Jennings, who says he finished the wiring upstairs. He says he wants to look around the cellar to see what other work needs to be done. He says he needs to check the foundations, and opens the door to the room Blair was just in and discovers the coffin. Jennings is surprised, and Blair says he too was surprised by it, but it's empty, and he plans to get rid of it. Jennings excuses himself and runs upstairs. Blair says it's too bad he had to open that door... knowing what's in store for him now.


In the woods, Jennings wonders what the coffin was doing there. He realizes the Collins family wouldn't leave a coffin down there. Blair had to be responsible for it, and he's going to tell the sheriff. He hears some rustling, and he calls out asking who's there. He sees someone and asks what they're doing, and then asks why they won't answer him.


Jeff continues his search for Vicki when he hears a man's terrified screams. He comes across a body sitting up in the woods, that falls over dead when he touches him. He notices bite marks on his neck, and begins to freak out. Blair stands off in the distance, and says it has begun. He thinks that he didn't intend for it to begin with Jennings.


Barnabas returns to Collinwood, still spooked by the howling dogs. Inside, Julia asks him what's wrong. He asks her what he's doing there. He says he was just in the woods. He doesn't understand what's happening. The dogs continue to howl, and she says they haven't howled that way since he was cured. Barnabas says he can sense something happened in the woods tonight.


He gets up to resume his search for Vicki. She's shocked to hear she is being held for ransom by Adam until they make a mate for him. Julia finds it difficult to believe Adam could come up with such a plot. Barnabas explains that someone has been teaching Adam, and he is much more dangerous than before. Julia realizes this means Adam knows what he is. Someone must have told him about the experiment. Barnabas says they're wasting time, and he must call the police. Julia reminds him that if Adam is caught, they both risk exposure. He says he's willing to take the risk for Vicki, and she says that she is not.


There's a knock at the door and Julia lets Blair in. He asks about Carolyn, and she says she's out. He notices that she's distressed, and asks why. She mentions what happened to Vicki, and Blair says that must have explained Barnabas' strange behavior in the woods. He says he had a strange expression, and he appeared to be running away from something. Barnabas says he was in the woods looking for Vicki.


Jeff bursts in and says he has to use the phone. He calls the sheriff, and tells him he just found a dead man in the woods, and that his fiancé has disappeared. He hangs up, and Julia asks who the man is, and what happened to him. Jeff says he doesn't know the man, but he had two gaping wounds in his neck.


Julia asks where the man is, so she can help him. He says the sheriff will be able to find him faster, and runs out. Barnabas asks what happened to Blair, who is no longer in the room. Julia asks if he's responsible for the man in the woods, and he says he's not. She reminds him he said he didn't remember what happened in the woods, and he says he's sure that he's cured, and she must believe him. She says that means there's another vampire in their midst.


Our thoughts

John: Why would Blair so casually hang out with the coffin if he had someone working in the house? And poor Jennings, around just long enough to die. I wonder if he was wearing a red shirt under his coat.

Christine: Poor guy didn't even last as long as Suki Forbes! I love when he says, "The Collins family wouldn't store a coffin in the basement of one of their houses," after I was just thinking there's been a coffin in nearly every basement. Although to be fair, Paul Stoddard wasn't really buried in the basement at Collinwood as Liz had originally been led to believe by Jason McGuire.

John: I love how Barnabas figured out what was going on with Adam and Vicki, and able to relate it to Julia, saving us a week or two of plot development.

Christine: If only they could figure out where he was hiding just as quickly. Maybe it's time they get in touch with Stokes, since Barnabas can't seem to get through to Carolyn.

John: So Blair is setting Barnabas up. It's a great idea, although I think it's a bit of a stretch for Barnabas to both be terrified by the sound of dogs and suddenly hit with short term memory loss. We all know Barnabas is not the vampire responsible, and it's sufficient that Julia will automatically suspect him. I don't think they needed to plant doubt in Barnabas when, as he points out, he'd know if he had turned. I think you were on to something when you suggested the possibility that the previously dead Angelique may have grown fangs and joined the ranks of the undead. That would be quite a punishment, and right in line with what I'd expect from brother Nicholas...

Christine: I'm not sure why else he'd go to the trouble of installing her in a coffin and keeping it in the house.

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