My name is Victoria Winters. I am a stranger in the Great House of Collinwood. But there are other strangers here too–a man with riveting eyes, new to the land, but not to its past. But fate has also sent a third, uninvited guest...one who's swept through the once quiet village and come to Widows' Hill, where they say cries of sorrow have been heard for centuries. Tonight, they will be heard again, for the third visitor is death.
Dr. Hoffman gives Daphne an injection while Joe holds her hand in bed and Carolyn sits on the couch reading. Professor Woodard is allowed to enter by a deputy stationed outside. He asks Daphne how she's feeling, since he'd heard she'd almost had an accident. Joe explains that she was sleepwalking and nearly fell downstairs, and Dr. Hoffman says that's why she had her moved to the first floor. Daphne says she doesn't remember a thing.
Professor Woodard asks her to do him a favor by wearing a cross that evening and she agrees to do so. Dr. Hoffman asks to speak with him, and she and Carolyn leave the room. Daphne asks Joe to promise that they will always be together, which he does before kissing her.
Dr. Hoffman asks Professor Woodard what that was all about and he says it was something he felt he had to do. He asks about Daphne's sleepwalking and she tells him that she collapsed at the top of the stairs. She says she believes she was frightened by something. She confirms that he thinks whoever attacked her will return, and he says the person responsible doesn't have a choice since sooner or later she'll remember.
Daphne is sleeping in bed while a deputy sits reading in a chair in her room. He goes to wake Joe on the couch, saying it's 4 o'clock. Joe gets up and the deputy takes his place on the couch. She begins to stir as Barnabas Collins hisses and shows his fangs outside the house. His irises take on a green tinge with an orange ring around them as he stares intently at the house.
Joe begins to feel drowsy and slips into sleep. Daphne awakens, ripping the cross from her neck as she rises and exits the French windows. Barnabas hold his arms out to her and she goes to him, as she removes the bandage from her neck. They kiss passionately and his lips make their way to her neck. He bares his fangs and sinks them into her throat.
The family shelters under black umbrellas during a rainstorm at Daphne's funeral. Joe and other pallbearers are drenched in the rain as they carry Daphne's casket to its final resting place.
Julia is examining Daphne's last blood sample when Professor Woodard enters. She informs him that she'd been testing a vaccine on her and he asks what kind. She says she developed it from the victims and it was working since the aberrant cell had been eliminated from her blood. He asks if she believes in vampires. At first, she scoffs, but then wonders if there is such a creature if it may be curable based on the success she's had with her vaccine. He says vampirism isn't a disease and that vampires are the living dead. She says that theory is difficult to prove, but he says he expects the proof will be coming soon.
David is playing a game with a ball while singsonging, "If I catch this one, Daphne isn't dead." He realizes it's getting late and starts running for home as the sun sets and eerie fog creeps along the ground. He stops when he hears a woman's voice calling him. He asks who's calling him and Daphne appears with big hair and big fangs. She lunges at him and he runs away from her.
The family is picking at their dinner when David runs in screaming that he saw Daphne. Roger says it's no time for pranks. David says he not lying and he goes to hug Vicki. Professor Woodard asks where he saw her, and he says he saw her at the old pool. Joe says it's just his imagination and hugs him. He says he's going outside for air and Woodard cautions him to be careful. Woodard suggests that Vicki take David to his room. After they go, he says they can find out if David is telling the truth by opening Daphne's grave. He explains that he believes she was destroyed by a vampire and now walks as one of the living dead. Roger and Elizabeth leave the room. He tells Joe that because of their relationship, he is the one Daphne is most likely to seek out.
Joe goes to the mausoleum and Daphne appears. She approaches him and tells him not to be afraid when she sees that he looks ready to wet his pants. She kisses him and says they'll be together in a world without end. She sinks her teeth into his neck and he screams.
Dr. Hoffman is giving Joe a transfusion as he convulses on the bed while Roger and Carolyn stand by. Professor Woodard enters and Roger tells him they opened the coffin. He says Sheriff Patterson has put a curfew on the town and no one is allowed out after dark.
Maggie is turning over tarot cards and calls Sam over to say someone else is going to die, showing him the Death card she drew. Roger enters and Maggie asks him how Joe is doing. He tells her he's in bad shape, and says he stopped by because Carolyn would appreciate a visit from her, and offers her a ride. Outside, she asks what Carolyn wants and he says it's not what she wants, it's what he wants, as he grabs her by the waist.
Maggie and Roger are sweaty in bed together and he says he doesn't know what he'd do without her. They smooch and then get up to have coffee. He says he's seen strange things while roaming around the world but doesn't understand what's happening and asks what she thinks. She tells him she thinks it's a vampire and it's only the beginning.
Barnabas arrives at Collinwood and Mrs. Johnson tells him terrible things are going on. He goes to see Elizabeth in the drawing room and expresses sympathy, explaining that he's been in Boston on business. He tells her that he rushed over as soon as Willie told him what had happened. He asks Roger why there are deputies on the estate, and Roger explains that they don't know where Daphne is, but there's a good chance that she'll come for Joe. Barnabas confirms that Joe is at Collinwood. He asks Julia if she and Professor Woodard have an explanation. She says they are only things of legend but couldn't be submitted to any medical journals. She turns toward the mirror and sees that he casts no reflection. He asks about Vicki and they tell him she is staying with David. Roger suggests he may want to stay there, but he says it won't be necessary. Barnabas asks what the sheriff will do if Daphne returns, and Roger says she'll have to be stopped. Julia says it leaves the important question of who did this to her. Barnabas agrees that is the question.
Julia checks on Joe and says he'll probably sleep until morning. She tells Carolyn to get rest and she'll check on him later.
Vicki watches over David sleeping while she retraces Josette's name on a notepad. Roger enters and they step outside the room to talk. He asks what David thinks is happening and she says he doesn't know, but is afraid Daphne will try and hurt him. She goes back into the room and closes the door.
A deputy checks on Joe, who is in bed with his eyes closed, but when he turns his back on him to have a smoke, Joe opens his eyes, rips out his IV, and grabs the deputy from behind.
The sheriff gives instructions to the deputy on patrol to change his surveillance pattern while Roger and Woodard sit with him. They don't see Joe sneak out of the room.
He goes outside and finds Daphne, who raises her arms out to him. He follows her inside the building and removes the bandage from his neck as he goes to her. They kiss and then she sinks her teeth into his neck.
The deputies drive up and enter the building armed with flashlights and big silver crosses. Daphne is making a meal out of Joe as she goes to town on his throat. When his arm knocks over a bucket, the deputies are alerted and surround Daphne, holding her at bay with the crosses as she snarls.
Joe runs to her to protect her, but they pull him off of her and hold her down as Woodard arrives with a stake and mallet. She screams as he pounds the stake into her chest. Joe runs to her and she calls his name and then expires.
Julia documents the horrifying events in her journal but writes that they pale in comparison to what could be a new and important discovery. She adds that she will confront the monster in his lair at sunset.
As the sun sets, she makes her way to the Old House and lets herself in. Willie grabs her and frantically asks what she's doing there, saying she needs to leave. She asks for Barnabas and Willie says he's not there, but she says he'll be there soon since the sun will soon set and that's the time he comes out. She finds the door to the basement and begins to descend the stairway while he pleads with her to come back upstairs. She enters the room with his coffin and walks toward it as Willie continues to beg her to leave. She lifts the lid to the coffin and Barnabas' eyes fly open. She thrusts a cross in front of his face and he asks her to put it away as he covers his eyes. She says she can't, but he promises not to hurt her. She lowers the cross.
Willie stokes the fire and lights candles while Julia waits for Barnabas in the drawing room. He enters the room and Willie tries to explain how Julia barged in, but Barnabas tells him menacingly, "I'll see you later!" Willie leaves the room looking distraught.
Barnabas sits down with Julia and tells her she was brave to come there. She says she wouldn't have come if she didn't think she could help him. He asks how she could help him and she tells him she could give him a normal life. She explains that she analyzed his victims' blood and found a destructive cell he carries in his bloodstream. She tells him that if the cell could be eliminated or made dormant, he could live normally, but he maintains the curse of his existence is beyond the realm of science. She asks if he wants a normal life and he asks if she believes anyone could enjoy an existence like his. He says he hasn't felt the warmth of the sun for 200 years, and has been compelled to commit acts that sadden and repulse him. She asks him to give her the chance to help him. He agrees and asks when they shall begin. She smiles.
Our thoughts
Christine: Much of this episode is pulled straight from HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, with the exception of Maggie and Roger getting it on, which may be disturbing to fans still making connections to the characters from the daytime drama.
John: Yeah, that relationship might be the creepiest thing we've seen in the show thus far. But they did make a point of showing Maggie pouring coffee, so we'd be reminded of her prior incarnation!
Christine: It's funny how quickly the family accepts the possibility that a vampire is in town, but are still unable to make the connection to their newly arrived cousin from England. You'd think Julia wouldn't be the only one to notice that Barnabas did not cast a reflection in the huge mirror hanging in the drawing room, and it's surprising he didn't position himself better to avoid revealing himself.
John: Yeah, again, everything is moving along at breakneck speed. Since when is David suddenly running into Vicki's embrace for comfort? And it took something happening to Joe to have Carolyn drop her party-girl look for a second. I almost didn't recognize her!
Christine: Barnabas tells Julia that he is saddened and repulsed by the acts he is forced to commit, but that's not how he looked when he was making out with Daphne before he finished her off. I imagine he also won't feel too sad later when he beats the living daylights out of Willie for allowing Julia to find him in his coffin.
John: Yeah. Willie's not much of a guard. But about dear, dead Daphne... I have so many questions! Why was there blood all over
her body when Joe and the Deputy found her? Do you think Barnabas flew
off with her, and once he had his fill, he dropped her to the ground — and she broke? Did the family have her hair done before she was buried, or are we to believe she went to a vampire beauty salon after death to give it that
ravishing-vampiress look? I guess we'll never know the answers to these questions, now that her claim has been staked!
Oh! You have won me over with a wonderful image of Dr. Hoffman in her glasses with NO lenses! We didn’t get through all of the revival series but we hit a dead stop going back over a scene where Julia’s looking up and we’re asking, “Where’s the reflection?” And my sweetheart giggled, “Sure, wear these. They don’t have any lenses but no one will notice!” XD
ReplyDelete(I do realise this is/was sometimes done so the audience shan’t notice a reflection of the film crew in said lenses, and those glasses being so big this was likely to happen.)
I was going through this and also wondering, hmm, maybe something Curtis might have been influence by, or the casting, was perhaps the vampire in “Fright Night” from 1985. Ben Cross has a similar allure in a television fashion that Chris Sarandon had in that film. Just a thought.
The other thing that I was musing in the notes was about Maggie Evans. I realise that if we go back to the earlier 1960’s Maggie with the blonde wig, which changed pretty quickly in the original, this might have been closer to where her character would have gone. So it’s less of an “Ewl!” and more a “Hmm...” to me when I look back.
Thanks for going through this series and sharing.