Dark Shadows Episode 1076 8/10/70

You can stream today's episode free on TubiTV! 

David and Hallie stand outside the door where they hear music playing. She reads a note which says when the music stops, the play begins. The music stops, and David wonders what will happen. Hallie starts to leave, and the door opens on its own, revealing the playroom inside, where there was once a closet. They go inside. Hallie can't believe it, saying the door led to a closet before. David tells her the music was coming from the carousel.

Hallie appears to have a change of heart, and names the horses in the carousel. David wonders who all the toys and junk belonged to, and she doesn't understand him. He tells her that whatever game she's trying to play isn't funny. He refers to her by her name, and she explains that her name isn't Hallie. She says she can't remember her name. David turns off the carousel and asks why she can't remember her name. Hallie reverts to normal and says they shouldn't be there.

They suddenly smell lilacs. Hallie runs out of the room, and David follows her. Inside the room, Daphne turns the carousel back on.

Quentin comes downstairs and finds Julia asleep in the drawing room. She wakes, and he tells her that the sun's up—it's morning—and the children are alright. She asks if something may have happened that they don't know about. Quentin suggests Carolyn's warning may have meant nothing at all—the ravings of a madwoman. Julia tells him that the whole house was in ruins, and he and Carolyn were insane. She says the clues may not help, but they are their only guide to avert disaster.

Hallie is looking at the dress when there's a knock on her door. She puts it back in a drawer as David comes in. He asks why she ran away last night. She says she doesn't want the woman to appear to them again. David reminds her that she appeared not to understand him last night, and she says she doesn't know what he's talking about. She takes the dress out of her drawer and says she's putting it up in the attic.

Quentin pours himself a drink. Julia walks in. He explains he's lonely without a woman in his life. Julia says she's going into town to research Gerard Stiles. He compliments her on her look, and the perfume she's wearing. She tells him she's not wearing any. She asks him to describe the scent, and he's unable. She leaves him alone in the drawing room, pondering the scent. He then realizes that it's the scent of lilacs.

Quentin runs into Julia in the cemetery. He says he comes there to think, and asks how her research went. She says she found nothing on Stiles. She shows Quentin his tombstone. Julia asks him if Daphne's tombstone means anything to him, and he denies it. Julia says he talked about Daphne in the future—he was fascinated with her. Julia explains that she was very beautiful, and that everywhere she was seen, there was the smell of lilacs. Quentin denies any awareness, and walks her back to Collinwood.

Hallie and David come downstairs after putting the dress away. Hallie hears the music from the playroom. David says he doesn't hear anything, and thinks she's just making it up.

Hallie returns to the playroom. She walks inside and sees the ghost of Daphne. She says she knew she'd be there. Daphne holds the orange dress out to Hallie, who says she doesn't want it. She refuses to take it at first, but ultimately concedes.

Quentin thinks about Daphne and his smelling lilacs earlier. He sits down and nods off. In his dream,  Daphne enters the drawing room with an armful of lilacs. He calls to her, but she backs out of the room. He wakes up and finds the lilacs on the table.

Our thoughts:

John: I thought for a minute Quentin was going to make a move on Julia, only to be foiled by the writers' need to reiterate the plot point of the lilac scent.

Christine: I thought they were reinforcing the point that Quentin was lonely enough to fall in love with a ghost. Where's Maggie anyway? Perhaps if she were doing her job the kids wouldn't be instigating the fall of Collinwood by playing with ghosts, and Quentin could get his groove on with a real live woman. 

John: Great ghostly look for Daphne as she goes to hand Hallie the dress. Best stoic ghost face since Quentin first wandered the halls of Collinwood.

Christine: She wins the title of scariest ghost on the show thus far. It was clear to see why Hallie took the dress back. 

John: I was hoping that our Catasto-tracker would come into play today, but it appears that they'll be dragging Carolyn's clues out for the next few weeks at this rate...

Christine: Let's hope the Catastro-tracker doesn't run as long as the Round Robin Nightmare tracker did!

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

Dark Shadows Episode 535 - 7/12/68

Amazon Prime members can stream today's episode free!

Vicki is in the drawing room when Julia returns to Collinwood. She says she thought it would be Barnabas, and Julia says he's on his way to see her. She asks why, and Julia says he knows how much she's suffering trying to protect him. Julia tells her she can't tell him the dream if she's not there, and they go upstairs to pack a bag. As they are about to go upstairs, Barnabas enters. He says he can't allow her to torture herself. She runs into the drawing room and closes the doors. Julia tries to stop him from going in, and she says she can call professor Stokes. He says if she calls him in, she'll have to tell him things that he should not know. He says his fate was sealed when Angelique returned. Julia tries to block the door, but moves when Barnabas tells her to.

Vicki cowers against the wall. Barnabas says he's ready. She says she'll never tell him the dream, and he must go away. She says she won't until Cassandra gives up. Barnabas assures her she will never give up. Barnabas asks her what happened to him in the dream. She says she doesn't want to see him... die. He asks if she saw him die at the end of the dream, and she says no. He knows she's lying. He implores her to tell him what she saw.

She asks what Angelique has against him. He says it must be that he's a direct descendant of Barnabas. Vicki says the history books say Barnabas went to England, but he didn't. He stayed in Collinwood, and died in the old house after marrying Angelique. She says that's what the riddle means. Barnabas says he has loved very few things in his lifetime, but he loves her, and he will go to his grave before he sees her life destroyed. He sits her down, and she begins to tell him the dream.

Barnabas leaves the drawing room, and Julia realizes Vicki told him the dream. He says Vicki is crying, and asks Julia to comfort her. She says she wants to stay with him, and he tells her to tend to Vicki. He leaves and Julia goes to Vicki. She tells her she won't feel frightened any more. Vicki asks if they can do anything for Barnabas. Julia says time has always been Barnabas' greatest enemy. More cruel than any witch. Vicki points out that Julia was close with Barnabas. Julia assures her she had to do what she did.

Cassandra enters and asks why Vicki is crying. Julia walks up and slaps her across the face, and leaves. Cassandra tells her she'll regret that. Vicki tells her she deserved more than a slap in the face, and goes to her room.

In the old house, Barnabas takes a pill. Julia enters and says he looks calm. She offers to give him a pill to keep him awake, and he tells her he took a pill to help him sleep. She says as long as he's awake, there's a slim hope. He tells her he has instructed Willie what to do. He will assist Julia when he reverts to what he was. Willie will bring a wooden stake and a hammer for her to drive through his heart. He gets her to promise him that she'll do it. She does, and he drifts off to sleep. She sits in a chair and watches him.

Barnabas dreams. There's a knock at the door. He answers it, and it's Cassangelique. He tells her he knew it would be her. She leads him to a door. He tells her he doesn't fear her, or what is in the room. She locks the door behind him. He asks her which door to take, and she will have won. He hears her speak the riddle.

He hears Josette's music box, and opens his first door. He sees the wide-eyed skull. Behind the next door is the skeletal bride. The third door he opens is the guillotine. He approaches the fourth door, and opens it to see the blazing sunshine. He goes in, and again we see the exterior of the old house. Barnabas enters through the double doors. He says he has come to the point of return, and is ready. Barnabas bolts up, saying Cassandra's name.

Julia asks if he's alright, and he says he doesn't know. She asks if he had the dream, and he says he did, and that nothing happened. He doesn't understand. It was just as Vicki described it, up to the point where he was to find his body, and then he woke up. Julia says there must be a reason the dream was different. Barnabas says he survived the dream, and he is now completely free of Angelique. He says something went wrong with her curse, and he's sure it's all over now.

He tells her to go get Willie. She doesn't want to leave him alone, but she does. There's a knock at the door. He asks who it is, but there is no answer. He steps outside and sees no one. A bat shadow appears and he screams, clutching his throat.

Our thoughts

John: Gotta love Barnabas. Standing in the doorway of Collinwood, looking so cool. And then he hits himself with the door, trying to close it behind him!

Christine: That's what makes him so lovable. It was quite the tender moment when he told Vicki that he loved her. 

John: Nice bitch slap, Julia! I only wish Vicki had doubled down on it!

Christine: It certainly was a nice delivery. I would have liked to have seen Vicki rip off her wig and stomp on it. It's mystifying that Cassandra continues her pretense that she's not Angelique to the characters who all know that she is, even in Barnabas' dream! I wonder what she'll do now that she's finally satisfied her thirst for revenge. Will she and Nicholas take off on their brooms, or stick around to torment the Collins family for the heck of it? I guess she has to get Julia back for that slap, while Nicholas is poised to put the moves on Maggie Evans.

John: So we arrive at the end of the dream curse. And Barnabas was dumb enough to think he survived it, which, let's face it, after all this time would be quite anticlimactic. But shame on the filmmakers, who stumbled along the way creating the menagerie of nightmare fodder for the dream curse, to have not even gone to the expense of the bat-puppet on a string to close this episode out.

Christine: My thoughts exactly. Was the bat by Bil Baird out on tour and unavailable to perform in this episode? That truly would have been the point of return. What a let down to end the dream curse that way. On the other hand, thank goodness the dream curse has finally run it's course!

Dark Shadows Before I Die Round Robin Nightmare tracker (bold appearing in this episode):

1. Wide-eyed skull
2. Guillotine
3. Lang's Headless creation
4. Skeletal bride 
5. Educational Bat-footage
6. Giant spider-web 
7. Mounted wolf's head 
8. Carolyn's tombstone 
9. Maggie with Sam's coffin 
10. Blazing sunshine and a tour of the old house

Dark Shadows Episode 534 - 7/11/68

Amazon Prime members can stream today's episode free!

Barnabas finds a note under his door. It appears to be from Vicki. It says she is saying goodbye and thanks him for all he did for her. She says she is leaving because staying will only lead him to harm, and she would rather die than inflict it upon him. He grabs his cane and rushes out the door.

Vicki hears the music from Josette's music box, which then stops. There's a knock at the door, and she answers it, shocked to see Barnabas. She begs him not to come in, and she asks him to return to the old house. He says she can't go through with what she said in the note left under his door. He's surprised, as he says he knows her handwriting. She looks at the note and says it is her handwriting, but she didn't write it. He says Cassandra tricked him, and it worked. Vicki says it hasn't worked yet. Julia comes downstairs and tells Vicki to go into the drawing room. Julia asks why he's there, and he says Cassandra sent a note in Vicki's handwriting, saying she would kill herself.

Julia tells Vicki she knows what she's going through. Vicki tells her she's known fear before but nothing like this. She assures Julia that she will never tell Barnabas. She goes upstairs and Carolyn enters. She says she was visiting Joe in the hospital. She says the doctors say he should be able to leave the hospital in 2-3 weeks. She says they talked about several things, and then asked Julia if someone could jump from Widow's Hill and live. She's surprised that Adam is still out there, and no one talked to her about it. Carolyn asks Julia where Adam would stay. She says he must be hiding somewhere.

Adam is in the root cellar he had taken Carolyn to when she approaches and opens the door. He hides as she enters. He then grabs her, and she asks him to let her go, as she's his friend. He does. She says she knew he'd come there. He asks her what she wants, and she says she thought he might need help. He grabs her and asks if she brought the police, and she swears she came alone. She tells him she's hurting her, and he lets her go.

She says she came to help him because he saved her, but now he seems to have changed into what people thought he was to begin with. She says if he doesn't trust her, she'll leave and won't come back. He asks her to please stay with him. She says she can't stay long, but she can try to help him. She notices that he has learned more words since they last were together. He shows off his extended vocabulary. When he gets to hair, he strokes hers.

She asks who helped him learn, and he says Stokes. She asks if he was staying with Stokes, and he says yes. She asks why he didn't go back there, and he says the professor is angry with him. She asks if the professor knows where he is, and Adam says no. She asks if he was happy with Stokes, and Adam says yes. She says she can take him back to Stokes, but Adam doesn't want to go. She says she'll bring Stokes so he can tell Adam that he's not angry with him. Adam asks her to stay, and she says she's going to get help. He says she won't come back, and she assures him she will. He opens the door for her, and she leaves.

Barnabas throws the fake note into the fire. Julia returns to the old house, and asks how he feels. He asks her how any man feels while waiting for the executioner. He asks why she isn't with Vicki. She tells him Vicki is locked in her room. Barnabas asks how many more times she can have the dream and survive. He says he's a selfish fool. Vicki is strong and courageous while he does nothing about it. He says he's going to go to Vicki and let her tell him the dream. Julia encourages him to wait longer.

Julia says they both know that if he has the dream he won't die, but something worse will happen. Barnabas tells Julia he asked Cassandra to release Vicki from the curse, in exchange for his vowing to lover her. He says that Cassandra did not respond to his offer, and so he must put a stop to Vicki's suffering.

Our thoughts

John: Did you get that Vicki was going to kill herself rather than share the dream with Barnabas? I understood she was willing to suffer to protect him, but suicide?

Christine: It sounded to me like her note was just saying she was going to leave, but I think his flair for melodrama may have caused him to believe that when the note said she would rather die than inflict the dream upon him, it implied a plan to kill herself. Angelique surely must have known that when she wrote it.

John: How much better can Joe be doing if the doctors won't let him leave the hospital for several weeks? Sounds like a lot more than just a concussion!

Christine: It's 1968. Back in those days, they didn't send you home with your IV bottle after a day to tend to yourself. It seems most characters have lengthy stays at the hospital or Windcliff whenever it's their turn for some vacation time.

John: Nice to see Carolyn back to spend more time with her latest squeeze, Adam. She now knows what Stokes is up to, and she'll think it's all good, despite his being responsible for Sam's death and Joe's hospitalization. Still, a better caliber guy than some of her previous boyfriends...

Christine: You're saying Adam is better than Joe or Buzz? Or are you referring to her sick relationship with her cousin Barnabas? Is Carolyn now having some kind of Frankenfantasy date with Adam? This girl is messed up!


Dark Shadows Before I Die Round Robin Nightmare tracker (bold appearing in this episode):

1. Wide-eyed skull
2. Guillotine
3. Lang's Headless creation
4. Skeletal bride 
5. Educational Bat-footage
6. Giant spider-web 
7. Mounted wolf's head 
8. Carolyn's tombstone 
9. Maggie with Sam's coffin 
10. Blazing sunshine and a tour of the old house

Dark Shadows Episode 532/533 - 7/10/68

Amazon Prime members can stream today's episode free!

Vicki comes out of her room and finds Maggie awake and worried about Joe. She realizes something is wrong with Vicki, who tells her she had the dream last night. She says it ended with Barnabas dead, attacked by some wild animal. She's afraid that she'll tell Barnabas the dream, and then he'll die. Maggie tells her just not to tell Barnabas. Vicki asks her to remember how she felt until she told someone about the dream.

The phone rings, and it's word that Joe has been in an accident. Maggie rushes out, saying Willie and Barnabas found Joe in the woods, and he's at the hospital. She asks her to wait, as she doesn't want to be left in the house alone.

There's a knock at the door of Collinwood, and Blair answers it to find Barnabas. He says he's there to see Cassandra. Blair says she's still sleeping, and Barnabas asks him to wake her. Blair goes upstairs to do that.

Maggie and Vicki arrive at the hospital, and are excited to find that Joe is conscious. He says he owes his life to Barnabas. There's a knock at the door and the sheriff enters. He asks Joe what happened.

Joe says Stokes wouldn't let him search the house for Adam. He says Adam appeared, and wouldn't let Joe call the authorities. He ran into the woods, and when Joe caught him, Adam knocked him out. Maggie asks the sheriff if he's going to talk to Stokes, and he says yes, the professor is in bad trouble.

Blair brings Cassandra downstairs to see Barnabas. He says he needs to see her alone, and she asks her brother to excuse them.

She asks what he wants to say. He tells her that he realizes that she has won again. He calls her Angelique, and says there's no need to play the game any longer. She denies that's who she is, and he says he will indulge her by calling her Cassandra Collins. She goes to leave, and he says she'll regret it if she does. He asks her not to interrupt him, and then he will leave quietly. He says that Vicki has had the dream, but her strength of character will not allow her to share it with him, causing her to suffer. He says he will not allow that to happen, and so he will submit to Cassandra's desires. If she stops Vicki's suffering, he promises to love her and be faithful for all time.

He tells her she can find him at the old house when she makes her decision. He leaves, and she wonders if he could truly love her.

Maggie enters Collinwood while Vicki waits by the door. She checks the foyer and drawing room, and tells her she can come in. Blair enters the foyer and is surprised to see Vicki. She excuses herself and goes upstairs. Blair eyes Maggie, and introduces himself as Cassandra's brother. He says Cassandra mentioned her, but she wasn't as he expected. He says she's far more beautiful than he could have imagined. She explains she needs to return to the hospital, and he offers to drive her.

In the hospital, the sheriff is in the hall when Maggie returns. He tells her Stokes corroborated Joe's story, but denies knowing Adam. Stokes says Adam begged for food, he fed him, and that was the extent of his knowledge. He tells Maggie that he needs to find the person or persons who have been protecting Adam.

Cassandra is admiring Barnabas' portrait when Blair returns. He asks if she knows Vicki has returned, and she says yes, but she may not need to talk to her. She tells him that Barnabas came to her admitting defeat. He promised to love her, and she believed he was sincere. Blair says he helped her return for only one reason—revenge. He barks at her that an alliance between she and Barnabas is out of the question. He tells her to go upstairs and have a chat with Vicki, as Vicki comes downstairs.

Cassandra mentions Barnabas had been there earlier, looking for her. Vicki calls her an evil, selfish and wicked liar. She says it's not going to work; that her dream is not going to work. She says she'll die before she tells Barnabas, and leaves the room.

Blair returns and says he likes her. Cassandra says she won't go to Barnabas, and Blair says they'll bring Barnabas to her. He tells Cassandra to write a letter to Barnabas in Vicki's handwriting.

Our thoughts

John: I realize it has been 200 years, but doesn't Barnabas remember that there's no appeasing Angelique? Hell, he was already married to her once...

Christine: Yes, but while he was married to her he hung Josette's portrait over the mantle, then planned to betray Angelique by running off with Josette, and when she tried to stop him by stabbing Sarah's doll with pins, he shot her. So, really she should be the one to remember that he's not very good at keeping his promise to be faithful.

John: I don't know what's creepier. Blair's hitting on Maggie, or her being impressed by his creepy comments?

Christine: Was she impressed or was she uncomfortable? I couldn't help thinking of this scene:

John: Go Vicki! No more pussy-footing around with Cassandra. I wish Roger or Liz had been there to see Cassandra put in her place. Of course, I was a little surprised Blair wasn't more upset with her at that point. Her inability to close the deal has been getting to him.

Christine: Is it Cassandra's lack of motivation to follow through on her revenge plot that bugs him, or the fact that she's swooning over Barnabas again, which makes her act foolish? What's up with the characters peeking through the partially opened drawing room doors today?

Dark Shadows Before I Die Round Robin Nightmare tracker (bold appearing in this episode):

1. Wide-eyed skull
2. Guillotine
3. Lang's Headless creation
4. Skeletal bride 
5. Educational Bat-footage
6. Giant spider-web 
7. Mounted wolf's head 
8. Carolyn's tombstone 
9. Maggie with Sam's coffin 
10. Blazing sunshine and a tour of the old house