Episode #233 - A violent storm rages over Collinwood. Its ferocity and terror reach everywhere, and out of the tempestuous blackness comes a horror that cannot be explained.
A classic! Vicki and Carolyn spend a while scaring each other with their fear until the lights flicker and go out at Collinwood.(http://www.dsboards.com/epimgs/0233-1.jpg)
They light candles to dispel the darkness a bit, but a lightning flash reveals the figure of a man standing in the doorway between the foyer and the living room. The girls shriek, only to find out it's cousin Barnabas, who apparently has stopped knocking on doors, too, and just let himself in. He apologizes for startling the ladies and asks about the electricity. One senses he gets great satisfaction from knowing this modern convenience can't always be relied on. He asks Vicki about Maggie and is pleased to learn she's doing better (wonder if he had any idea what a transfusion was when Vicki used the term?) They ask Barn to stay (fox in the henhouse!) and he decides to entertain/scare the crap out of them by relating some stories about ships crashing on the rocks below Widows' Hill, killing the sailors and leaving their weeping wives behind. As the girls stand there, transfixed and terrified,(http://www.dsboards.com/epimgs/0233-2.jpg)
he segues into the story of a young woman who was being chased by her lover. He catches up with her on the precipice of Widows' Hill and presses his lips to her throat. She tears herself out of his embrace and tumbles over, and is found by her lover at the foot of the hill, "Broken. . .lifeless. . .BLOODLESS!"--yet her face was serene, as though this death was what she had wanted. Carolyn, in tears, stops his tale in it's tracks and announces she's going up to bed. "Did my story startle you?" Barnabas asks. (no, just scare her nearly to death!) Carolyn heads up to bed; she's had enough. Vicki, however, not only seemed to enjoy the story, she has connected it, especially that "bloodless" part, to what's going on right now in Collinsport. The animals, Willie and Maggie all suffered blood loss, she reminds him, how odd that he uses that word. (doesn't this make you at all suspicious, Vicki?) His story was from the past, Barnabas reminds her, and she speaks of Maggie's sleepwalking and that strange phone call she got that sent the rescue team to Eagle Hill (no, she didn't recognize the voice of the caller, she tells him).(http://www.dsboards.com/epimgs/0233-3.jpg)
This whole thing just isn't logical, states Vicki, and Barnabas suggests, "Take care that what happened to her doesn't happen to you." When she questions him, he backsteps and says he just means SHE could get the same illness as Maggie. (oh, this just chills me alllll over!)
Jason joins them and Vicki bids the guys good night and goes upstairs. Jason suggests to Barnabas that Willie is up to something--he disappeared at the Eagle Hill cemetery, and he should consider firing him. Barnabas suggests Jason is being unduly suspicious, but Jason reminds him that Maggie was found in the cemetery and he believes Willie is involved somehow.(http://www.dsboards.com/epimgs/0233-4.jpg)
Willie hurt himself, says Jason, and gave no acceptable explanation for his injuries. That was merely a fall from a ladder, insists Barnabas. Willie can't be trusted, maintains Jason, and Barnabas mutters that perhaps it's time to take "steps."
One can only cower in fear on Willie's behalf as Barnabas returns to the Old House. "Willie!" he bellows three times, his voice growing harsher and louder. "WILLIE!" Barnabas screams, raising his cane as though taking a practice shot.
Yet another superior episode that proves why we still discuss this show all these years later!
Episode #234 - The night that now shrouds Collinwood seems to be standing still, its move toward morning seems to be forgotten. And even the mist from the sea doesn't stir the night air. But within the night itself, all is far from still--and suspended motionless within the dark, a violence seems to wait, ready to erupt.
(http://www.dsboards.com/epimgs/0234-1.jpg)
Willie cowers on the drawing room floor in the Old House, the victim of another of Barnabas' beatings. Willie rises, slowly, in pain, and denies making the phone call. Barnabas approaches Willie, brandishing his cane, accusing his servant of breaking a trust. Willie backs away from him, denying this. Barnabas pins Willie to the fireplace with the crook of his cane, and Willie assures him he won't do it again. Barnabas strongly urges Willie to get Jason McGuire and his questions off his back, but gives poor Willie no idea how to go about it--just get it done! He tells Willie Jason is all his problem and that he wants to meditate--leave! Defeated, Willie goes.
Cottage - Maggie is vastly better since everyone has kept her apart from Barnabas. She opens the French doors to note that the storm is over. Sam asks about the figure standing outside, but Maggie insists that was only Vicki's imagination. Maggie, feeling better, wants to go out, but her father urges her back into bed. He sits beside her to keep an eye on her. Maggie can't sleep, however.
At the Old House, Barnabas gazes out the drawing room window.
Cottage - Dr. Woodard examines Maggie and declares her much improved. He asks her about her neck, where the wounds are healing well. After the doctor and Sam leave, she thoughtfully caresses her throat.
Front room - Dr. Woodard is troubled. This whole situation is very peculiar, and those punctures. . .well, he'll wait for the blood test results.(http://www.dsboards.com/epimgs/0234-2.jpg)
In the meantime, someone must always stay with her until she stops sleepwalking. Sam assures him he will take care of this, so he has Vicki baby sit so he can go to the Old House and work on Barnabas' portrait. Sam warns Vicki not to let Maggie, who resents being watched, convince her to leave the house under any circumstances. Vicki assures him she'll stay no matter what.
Maggie, lying in bed, keeps rubbing her neck as Vicki wishes Barn would change his nighttime habits so Sam wouldn't have to paint by candlelight. Going into "weird" mode, Maggie alternates between begging Vicki to stay and demanding she leave. "Don't leave me," Maggie implores, but changes her tune when dogs begin to howl outside.
At the Old House, Barnabas rises, admires the after-storm evening and says he's going for a walk (and a nibble on your daughter, Sam, old man). Sam, oblivious to all but his painting, is annoyed when Willie comes in and questions him about Barn's whereabouts.(http://www.dsboards.com/epimgs/0234-3.jpg)
Nervous, excited, Willie asks about Maggie's illness, and Sam is so incensed that Willie had the nerve to even ask about his daughter, grabs Willie's jacket and tells him never to speak to him about her. (he's only trying to help, Sam!)
At the cottage, Maggie is in bed, restless and thrashing as dogs howl. Vicki tries to soothe her, to no avail, and when the dog sounds as if they're getting closer, Vicki is petrified.(http://www.dsboards.com/epimgs/0234-4.jpg)
"Leave, then," Maggie says cruelly. When something or someone rattles the French doors, as if the dogs are trying to fight their way in, Vicki runs from the room and calls Burke from the phone in the living room, urging him to come over right away. She is horrified to see Maggie's bedroom door slam shut, and even more frightened when she tries to get back in and finds she can't. Vicki bangs frantically on the door, begging Maggie to let her in, to no avail.
NOTES: Once again Barnabas leaves to drink Maggie's blood while her father paints his portrait. How cruel can a vampire be?
These were great scenes, although one can't help but be annoyed with Vicki for her ineffectual banging on the door. You wish she'd at least grab a chair and try to break it down!
Barnabas was able to control the wolves/dogs so they sounded as if they were breaking into Maggie's room; Maggie herself was unable to eject Vicki from her presence without that assistance. Vicki only left because she was so frightened and wanted to call for help, but that left her separated from Maggie, hence allowing Barnabas to use his supernatural powers to keep the door "locked" while he locked his fangs into Maggie's throat and drank his fill. How close is she to becoming a vampire?
Love, Robin