I don't blame you, Joey! Script by Violet Welles, and this has to be one of the weirdest dream sequences ever to be shown on TV. I can only imagine that somebody thought the plot needed to be bumped up a notch or something.
Barnabas and Quentin argue (again) about why Barnabas wants to help. At one point they are standing on either side of a small table on which a lamp is burning, and they both looked very good reflected over that lamp.
In any case, we are reminded that in 1969, Barnabas has a houseful of guests, because Quentin the ghost has taken over the Great House.
NB does do a good job with her Judy puppet, which seems to bear a strong resemblence to Minerva Trask. Elizabeth, Roger, and Carolyn finally prevail on David to make a wish and blow out the candles on his birthday cake. When he does, he looks up--and realizes he is alone.
I told them I didn't want to blow out the candles! David wails. I told them I was afraid to be left alone in the dark! Quentin finally speaks to him: I’m still here, he says. He is quite unlike the evil creature who killed two people and drove everyone out of Collinwood. Oh, Quentin, David says, relieved, then pleads. Don’t leave me. Gently Quentin promises, I’ll never leave you, even after it’s all over. After what’s all over? David asks. Your life, replies Quentin. I won’t even leave you after you die. I won’t die for a very long time, David says. I’m a young boy. A dying boy, Quentin tells him solemnly. David is horrified. No one else would tell you that, Quentin says, but you have a right to know. Why did they all go away? David asks. The look of death makes the living very uncomfortable, David, Quentin explains. I learned that--you will too. I don’t understand, David says. Why couldn’t they see me? Quentin asks, anticipating the question. It’s because I’m dead. You will be too, very soon. Holding on to the chairs to get up from the table, David walks away from him. I don’t want to die! he cries out. It won’t be bad, Quentin assures him. It will be quick and painless, over before you know it, like your life--your short little life. Will they miss me? David asks forlornly. For a little while, Quentin answers, but after a time, they’ll get over it. Then I’ll be all alone, David frets, his terror mounting. No, you won’t be--you’ll be with me, Quentin assures him. You’ll like that, won’t you? Yes, David stammers, but I don’t want to die! he wails again. No one does, Quentin assures him, but you can’t pick and choose. I didn’t want to die either but I had to. Why? David asks. Quentin answers, Three things happened--three things of many, many things. If I could have changed any one of them, known what they meant while they were happening, maybe I wouldn’t have died when I did. What three things? David asks. The first was the discovery of a silver bullet at Collinwood. The second was that the one person who could have helped me, who could have kept me alive, was murdered. Who was it? David asks. I can’t tell you everything, Quentin answers, not yet. The third thing was the worst one: The one person in this world who truly loved me turned against me. Once that happened, there was practically no time left for Quentin Collins. I’m frightened, David says. Don’t be, Quentin tells him, it won’t be so bad. Why don’t you sit down and eat your cake. Then he cuts a piece and serves it. David sticks his fork into it--but the cake is made of Styrofoam. It isn’t real! he exclaims in dismay. It’s a make believe cake for a make-believe birthday! Make the most of it, Quentin advises, it’s the last one you’re ever going to have. We hear the Judy puppet sing Happy Birthday in a hideous, mocking falsetto.
We return to the present--that is, 1897--as Jamison tells Barnabas in a trembling voice, When the song was done, David Collins was dead. I woke up screaming because it was so frightening! That was the whole dream? Barnabas asks gently. Yes, Jamison replies, except for one other thing: Everyone was wearing strange clothes except for Quentin--and he was dead. Why? The vampire replies, No one can answer all the questions that come up in a dream. Jamison observes, I have the feeling that you can. I understand some of it, Barnabas admits. Jamison says accusingly, I think you can answer_all_ the questions! You _know_!
Later, Judith and Charity discuss Dorcas Trilling while Quentin drinks brandy. Judith wants to set up a scholarship fund in her memory. Charity thinks dear old Dad will be pleased and reminisces about poor Dorcas's mangled, bloody corpse. He's an animal who doesn't know what he's doing! he shouts, falling back on his old excuse. And you, he snarls at Judith, offering a reward, are just as bloodthirsty as he is. I notice you said _he_, Judith comments. Quentin pours himself another drink. It's an animal, that's all, he insists. That's what we are discussing. I forbid you to have another drink! Judith huffs. Quentin bursts into wild laughter and says to Charity, Have your father give my sister another gold star for her record! She'll buy that seat in heaven yet!
Barnabas arrives and tells the others that Jamison is in bed and that he (B.) wants a word with Judith. Quentin also wants to hear it too, and Barn agrees. He explains, David Collins doesn’t exist, he explains, but is someone Jamison has created to act out what’s troubling him--his fear of death--a re-creation of what happened to his mother. (Apparently Julia has brought him up to date with Freudian psychology.) “David Collins” is a person Jamison made up to deal with that anxiety. Barnabas continues, In his dream, Jamison saw people dressed in funny clothes, as if in a masquerade--a disguise for what he’s thinking and feeling through the medium of the dream. it’s nothing to do with reality, but a clue as to what’s happening in his mind. Judith swallows this whole. Thank you for talking to Jamison, she tells Barnabas as Quentin looks on skeptically. He was very upset, Judith continues--I want to look in on him. But before she can, Edward returns to the house. Are you all right? Judith asks him. You look troubled. I’m all right, Edward assures her, but I found a strange thing on the path. I thought at first it was a coin, but it’s a bullet. He holds it up for everyone to see, then hands it to Judith as he adds, A silver bullet. What would anyone want with a silver bullet? Judith wonders. Of course it has a special significance for Quentin never heard Jamison’s account of his dream, but the silver bullet has a special significance for him, and he starts in reaction. In his mind Barnabas hears the words Quentin the ghost spoke in Jamison’s dream about the three things that happened before he died: If I could have changed any one of them, known what they meant while they were happening, maybe I wouldn’t have died when I did. The first was the discovery of a silver bullet at Collinwood....
[DS Wiki has a very nice frame grab of what I assume is the last shot of this episode, showing Barnabas's dismayed expression as he recalls Quentin the ghost's warning.]
