Dark Shadows Episode 913/914 12/26/69

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Julia goes to see Harrison Monroe, and a spooky voice tells her to go away. She says she has an important message for him from Charles Delaware Tate. The door opens and she goes inside. The spooky voice directs her through the house. He tells her to sit down and she finds herself opposite a man who looks like Tate. He tells her to remain seated and not come near him. She says he's Tate and he looks just like he did in 1897. He says she couldn't have seen him, and she tells him about her travels through time.

Julia reminds him that he painted a portrait of Quentin. He says that's only a legend. She says the portrait explains why Quentin is alive in Collinwood now. She gets up and once again he tells her to sit down and not come near him. She asks where the portrait of Quentin is. He says it was destroyed in a fire. She tells him that she knows it exists, and she needs help with a portrait for Chris Jennings—an ancestor of Quentin afflicted by the curse. He says she will never understand, and he disappears. His voice tells her to leave and never return.

Elizabeth is in the drawing room with David looking out the window. Roger enters and asks him what's wrong. He offers to take David into Boston with him for a few days next week. David goes upstairs to work on his homework. Roger tells Elizabeth that Maggie is right; something is troubling David. Elizabeth says he's been through moody phases before.

David looks through the Leviathan book. He reads from a section talking about waiting 10 days for a manifestation. He leaves the book on his desk and leaves the room.

Elizabeth finishes writing a letter when David comes in. He tells her he read another prophecy, and that they need to go now and pay homage to 'him.'

Roger goes up to David's room and is surprised to find it empty.

David and Elizabeth arrive at the antique store after hours. Behind the bedroom door the horrible breathing can be heard. David opens the door. A boy older than Alex comes out. He says they can call him Michael. Michael tells Elizabeth that David will spend the night. She leaves them.

Julia returns to Collinwood. Roger asks if she saw David. He says he's searched the entire house and can't find him. He goes to search the grounds, and Julia goes upstairs to search.

Michael accuses David of running to Barnabas. He says it made him very angry. He says he'll have to teach him a lesson, as anyone who displeases him must be punished. Michael asks if he'd like to stay alone in the antique shop. He says David must be very quiet, must stay awake, and under no circumstances call for help. He goes upstairs, leaving David alone.

Julia says she can't find him upstairs, and Roger goes to call the sheriff. Elizabeth comes in and explains that David is spending the night with a friend in Collinsport. Roger asks Julia to leave them. She does, but eavesdrops at the door. Roger chides Elizabeth for letting David stay with a friend without consulting him first. She says that his friend Alex is leaving town tomorrow and he wanted to see him. Roger says Alex is an abominable boy.

David is all alone in the antique shop, freaking out at the various sights and sounds around him. He picks up the phone, and then remembers what Michael told him. David then hears a door open upstairs, and the labored breathing.

The next morning, Michael comes down and checks on David. He says they should get along fine now. There's a knock at the door and David lets Julia in. She says she came to see some paintings Megan found for her. She's surprised to see Michael, and asks David where Alex is. He says Megan took Alex away. Julia asks Michael if he's also a relative of Megan and Philip, and he confirms that he is. She notices a birthmark on his wrist—the same one she saw on Alex. She asks David when Carolyn normally comes in. David says she's usually in late in the afternoon, and Julia leaves quickly.

Michael says she noticed his birthmark, and they need to find a way to deal with her immediately.

Our thoughts

John: Gotta love the spooky voice at Monroe Manor, until it starts to sound more and more like Charles Tate. The best part is his deep and yet ludicrous maniacal laugh right before he disappears!

Christine: I guess we didn't get to see Roger Davis wearing old age makeup, after all. It made sense for him to speak in an echoey spooky voice through the speakers, but was quite a surprise that he continued talking that way while she sat right in front of him. I especially loved the way he laughed without moving his face. It made him appear rather robotic.

John: Little Alex we hardly knew you! He has apparently grown into Michael, who is a little bit older looking. He didn't bother explaining his relationship to Philip and Megan, as it's not pretty much accepted that they're running a house for wayward youth.

Christine: He's got a really strange way of going about punishing David. It's similar to what Philip did to Megan in Episode 897, so it must be straight out of the Leviathan playbook.

John: Try though they might, the taxidermy cutaways are not nearly as effective as the were in Night of the Living Dead (1968), released a year earlier. I can't believe they resisted the urge to marry the shots up with Robert Cobert stingers, which could have made them far more effective.

Christine: It certainly would have been much scarier with stingers. They could have at least had them advance on David. Perhaps they didn't want the kid viewers to have nightmares.