Dark Shadows Episode 1084 8/20/70

You can stream today's episode free on TubiTV! 

In the West Wing, David and Hallie see the dolls they threw in the fire are back in Rose Cottage. Hallie tells him that they're still under the control of the spirits, and there's nothing they can do. She says they know they tried to break the spell, and Daphne is going to be angry with them. He asks if she thinks Daphne will try to punish them. She says something terrible is going to happen to them. They hear the carousel music, but notice that it isn't moving.

Stokes tells Julia that they need to involve Shaw. Stokes points out that she and Barnabas have accomplished nothing since returning. He recaps the clues—the lunar eclipse, the picnic, and the unfinished horoscope—and says that nothing has happened, but there are only three clues remaining. Julia says that it can't hurt to see Shaw. She asks what to tell him. Stokes says  they should tell him everything, including parallel time and the future. Julia says that if he could only enlighten them on the clue of the night Rose Cottage was destroyed...

David searches for the source of the music. Hallie tells him it's coming from within Rose Cottage. Suddenly, they see the lights go on in the dollhouse. He says they must be dreaming.

He looks inside and says there's a live man inside. Hallie looks and doesn't see anyone. David says that he's gone, but he was there. Hallie believes him. David says they should write down everything they've seen and heard in the playroom.

Stokes tells Julia to relax, explaining that Shaw will come as soon as he can. She tells him she'd feel relaxed if she didn't feel Gerard's spirit in the house. She says the feeling is not as bad as it was in the future, and Stokes says that Gerard must not yet be ready to strike.

David tells her that they need to write down what they experienced, as it's the only way people will know what happened to them.

Shaw arrives at Collinwood, and Stokes invites him into the drawing room. He introduces him to Julia. Shaw asks about the emergency. Stokes says that Julia has been to the future. Shaw is intrigued.

David writes out the details of what they observed. He reads back the part about wanting to tell everyone about Rose Cottage.

Julia finishes her story of how she and Barnabas traveled through time. Shaw says he has no reason not to believe her, but he doesn't know if he can help them. Julia asks Shaw if he can confirm whether there are active spirits in the house. He says he can try. Julia says she's most interested in the clue regarding Rose Cottage, and asks him to try and determine it's location. He reminds them that he's not all-powerful. She asks him to concentrate on Rose Cottage, and he agrees. He has a vision of the playroom, and the dollhouse. He says he doesn't think he can help them. She asks what he saw. He says he saw a room, but it wasn't a clear vision. Julia asks if he'll talk to the children, and he agrees.

David finishes up their story, noting the lights going on in the dollhouse, and his seeing the man inside. They're interrupted by a knock on the door. Stokes asks them to come downstairs to meet someone.

Julia hears music that she and Barnabas heard in 1995. She comes into the drawing room with tea, where Sebastian is playing the piano. She asks him what he's playing, and he says it's something he just made up. She tells him that she doesn't believe him. She says she's familiar with the tune. She says they heard it in 1995. She tells him that he heard it when he was concentrating on the room. He denies it. She accuses him of hearing or seeing more than he's told them. She adds that she thinks he truly has special skills, but only uses them for monetary gain. Offended, Shaw storms off. Stokes comes downstairs with the kids, and Julia sends them back upstairs.

David says he has to add one more thing to their notes, but the notebook has disappeared. He says that maybe Daphne took it, and Hallie says that Daphne can't read what they wrote.

Stokes says he thinks Shaw can still be of help to them, if they can get him on their side.

David and Hallie return to the playroom. She tells him they have to be careful what they say, and though they can look around, they can't say anything about the notebook. They open the door and see Tad and Carrie reading from it.

Our thoughts: 

John: Thank you Professor Stokes for pointing out what we all have been saying. Barnabas and Julia have been bumbling about since returning from 1995, and haven't managed to figure anything out. Of course, Barnabas picked a hell of a time to go on vacation. Julia almost seems intent on sabotaging Stokes' plans to figure things out. You'd think that she might bite her tongue before berating a stranger who seemed willing to believe her seemingly ridiculous tale of time traveling...

Christine: It was good to hear Stokes acknowledge their lack of effort, though he also hasn't done much to press the kids for more information, or to at least suggest that they keep better tabs on them. Perhaps he was under the impression that their governess was actually doing her job. 

John: I assume Gerard was the little man David saw in Rose Cottage. I hope that when we finally do get his backstory, it will have been worth all of the effort we've gone through to get it.

Christine: I don't know if it will. Did we ever really find out why Quentin was such an angry spirit that he nearly led David to his death? 

John: I think I'm beginning to root for the deaths of David and Hallie. Or a long afterlife in the confines of Rose Cottage. Actually, Rose Cottage would have been a cool spin-off show, focusing on life in the doll house!

Christine: Honestly, I can't figure out why those kids are hanging out in the playroom where there is a scary dollhouse that can illuminate itself, especially when Hallie keeps saying that she's certain something terrible is going to happen to them. I just hope we might get to see the little man in the dollhouse.

Dark Shadows Before I Die Catastro-tracker

❎ The picnic

❎ The night of the sun and moon

 ▢ The murder

❎ The unfinished horoscope

 ▢ The night Carolyn sang her song

❎ Rose Cottage