Doesn't Barnabas say that the original Laura died in the late 1800's rather than 1700s?   

And, by the way, doesn't anybody ever sleep in Collinwood?   I love how they're all up and running around, dressed to the nines when the clock strikes 5 in the morning.   

The confrontation between Laura and Trask is one of those great scenes that shows up every so often in Dark Shadows - and which make the show so much fun to watch - in which two evenly matched personalities square off against one another in a verbal battle to the death, like the one in which Julia literally pulled off the gloves and more or less b****h-slapped Nicholas Blair  into the next century (or when Quentin and Barnabas had it out a few weeks ago - with a drawn sword no less).   This scene between Laura and Trask was particularly memorable for Laura’s stinging wit (“I’ve heard your wife was a bit of a gossip”).  And if none of the hopeless wimps - Rachel, Tim - can gather the intestinal fortitude to put Trask in his place, it’s at least nice to see someone do it with such flair and aplomb.  It’s a sign of great writing when you can get the audience rooting for the less unctuous villain to pulverize the more unctuous one. 

The opening scene was so different from the closing scene in the previous episode - having Rachel get out of bed and walk over to the window before seeing Quentin.  I think it was much scarier the first time because she was so much closer to him when she first saw him.

I suspect that the writers were trying to cash in on the zombie craze made popular the year previous by the release of a little something called "Night of the Living Dead."  David Selby makes one heck of an impressive zombie.  Is there NOTHING this talented actor can't do or play - a ghost, a scoundrel, a romantic lead, a sympathetic friend, a zombie?

Talk about an episode where everyone and everything is working on all cylinders!  That will-reading scene is fantastic, brilliantly written, staged and performed - and the scene in Beth's room is nearly as good.  Only the drippy Rachel drags it down.  She's definitely out of her league with these people. 

It strikes me that Dirk addresses Quentin in rather a contemptuous manner for a subservient to his superior ("hey, what are you doing down here?"). 

Moreover, why is Barnabas so eager to jump into all this mess involving the will when he has no idea of how he might be affecting history with his actions?  You'd think he'd be more restrained and willing to play the part of the dispassionate observer, at least until he'd gotten a better lay of the land and figured out what he should do to bring about the desired result for what was happening "back" in 1969.

I've often wondered if Jonathan Frid felt at least a twinge of professional jealousy when David Selby came on the scene as Quentin.  After all, Jonathan had had a good year-and-a-half-long run as the only real male sex symbol on the show before David arrived.  I can imagine that quite a bit of the fan mail and attention shifted to David at that point.  It's never easy in any area of life for a person to relinquish that kind of adulation, so I imagine Jonathan might have had a little trouble adjusting to the new order of things on the show at that point.

I just couldn't resist posting this picture of Joan Bennett looking drop-dead gorgeous in a wedding dress - with Mrs. Howell (Natalie Schaefer) of all people standing in attendance behind her.

Joan Bennett-Annex