Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Dark Shadows Episode 897 - 12/3/69

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David enters a subterranean room with a bubbling cauldron. He reaches in and takes out some leaves. He speaks an incantation. He hears his words echo around him before collapsing to the ground.


Carolyn comes to visit Chris at the cottage. She asks if Sabrina meant something to him at some time. He says she did, but not any more. Carolyn says that she's trying to protect him from something. She asks how Sabrina got sick, and he asks what she said. She says that Sabrina warned her that he would try to kill her. He says that she's right, and she never should have come back. He says he's a monster, with no choice but to kill. He says he doesn't have control of himself. He tells her to leave, and she does. Chris picks up a gun.


Carolyn comes to the old house looking for Barnabas. She hears his voice, saying that punishment is necessary. She calls to him, and hears his voice behind a bookcase. He then appears on the other side of the room. He says that he is conducting an electronics experiment. He asks why she's there, and why she's upset. She tells him that she's come from visiting Chris. She says it's over between them. She asks why he advised her against staying with Chris. He says his reasons were that Chris was not emotionally stable. She says that Chris agrees with him. He says that she's destined to find a better match than Chris. He walks her to the door and sends her home.


After she leaves, he opens the secret panel behind the bookcase and enters. He rewinds a tape player that has the recording Carolyn heard. He asks if Philip understands what must be done, and sends him away in a trance.


Chris writes a note to Carolyn and places it on the mantle. He picks up the revolver, and hears a woman crying. A crazy looking woman (Jenny Collins) says he must not do it. She says she can't help him, but Quentin can. She disappears.


David wakes up in the Leviathan's underground lair. He heads back out the way he came in.


Megan comes downstairs in the antique shop, seemingly distraught. She picks up the phone and calls the police, just as Philip returns. She says she's been worried. He says he saw a man about a house full of antiques. She says that's unlike him, and he asks if she thinks he's lying to her. She says she thinks someone is coming to kill her. He tells her that everything is going to be alright.


He asks about the baby and she says he still has a fever. He says it's a shame about the book, and she should have been more careful, blaming her for it being stolen. She says they're both responsible. He tells her to relax. He leaves to get cigarettes, and she begs him not to leave her. He says he'll only be gone a few minutes.


He leaves and she proceeds to close all the blinds. She sits down in a rocking chair and picks up her knitting. She's disturbed by all the sounds around her. She gets up and picks up some paperwork, when one of the blinds flaps open. She goes to shut it and locks the door. She hears a picture fall, and goes to put it back up. She hears something behind a door to another room, and after checking it, slams it shut. She hears a door shut upstairs and picks up the phone to dial the apothecary down the street.


She asks if her husband is still there, and they say he hasn't been there. She hangs up the phone and screams when she hears another sound. She watches as the front door handle turns.


Our thoughts

John: No sooner that I mention her, and Jenny Collins reappears! Casting convenience? Or part of some grand master plan? At least we seem to be closing in on the arrival of Quentin Collins in 1969!


Christine: Her hair in death is bigger than it ever was in life, which is especially odd, since the last time she appeared as a ghost, her hair was neatly done. It gives her a very frightening Medusa-like appearance. It does seem odd for her to show up from beyond the grave to save Chris. And what is going on with David plucking the Leviathan weed out of the cauldron? I'm not sure what was going on with that scene, though Haza also laid a branch like this by Barnabas' head before raising him as the Leviathan Master.

John: Ah, Barnabas doing an electronics experiment. Making someone listen to his recorded directions rather than providing them directly. A new breed of technological horror at play!


Christine: Leviathan Barnabas is so much more creative with his punishments than Vampire Barnabas ever was!


John: Interesting scene in the antique shop. In a very uncharacteristic fashion, they play up the haunted room elements without relying on a Robert Cobert underscore. It certainly gave the actress playing Megan a lot to do, and proved to be genuinely creepy..

Christine: I thought so, too, though I am surprised you did not recognize the obvious steal from Night of the Living Dead, with the animal heads on the wall, and the sting provided by Megan's scream.



Night of the Living Dead

Night of the Living Dead

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