Dark Shadows Episode 439 - 2/29/68

Amazon Prime members can stream today's episode free!

Barnabas rises from his coffin and asks Ben if he saw Trask. Ben explains that Joshua kept him busy so he never got to town. Barnabas tells him that Trask's dreams will get worse. Ben asks what he's planning, and Barnabas tells him that he will see. Ben tells him that whatever happens to Trask will be blamed on Vicki. Barnabas suggests that they could keep Trask in the old house. He tells Ben to make arrangements to wall in a part of the basement. Ben says he can't stomach more killing.  He tells Barnabas he'll have to make do without him. Barnabas reminds Ben that he knows too much and he has no choice but to help him. Ben tells him to go ahead and kill him if he has to. Barnabas says he can't hurt Ben, and explains there's nothing either of them can do.

A drunk Ben is in the Eagle with a prostitute, Maudie.

He asks if she knew what happened to Ruby, trying to warn her about being out alone at night. She gives up on him as he's more interested in drinking, and runs into Nathan and a friend (Noah) coming in. Nathan points out Ben to his friend, and introduces him to Maude, who says to look for him in an hour. Nathan tells his friend to find out what he can about Barnabas, and leaves.

Noah joins Ben and asks if there are any jobs available at Collinwood. He then presses him on Barnabas, and eventually Ben asks him what all the questions are about. He grabs him by the shirt collar and demands an answer.

Barnabas runs into Maudie on the docks. He tries to excuse himself, and she tries to convince him to stay. She feigns that she's going to faint, and he helps her. He asks if she's from around there, and she says she is not. She flirts with him, and he tells her she's pretty. He starts to leave, and he warns her she's not safe out tonight. She tells him she'll take her chances with him. He moves in to bite her and she screams.

They struggle, and Nathan hears the commotion. Barnabas hears Nathan and flees. He finds Maudie, and she says the strangler almost got her. She points out his cane, which Nathan recognizes.

Back in the Eagle, Nathan tells Maudie she should go to the police because she can identify the strangler. He asks her to describe him. She asks if he knows whose cane it was, and he tells her that his friend had one like it, but he's in England. Nathan asks her to describe the strangler. She says he didn't want to talk to her at first.

She then describes him as being handsome at first, and the hand that choked her had a ring that Nathan also recognizes as Barnabas'. He asks her not to tell anyone what she saw, and explains that she was lucky he heard her. He adds that she may not be the only lucky one tonight.

Our thoughts

John: Why is it that Ben can't get away from Barnabas? It seems like he could just skip town, and Barnabas would be screwed.

Christine: I wonder if Barnabas knows how to make a vampire servant yet, and if he'll consider it for Ben, so he'll give him less flak. Why is Ben so upset about making Trask suffer? He wasn't so moralistic when he was asking Angelique to turn Joshua into a jackass.

John: I'm curious about why Noah was introduced. His role digging up info from Ben seems less important now that Nathan has linked Barnabas to the strangler crimes.

Christine: Vampire meat, perhaps?

John: Considering we got two new characters introduced today, I'm all but willing to bet they're the equivalent of Star Trek red-shirted crew members. Look for one or both to be dead within a week...

Christine: We can only hope. So, it sounds like Barnabas wants to wall Trask up in the Old House where he takes his repose. Won't that be unpleasant for him to share his resting place with someone he loathes? Why not put him in the room where he'll keep Maggie in the future, or the secret room where Matthew kept Vicki?

John: Sadly, with today's episode, we finally lose sync with the 60s. As 1968 was a leap year, today's episode originally aired on February 29th, rather than March 1st. So for the foreseeable future, our Monday through Friday posts will be off by a day. At least until 2020 rolls around...

Christine: Not to worry. We'll be back in sync with the date when we get to Episode 961.

Did Maude steal Natalie duPrés' ring?

It appears to be the same ring the Countess wore in Episode 406.

Dark Shadows Episode 419 - 2/1/68

Amazon Prime members can stream today's episode free!

Barnabas begs Josette to leave him. He says there are powers controlling them, and she suggests that love is controlling them. She pleads with him to hold her in his arms, and he does. drawing her hair back and exposing her neck. He opens his mouth to bite her neck, but turns away.

She notices a change and he tells her he can't explain. He tells her if he had known what it meant when he asked her to wait, he never would have done so. She says she'll do anything to be with him. He reiterates that she was at his bedside when he died, and yet now he stands before her. He asks her how that could be possible. He tells her he lived up to his promise of returning to her, and now it must end. She asks why he seems frightened. He says his return is the result of a curse, and they must never see each other again.

Millicent tells Nathan it's getting late. He tells her he's almost ready. He's looking for a good date to be married in an almanac. He says the second of March will be perfect, and she points out that it's only a month away, and her cousin Joshua may not approve. He leans in to kiss her when Josette returns to the main house.

Millicent asks if she was out alone, and Josette says she went for a walk. Nathan lets it slip that they've picked a wedding date, and Josette does not seem to be impressed. She goes into the drawing room as Nathan leaves. Millicent joins her and offers her a glass of sherry. Josette turns it down. She says it's too late, and speaks of Barnabas telling her to wait, and then after returning, saying he no longer wants her. Millicent says Barnabas is in England, and Josette clarifies that she saw him tonight.

Nathan stops into the village bar for a nightcap. The Bartender, Mr. Mooney prepares one, and then stops a single woman entering, explaining that women must be escorted. Nathan says she's with him, and they sit down together.

He asks what she's doing, and she says she came to see her husband. She says after waiting for 8 months for financial support or even a letter, she began to think he didn't love her. She said sailors are easy to find, and he says that she would know. He says that if she tells him what she wants, he'll get it for her, and she can return home. She reminds him that he hasn't sent her the money he promised. She asks who he's seeing. He tells her it's not serious, and asks how much she wants to leave Collinsport.

She asks how much he has. He says he's got $300-400. She says to make it $400. He tells Mooney to bring the lady a drink, and he'll be back in a few minutes. He leaves, and Mooney asks if she's staying for the celebration. He says it's not every young man that gets to marry a Collins. She asks if that's Collins as in Collinsport, and Mooney says they own most everything in the village.

Josette tells Millicent that Barnabas did not go to England. She explains that Joshua made up that story. Millient asks if what happened tonight could just be a dream. Josette realizes she did have a dream earlier. A strange, almost frightening dream. In it, she saw where to find Barnabas: Eagle Hill Cemetery. When she found him, he told her it was over between them. Millicent tells her that she has a long journey ahead, and she needs rest. Josette says that if Barnabas doesn't want her any more, she should leave Collinwood. She says that she doesn't think she could live through two more days.

In the crypt, Barnabas thinks to himself that Josette will be gone in two days, and safe from him. He realizes he cannot see her again without making her like he is.

Our thoughts

John: Poor Millicent doesn't like to think very much? Ha! That's an understatement.

Christine: That is what's so fun about her role and relationship with Nathan Forbes. It seems that Joe and Carolyn's alter egos have switched roles. One might think her mistreatment of Joe was retribution for past life transgressions.

John: A new plot thread—Nathan's secret wife! Suki is awfully strong-willed for a woman of 1795. She must be a witch! Whatever she is, she had better be careful or she'll soon be on the bad side of the Collins' clan.

Christine: She seems more like she's in Ruby Tate's line of work, though she may just be a gold digger, much like Nathan. They seem very well suited to one another.

John: Two days, huh. Who wants to bet that Barnabas and Josette are reunited tomorrow?

Christine: Well, she says she doesn't think she can live through two more days, and I think that's also what the Collins family history book says. Nice to see that Barnabas remembered his fangs today.

John: Additions to our 1795 scorecard:

Present Day/1795

• Bartender Bob Rooney/Mr. Mooney

Christine: Bartender Bob O'Connell finally has enough dialogue to get on screen credit today, unlike the last time he had lines in Episode 319. I should also point out that George McCoy, who's been a regular Blue Whale customer lurking in the background since Episode 63, makes his last uncredited Dark Shadows appearance as a customer at the Eagle today. You may recognize him by the top of his head and hunched over posture.