Dark Shadows Episode 646 - 12/16/68

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That night, Amy and David sneak back in to the West Wing. Amy asks if he thinks they'll be waiting for them. David says he hopes so. They crawl into the room with the skeleton, and Amy says hello to Quentin, who appears before them. David asks if they're going to play the game, and Quentin smiles. The phonograph begins to play again. David appears to be hypnotized. She asks if he likes the music, and David says she knows it's his favorite piece. A woman appears and looks at Amy.

Liz tells Roger that David gave her his word that it wouldn't happen again. Roger starts upstairs, and asks if Liz is coming. She says that she thinks the woman who joined them at the seance may still be in the house.

David is now wearing a suit, and Amy is wearing a dress. She says he looks like a grown up, and he asks if he looks like Quentin. She says yes, and he says to call her that. She says yes, and tells him he can call her Beth. He says if she tells anyone, they won't be able to play their games any more. She suggests that they go downstairs now. He tells her they have quite a lot to do tomorrow. She asks if they're really going to do what he wants, and he says that yes, his family must pay for what they've done to them. He seeks her assurance that she will help him. He says they must get rid of the skeleton. He tells her they'll take it out of the house and bury it. Amy asks how, and he says he'll think of something.

Roger is in his study when Liz comes in. She asks if he'd speak to Vicki before he leaves for the office. She says she has hardly left her room since the seance. She says she seems to be waiting for Jeff to return. Roger says that hell be firm with her, as she's still the governess for the two kids.

David and Amy sneak a small trunk into the secret room. Amy says the chest isn't big enough. She asks why it matters, and he asks if she wants her bones rotting away in a room when she's dead. He says they need to do what his family didn't do, and bury him.

Roger comes downstairs and says Vicki was in a sad state. He says he reminded her of her responsibility to the children. He asks if she's seen the kids this morning, and she says she's sure they're off playing somewhere. She then sees them at the top of the stairs. Amy complains she's almost fallen twice. David says they're taking the toy chest downstairs to play. Roger takes the end Amy had and helps him bring it downstairs. He asks what's in there. David says it's his toys, and they want to play outside.

Roger goes to open it, and David tells him it's locked. He says he can tell him after the funeral. Amy adds that they broke one of David's soldiers, and they plan to give it a full military burial. David says it was not broken; he was killed in combat. Roger opens the door so they can carry the box out. Roger says he hopes they didn't make a mistake letting Amy into the house.

Outside, David and Amy bury Quentin's bones.  He tells her that his father will believe anything she tells him when she talks to him tonight. He reminds her they're doing what Quentin wants. They take the empty chest and return to Collinwood.

Amy and David return to Quentin's room. Amy reminds him that his family may look for them in their rooms. David finds a roll of wire, and tells Amy that in the middle of the night, she'll get his father, and bring him downstairs where he will be waiting.

That night, Amy knocks on Rogers door. He lets her in and she says she was hearing noises downstairs. He tells her to wait, and grabs a gun before heading downstairs. She starts down with him, and he tells her she must wait upstairs.

David has fixed a wire across the stairs. He then opens the front door. He then hides behind the kitchen door. Roger starts downstairs, trips over the wire and falls down the stairs. Amy comes out from upstairs, and David comes in from the kitchen, to see Roger lying at the bottom of the stairs, bleeding.

Our thoughts

John: I have to say, that skeleton doesn't do David Selby justice. It really needed the mutton-chops! Of course it has since lost its wig, so that doesn't help things, either.

Christine: The mutton chops are one of the scariest things about Quentin, in addition to his silent staring and evil grinning.

John: Do you think Vicki got a raise when she suddenly became responsible for two kids? Particularly with those kids, I might lock myself in my room, too!

Christine: I'm surprised they've finally become concerned that she hasn't been doing her job.

John: So Quentin has clearly possessed David. Why hasn't Beth possessed Amy, too? And who is this Beth, anyway?

Christine: Beth is clearly around to make it a gruesome twosome. Quentin was scary by himself, but her presence adds to the fear factor. I'm not sure I understand the game they're playing or why David and Amy are calling each other Quentin and Beth, but it's really unsettling to have children pretending they are dead adults, who are willing to commit murder. David has come full circle in attempting to kill his father, but if Amy isn't possessed, then what kind of damaged kid is she to be a willing accomplice to patricide? I think we can be certain Roger will survive, though there is quite a bit of blood pooling below his mouth.
 

Christine: Today's introduction by Joan Bennett was particularly notable, since we are told to expect an end to the Collins family, heralding another exciting adventure on Dark Shadows:

Of all the dark and evil secrets that plague the Great House at Collinwood, none has escaped detection longer than a secret behind a wall in the abandoned West Wing. For over 70 years, a vengeful spirit has been imprisoned here. Now, through the curiosity of two children, it has been released, and soon will bring about the final destruction of the Collins family.

Roger continues his habit of reading before bed. Let's hope he'll be around to resume his nightly enterprises.