Dark Shadows Episode 221: Barnabas Starts To Mingle

"Nightime in itself can be lonely. But then one gets used to loneliness. It's part of existence" says Barnabas Collins to Maggie Evans after he has surprised her at the cafe as she is closing. She invites him in to have a cup of coffee. She is quite surprised to learn he is a Collins. That is big news in Collinsport. 

Maggie Evans comments that Barnabas' cane is very unique, and probably valuable. He says it is his prized possession, and quite valuable. Then dogs, not wolves begin to howl, and Maggie Evans wonders why they are baying so much lately. Barnabas says he wonders, too, slyly.

After Barnabas leaves Joe Haskell shows up and says he and Maggie should go to the Blue Whale, but as he says it Maggie discovers Barnabas has left his cane at the cafe. Maggie says they should return it to Barnabas that night, and Joe agrees. Joe wonder why the dogs are kicking up such a fuss.

Sidenote: Think I might watch Mannix and ride my Schwinn Airdyne after this.

The door to the Old House opens, and Maggie and Joe enter. No one appears to be home. They notice the candles are burning and conclude someone must be there. Barnabas startles Maggie again, and Barnabas is surprised to learn Joe Haskell is with Maggie. They leave quickly, and Willie appears and questions Barnabas while they were there and what he plans to do with Maggie.

The episode concludes with Barnabas forcing Willie out to feed again, and Maggie Evans telling Joe Haskell she has the feeling that someone is staring at her, someone she can't see. 

At two episodes a night my rudimentary math skills tell me I have two years of this still to go.







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Dark Shadows Episode 220: Willie's Strong Now

Willie Loomis seems to be feeling a lot better. He no longer looks ghoulish.

Willie seems to have made a miraculous recovery, and agrees to leave Collinwood. First he tries to apologize to Victoria Winters and Elizabeth Stoddard, but his words fall on deaf ears. Jason gives Willie the $500 and tells him to go to town.

After Willie departs Barnabas arrives to ask Elizabeth Stoddard has given any more thought to allowing him to stay at the Old House. She says she has decided to allow him to stay there, and gives him the keys. They are old and rusty. Barnabas says he has plans to restore the house. Victoria is very interested in this possibility, and Barnabas says she can come by any time she feels like it.

Barnabas returns to the Old House to find he has a visitor. You'll never guess who it is. "This will be our home from now on.There will be much for you to do." 

A wolf howls. 



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Dark Shadows Episode 219: I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One On TV

"A dawn obscured by mists from the sea slowly creeps towards Collinwood. Through the morning mist a man emerges from the darkest pit a man can know." Victoria narrates the introduction of episodes she's not in. I wonder if she will be the narrator for many future episodes. So begins episode 219 of Dark Shadows.

Willie appears at dawn. Through the front door. It makes me wonder why for such a large estate, why there aren't any other entrances one might sneak into. Jason McGuire is waiting to confront him. He wants to know one thing, and one thing only: why he went to the cemetery. Will he get an answer?

"You were looking for the jewels, Willie." Contrary to my hunch that Jason McGuire had caught on to the fact that Willie is a vampire, he believes he is simply in it to rob the jewels that are supposedly buried in Barnabas Collins' coffin.

Personal feeling: I am happy to be watching these episodes, but saddened to think I will very quickly remember almost nothing of what I have seen. I will use this blog as an external hard drive. Perhaps the experience of typing these blogs will help me remember. I went to Cub Scouts with Jack tonight and we built a birdhouse. I was completely unprepared for the experience, but I remained calm, and we managed to finish it. I was proud of us. Back to Dark Shadows.

Willie sees a way to deflect suspicion from his real malady and agrees he was looking for the jewels. Jason insists he will now leave town on the next bus. Willie insists he is sick and returns to bed.

Roger Collins confronts Willie in the early afternoon and demands he leave. He applauds Willie's "performance." He does not believe Willie is sick. Jason McGuire tries to convince Roger Willie is suffering from a strange illness, and they agree to bring in a doctor.

The sheriff calls wanting to see Roger Collins. But he will not mention why he wants to see Roger.

Jason calls the doctor.

What I learned: There IS a phone at Collinwood.

Roger's meeting with the Sheriff does not go as expected. He is told the animals from many local farms have been drained of blood. The reason Roger would be consulted is because the Collins family owns many of those farms. 

Meanwhile, the doctor gives his diagnosis of Willie. He is not sick. He is suffering from a loss of blood. An enormous loss of blood. Why the doctor doesn't consider this an illness makes no sense, but what am I, a doctor? 

The episodes without Barnabas Collins seem more like they exist more to move the story forward and provide details than anything else. This one was slightly dull. 








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Dark Shadows Episode 218: Will Barnabas Move In?

"There are those who walk the path of darkness. Those who can never be good."

So opines Victoria Winters in the introduction to episode 218 of Dark Shadows. 

Will Barnabas Collins return in this episode?

The question is answered early in the episode as Barnabas has his eyes on Jason McGuire after he exits the Collins crypt where Willie Loomis seemed to disappear.

Meanwhile at the New House Roger and Elizabeth discuss inviting Barnabas to stay, unaware he has been staying at the Old House all along. 

As they discuss Barnabas, he arrives at the door, and Roger asks him where he has been staying. They invite him to stay at the New House, but he counterproposes that he'd like to stay at the Old House. They say it in in decay and uninhabitable. Barnabas disagrees. Barnabas gives an impassioned speech about his branch of the family and he feels such a connection to the Old House. 

Barnabas encourages Roger to talk Elizabeth into letting him stay at the Old House. Meanwhile, she has gone to ask Jason McGuire about Willies' whereabouts. She tells him she is going to end the nonsense, but he once again threatens her with going to the police. What is the secret they are hiding in the basement?

Roger Collins withdraws to get an address for a shipyard Barnabas intends to visit, and Jason McGuire enters the room. He meets Barnabas, and insists the two have met before. Have they? 

Jason remarks he has head some unusual stories about Barnabas Collins the ancestor. Barnabas asks what sort of stories, and Jason says he was supposed to have been buried with all his jewelry. Jason slyly insinuates that someone buried with such a cache of jewelry might invite a grave robber, seeming to indicate he has put two and two together and suspects Willie Loomis may have disturbed Barnabas' coffin and fallen prey to his vampirism. 

Will the two become foes? If so it seems Jason McGuire is destined to get the short end of that stick. But who knows.

Vampire rules: In one scene Barnabas exits the tomb and places his hand upon a stone cross. Does this violate the vampire's terms of service, or does the cross only apply to certain situations?

Overall, a very weighty and entertaining episode. I learned that Roger claims he, Barnabas, and Elizabeth Stoddard are the three remaining members of the Collins family, although I am sure in future episodes more appear. Where do they come from? I guess I'll find out. On to episode 219. 

Question: Will Barnabas Collins ever appear in two consecutive episodes?




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I Wonder What Skullduggery Ross Martin Is Up To Tonight

Did Ross Martin ever not play a bad guy after The Wild, Wild West? I guess he just has one of those faces. He's on McCloud tonight, and although he hasn't done anything nefarious yet, I'm convinced that he will. And get caught at the end.

I think I saw him a few weeks ago on Banicek, trying to match wits with Banicek and generally being an arrogant jerk. 

Ross Martin on The Twilight Zone

Anyway, I want to talk about this apple I'm eating. I needed to buy some for the kids at the supermarket over the weekend, and I know they know make apples with actual flavor after decades of red delicious apples that tasted like eating cardboard. The closer I got to the apples the more people swooped in and seemed intent on not moving. Normally when people do this I just go look at something else, but this time I really just wanted to get in there and get some tasty apples and get moving on, so I hung in there. I saw one bag that said Pacific roses, and that sounded tasty, so I grabbed a bag. I'm trying one tonight for the first time, and it's not that great. After a lifetime of expecting apples to taste like pulp I now really get excited about biting into one, but these are very lackluster. 

No moon again tonight. Too much cloud cover, which is a shame because this cleansing snow moon, as I have heard it called, has been fun to look at. I could see it if I went up to bed. It was really bright last night, but I'd like to see it outside the window as I work downstairs and wait for Ross Martin to unveil whatever villainous plan he's about to hatch.

Maybe Ross Martin will reveal he's from Saturn at the end of tonight's McCloud episode

I was writing earlier about the difference between outsider and outlaw poetry, but only just earlier I had a feeling I might be near the end of this jag I'm on. 

I wonder how long McCloud was in New York City in the span of the television series, and if the police chief was threatening to send him back to New Mexico in every episode. 

Maybe I will go upstairs to bed and look at the moon from there and listen to the radio with my earphones. 

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