Carolyn has finally changed outfits. Jeb tells her about the shadow. She vows they'll fight it together. He's sad that she even knows about Nicholas. He goes out but won't tell her where.

Wonderful scene with Quentin and Sabrina: Quentin and Sabrina are talking in her room (somewhere, the inn maybe). She tells him, Tomorrow night will be the full moon, but Chris refuses to discuss the danger. I want him to trust me. I want to share the danger and help him, no matter how much he tries to shut me out. One way to help would be to get rid of Bruno, she opines. This time is even worse than before because Bruno knows all about Chris and is waiting for him. Knowing it’s a terrible thought, she adds, I even wish Chris had killed Bruno when Bruno captured him! Carefully turning his face from her earnest gaze, Quentin says, Don’t ever wish that. Every life he takes causes him great pain--very great pain. His own face is hollow as old and terrible memories replay themselves before his mind’s eye. Sabrina argues, Chris can’t help it--it wasn’t his fault. I know, says Quentin, his face even sadder, but believe me, the pain is still there. Profoundly moved, Sabrina comments, You have great insight. You seem to understand what other people are feeling. [Quentin has come such a great distance from the selfish rakehell of 1895!] I want you to try to understand how I feel. She says determinedly, Even though Chris has forbidden me to get involved, I feel I must. I’ve decided to go to Bruno and try to buy him off. You would do all of this? Quentin asks in amazement. I would do anything for Chris, she replies passionately. I want to marry him. Greatly upset, Quentin says, You can’t think of marriage until the curse is over. I’m sure it won’t be over unless Bruno goes away, she replies. Maybe that’s possible, Quentin allows, but we will have to talk to Bruno. Sabrina is gratified that Quentin wants to go with her. Of course, he says, you can’t go there alone. I’ll return in an hour, and then we’ll tackle Bruno together.

Bruno, meanwhile, deftly peels his third apple on the show. (The first was in 1897, the second when he kept the werewolf prisoner in the mausoleum. [The two blue side chairs that first appeared in Evan Hanley’s house in 1897 have transcended time and space to end up here. We'll see them again a long time from now.] Jeb bursts in and tells Bruno about the shadow. Bruno agrees to talk to Nicholas about Angeliquea and notes that if he fails, the young and rich and beautiful Carolyn will need a lot of consoling. Enraged, Jeb vows to beat the curse.

Carolyn has finished crying and is having an uncharacteristic afternoon drink when Maggie comes over. She congratulates Carolyn. Maggie sees that Carolyn is apathetic, but Carolyn recovers. Maggie says she's having dinner with Barnabas. Carolyn hopes that someday Maggie and Barnabas.... Maggie asks if she recommends married life. Yes, she does, Jeb answers for her as he enters the room. Maggie congratulates him and leaves, and Carolyn asks if Jeb has spoken to Nicholas. Nicholas will never help me, Jeb replies. Carolyn refuses to give in to despair, but Jeb can’t help echoing Bruno’s words: Oh Carolyn, how much longer is it going to be? How much longer is it going to be until you are a young widow? Don’t say that! she says, kissing him. But as he moves toward the window, he notes, It is beginning to get dark: I wonder how much larger the shadow will be tonight.

Meanwhile, both Maggie and Quentin note the pitchforks on their respective hands and lose all thought of keeping their respective appointments.

Quentin is half an hour late for his meeting with Sabrina. She wonders if he's changed his mind. She tries to rationalize: Even a good friend can be expected to do only so much and no more. But more has to be done, she decides. If I have to, I will deal with him alone--or not entirely alone. She opens a drawer in the dresser and takes out a revolver: This will go with me, she murmurs.

At 8:30, Quentin is an hour late. Quentin has changed his mind, Sabrina decides. She takes out a wad of bills from her purse and balances them against the revolver in her other hand. Suddenly horrorstruck, she wonders, What am I doing with my brother’s gun? I would never be able to.... Then her backbone stiffens and she finishes, Unless I must--for Chris’s sake. I am not like Quentin Collins. I can’t change my mind. She replaces everything in her bag and leaves.

At Collinwood, Quentin and Maggie are kissing madly by the fountain on the terrace. Barnabas is waiting for me, Maggie murmurs. It doesn’t matter, Quentin replies. No one matters, Maggie agrees. I’m frightened of the way I feel. Quentin comes up for air only long enough to tell her not to be before they fall to kissing again.

But in the drawing room, Jeb and Carolyn hold each other tight as they watch the still-larger shadow on the wall. Turn off the light, Jeb pleads like a scared child as he turns away. We can’t just stay in the dark, Carolyn says. That won’t save you. Jeb insists, so Carolyn turns the light off. Jeb relaxes as the shadow vanishes. Carolyn returns to his side and suggests going to Barnabas. He is no friend of mine, Jeb says. Things are different now, Carolyn pleads. Forget about Barnabas, Jeb says roughly. What about Professor Stokes? Carolyn says. It won’t do any good, Jeb insists. Carolyn’s terror makes her frantic and angry as she wonders, Why won’t you even ask him? Forget Nicholas Blair, forget Barnabas, forget Professor Stokes--are you willing to forget me too? Jeb shakes his head and holds her tight.

Bruno is putting on the unfortunate rabbit-fur coat when Sabrina arrives. What a pleasant surprise, he comments hopefully, but Sabrina is brisk and businesslike. I’m interested in only one man, she says. I’m interested in the same man, Bruno replies--when the moon is full. No doubt Sabrina thinks of Chris as she steels herself to put her hand on Bruno’s arm. Please leave Chris alone, she pleads. You’re very appealing, Bruno observes, but it’s not enough. She shows him the money and tells him, You can have all of it if you’ll leave and forget you ever heard of Chris Jennings. Your loveliness deserves an answer, Bruno replies, but his face hardens as he adds, It’s not enough. Chris Jennings is more valuable to me than a pile of money. Whoever controls him controls a source of great power, and I intend to use Chris the right way. There is no right way, Sabrina says. I’m sure you’ll kill Chris when you’re done with him. Don’t look so far into the future, Bruno says sarcastically. You might find it depressing. He hands her back the money and makes ready to leave. Wait! Sabrina says. I’m sure there’s nothing more you can say, Bruno says impatiently. Then I will let this speak for me! she says as she pulls the revolver out of her purse and aims it at him. I love Chris and I’m not going to let anyone hurt him! she declares. I am going to kill you!.........

Is it gaslight, I wonder? I'll bet Elizabeth or more likely Jamison, back in the family's palmier days, had the whole mansion wired for electricity. The PT East Wing certainly has been.

All those storms knocking out the power do make for a lot of atmosphere, but I suppose Collinwood would have its own generator(s) nowadays.

Carolyn's married name does not appear in the closing credits now or in any episode before Parallel Time begins.

Willie reports to Barn that he's finished disposing of Megan and her possessions. But he can't help noticing that Barn is staring at him "like you never seen me before." He grabs the book and reads the title aloud in amazement. Who wrote it? he asks. Barnabas says, You wrote it, Willie. Willie doesn’t believe him but looks at the book. Hey, wait a minute, he protests, apparently horrified, nobody knows my middle name! He still thinks it’s some other Willie Loomis, then he sees the photo and reads the bio on the jacket back: Mr. Loomis is the author of three best-selling novels [at least two of them with surprisingly prescient titles]: "Pride of Lions," "Cold-Hearted Lover" and "The World Beyond the Doors," all of which have been made into motion pictures. You know I don’t own any clothes like that! Willie says. So Barn tells him about the room in the East Wing.

There is something written inside in my handwriting, Willie exclaims, even though I never wrote it: To the Clio who inspired me. Barnabas says Clio is the muse of history, but Willie says, The book is a pack of lies, not history: I mean, Barnabas, you never died. Not in this time band, Barnabas agrees, but in another. Barnabas gives him a one-sentence summary of parallel time theory, then adds, In that other time band, he was born in the eighteenth century, heir to the Collins lands; rich in years, died in 1830, mourned by his descendants--and most particularly by his most loving wife, Josette. He decides to read the book, then consult Professor Stokes, who will be dining at Collinwood.

Elizabeth is wearing the unfortunate yellow-print caftan with the big rolled collar (soon to be seen again in the movie House of Dark Shadows) as she chats with Professor Stokes and frets about Carolyn.

Jeb opent the door to another nondescript hotel room. Now the shadow is taller than he is. Carolyn teases him, then gets upset because he won't explain what he's all too obviously running away from. They leave quickly.

Elizabeth and Stokes are sipping sherry while Stokes attempts to comfort Elizabeth. Barnabas arrives with a manila envelope and says he would like to talk to Stokes. Elizabeth leaves to tell Mrs. Johnson there will be one more to dinner. (One wonders how poor Barnabas handles this sort of thing now that he is a vampire again.)

Stokes is always happy to expound on parallel time: The theory states that a person can be traveling down more than one time band simultaneously. The differences are differences of choice. For example, if I had chosen to marry my high school sweetheart, I would be living a totally different life somewhere with her--with several children, perhaps. According to the theory, somewhere there is an Elliot Stokes who is doing just that. Indeed, there may be many Elliot Stokeses leading all manner of different lives. Barnabas calls it fascinating, but Stokes reminds him that it’s only a theory. Barnabas announces, I have seen parallel time in the empty room in the East Wing. The foyer clock strikes 7:00 when Barnabas has finished telling Stokes about parallel Elizabeth, Julia and Willie. I wish there were a way to reach them, Stokes comments. Barnabas shows him the book, claiming it is a history of his ancestor, parallel Barnabas, who married Josette, had children and died in 1830: Of course, he adds carefully, in our own time band, he... he left Collinwood in 1779 [JF meant 1795]--and never returned. Stokes asks Barnabas to take him to the room immediately. As Barnabas leads the way out of the drawing room, Stokes says, I wonder what I am doing in that time band--or if I am even alive. When I was ten years old, I almost drowned. Perhaps in that time band, I wasn't rescued. Perhaps there I have been dead for a long time. Do you wonder, Barnabas, what your life might have been? With vast understatement, Barnabas answers, Yes, I do.

Unfortunately, after this big buildup, when Barn finally takes Elliot to the room, it's empty and dark. Barn wonders how the room can come and go, but Stokes has an answer for this too: My guess is that the time band is always here, but one can only glimpse it through the warp. Look here, I have a small rip in my sleeve. When I hold my arm in a certain way, the rip seems to disappear. To see it you have to stand in the right position and in the right light. If you don't, for you, the rip ceases to exist. Barnabas hypothesizes, I can see into parallel time because I’ve been standing in the right place and in the right light, so to speak. Stokes agrees. I wish I could see it too, he says. This is proof that parallel time exists. Barnabas plans to cross over, but Stokes sharply warns him against it. We know very little about it it, he argues, and you might become trapped between two time bands. I think you should keep watching this room, but don’t do anything that might destroy you. [It seems quite unlike the fastidious Professor Stokes to wear a damaged suit to dinner with the Mistress of Collinwood, but I guess the writers needed some kind of analogy.]

Jeb and Carolyn have returned to the carriage house. Carolyn turns on the light, and of course the shadow has followed them. Jeb roughly tells her to get out, and she runs out in tears. Immediately the pretense of anger falls from Jeb’s face as he backs away from the shadow, devastated, and turns out the light.

Carolyn and her mother embrace. Carolyn explains that only Jeb will be at the carriage house tonight and she will be staying at Collinwood. She starts crying again as she says she doesn't want to talk about it.

Barnabas returns to the Old House, and Willie rushes to help him off with his coat and find out what happened. I hope Professor Stokes understands more about this than I do, Willie says. I’ve thought an awful lot about that book. So have I, Barnabas answers, and about the life in which I loved and won Josette. If that life existed, it ended in death, Willie reminds him. Barnabas nods thoughtfully.

Carolyn (STILL in her red blouse and multicolor skirt) is sitting alone in the drawing room, crying by the fireplace and wondering why Jeb provoked their quarrel. She decides to go back to the carriage house to find out why. She finds the carriage house door closed and locked, the house dark. He’s left me already, she thinks, terrified. Go away! she hears him say as she jiggles the doorknob. She gets the door open and finds Jeb in front of the fireplace. She hurries to him, but he cringes from her touch. You must tell me what’s wrong, she says gently. He shakes his head, then hides his face. She puts the light on and returns to Jeb to put her arms around him. He looks up at her like a scared child, then she screams when she sees the shadow on the wall. Jeb puts his arms around her protectively. Leave her alone! he screams at the shadow. I didn’t want it to hurt you ever! he tells Carolyn. You must believe that! he pleads. It’s going to hurt you, she guesses--and kill you! Maybe if I sit here in the dark, it won’t know where to find me, he says desperately and shuts off the light. We have to get away from it! Carolyn urges him and starts to pull him out of the house. There is nowhere to go, he insists. It will follow us! There has to be! Carolyn insists. She finally drags him out the door, but the shadow remains triumphantly in place.....

Oh, dear! I didn't realize [spoiler]your spoiler[/spoiler], Uncle Roger!

I wonder if JK is using his own voice rather than his Willie Loomis voice. I think that originally Willie was supposed to be from the South, but I can't remember now.

While Barn is wondering how he can get into PT, Elizabeth is remarkably candid with Julia downstairs (even if this is highly ironic!).  Elizabeth tells Julia, There is no record of anything strange happening in the East Wing, but that’s not conclusive proof, is it? What do you mean? Julia asks. The family has a habit of forgetting things they find unattractive, Elizabeth says dryly, but in this case I find nothing to forget or hide. The East Wing is remarkably free of secrets, she says with a smile.

Willie wrings his hands in the best Willie style as he tries to steel himself to stake Megan. But when he and Julia find the coffin, he has to cover his face to keep her from seeing that he's crying. His panic turns to outrage when Roger (still wearing his trench coat!) shoves Julia aside. A lot of hitting below the belt ensues until Roger is in the hallway outside the room. Willie breaks a vase over his head and knocks him out. Still riding his adrenaline rush, he tells Julia, Look after Roger. Do you want me to come with you? she offers. Perhaps ashamed of his earlier cowardice, he says, If I have to do it I will do it by myself. Julia pats him encouragingly and shuts the door. Willie is practically panting with terror as he opens Megan’s coffin, but he doesn’t even spare a glance at her hideously transformed beauty. He remembers what Julia said: In her heart--with one blow. He places the stake over Megan’s heart and drives it home with all his strength. Megan screams in unhuman anguish. Willie screams along with her, backing away in horror as she writhes in agony, then falls silent. We get a final glimpse (from the neck up) of Megan lying dead  but peaceful in her coffin as Marie Wallace makes her positively last appearance on the show.

Fortunately, Roger remembers nothing of his brief time as a vampire's host. That night at the Old House, Willie tells Barnabas with an air of grim accomplishment, I did it. I won’t forget her face, he says with a shudder, not if I live to be a hundred. I know, Barnabas says, then tells him, Take Megan’s coffin and bury her in an unmarked grave. When Julia has gathered all Megan’s clothes and brought them, we will dispose of those too. That’s easy “after the other,” Willie comments, still riding his high, and heads off to his grim task. Julia decides, I must tell Elizabeth that Megan decided to leave Collinsport, never to return, and didn’t want to have anything to do with anybody or anything. Barnabas can’t help asking, Did you hear or see anything in _that room_? It might be dangerous, Julia warns him again. I’m still drawn to that room, Barnabas replies. [The writers don’t make clear yet whether it’s sheer, pardonable human curiosity or the hope that he won’t be a vampire in parallel time.] I hope that whatever is drawing you there won’t harm you, Julia says.

Later that night, Barnabas goes to the room. He remembers Julia’s warning: Whatever it is that draws you could be dangerous. He hesitates, but only for a moment, then opens the doors. Once again the brilliantly furnished parallel-time is before him. Willie Loomis is there, but a very different person indeed: He is wearing a double-breasted navy blue suit and an ascot. Once again, Barnabas can’t get in. Will (definitely not Willie in this other time band) gazes up at the portrait of Angelique, then begins going through drawers in various pieces of furniture, apparently searching for something. Those are _her_ things, Hoffman says coldly from behind him. Well, where Angelique is now, she doesn’t need them, Will says airily. Don’t talk about her like that, Hoffman says. All I am saying is that she is dead, Will answers. That is the truth. Shaken and angry, Hoffman orders him out. Not before I get what I came for, Will says, something that belongs to me--a book. I need it. If _I_ come across it, I will give it to you, Hoffman tells him. I need it right now, Will insists. You cannot have it right now, she says. It’s mine and I want it, Will says. I will have it. He looks around and laughs when he finds it concealed behind a cushion on the window seat. Hoffman grabs it from him, and we can see his photo on the back of the dust jacket. What if she wasn’t dead? she asks him. What if she still wanted your book? Scornfully she adds, She doesn’t want it. She never wanted it. Take your book and get out of here! Without looking behind her, she lobs it out into the hall--where it lands at Barnabas’s feet. Will disregards her and looks out the window. Barnabas stoops to pick the book up. By now he is hardly surprised to find the room dark and empty again when he turns around. It's happened again! he thinks to himself, then, What happened? A twist of time closed it up again. What twist of time opened the barrier long enough to let this through? As Barnabas thoughtfully holds the book up to the camera, we can clearly see that Will’s photo is on the back of the jacket. Barnabas reads the front cover aloud. It’s hard to know whether the title or the author is more astonishing: The Life and Death of Barnabas Collins--by William Hollingshead [Barnabas pronounces it “Hollin-shed”] Loomis. Stunned, Barnabas rereads the title: The Life--and Death!--of Barnabas Collins.........

My goodness, MT! "Disapparating" actually is a magical ability from the Harry Potter stories. Not everyone has it in the HP universe.

More mutual detestation and more pronouns from PT Elizabeth and Hoffman. I have the feeling that GH enjoyed playing her.

Welcome to a certain ginormous portrait! And yes, also welcome to yet another music-box theme. Actually, I think we'll hear it only a few times more.

I believe that eventually people start referring to The Room as the Upstairs Parlor. Maybe it was intended to be a more private area for (part of) the family, as opposed to the downstairs drawing room, where they would receive guests.

Welcome back (again), Roger! I missed his stuffy blustering. He makes it plain to poor Elizabeth that he still detests Jeb.

Julia explains "Elliot"'s idea of Parallel Time in a nice bit of writing. Carrying a flashlight, Barnabas takes Julia to the East Wing and throws open the doors. [They were open at the end of the last episode, but they’re shut now!] The room is bare and dark. He starts to walk in, but Julia tries to stop him. I have a strange premonition, she warns him. Then she says it’s silly, and in the end they both go in. They are startled to hear a strange, repeated noise; when they turn around, they see that one of the casement windows is banging in the wind. As Barnabas shuts it, Julia speculates. How many lives have been lived in this room? How many moment of excitement and anger and pleasure? Barnabas replies, What frightens me is that what I saw here took place in the present; the Julia and Elizabeth in the brilliantly furnished room (as he too describes it) were wearing clothes of today. Then Julia speaks: I remember spending an evening at Professor Stokes’s last spring. Over after-dinner brandies, he talked about a theory he had been reading about parallel time. To explain, first Julia gets Barnabas to agree to the stipulation that they live in this universe in 1970. Then she recaps what Stokes told her: We accept the fact that our time is the only time that we can truly, truly know. Suppose time is like a road, and parallel to it there is another road. On one we live the lives we know, but on the other road our lives are different because we are in a different time band and we have made different choices. (At this word, Barnabas’s eyes light up.) For example, the oblivious Julia continues, in that other band of time, I could have made different choice when I was at college. Instead of being a doctor, I could have married and had children. (Barnabas’s eyes grow wide, as if he has never thought of his “dear friend” as a natural woman--shame on you, Barn!) Barnabas is absorbing this information as Julia continues: Barnabas! You don't think that through some warp in the time band that you have actually seen us living other lives? Then just as quickly she dismisses the idea: Oh, no, there has got to be a more rational explanation. Must there? Barnabas asks, his eyes shining.

Megan is all in black, but nobody has told her that her Naga brooch is so yesterday. Even as Barn tries to talk her out of her new existence--nice bit by Marie Wallace--Megan Disapparates, perhaps out of boredom.

Yet again, Roger browbeats "Loomis" for not knowing where Barnabas is. Now Willie is wearing a green sweater--was Orbach's having a sale? Later, Megan bites Roger.

Now, Sky is enough under Megan's spell that Barn and Julia rope Willie into staking Megan. But Sky is supposed to get in touch with Julia to tell her where Megan's coffin is. WTF?? It will all be over by dusk, Barnabas says. Julia prepares to leave. It won’t be safe for you to go through the woods alone, Barnabas frets. I have my proper protection, Julia assures him. She shows Barnabas a small silver cross on a chain, but he doesn’t even flinch or turn away or even throw his hands up in front of his eyes. [Thank goodness this storyline is almost done! The writers don’t even care how many stupid things they’re making the characters do!] Left alone, Barnabas wonders, What could be the secret of that room?

Julia distracts Elizabeth while Barn sneaks upstairs to the East Wing.

Barnabas returns to the room and opens the doors. This time he is rewarded. The furniture is still uncovered, and parallel Elizabeth (still in the pink sweater set and gray skirt) has brought a three-step wooden ladder (like the kind in fancy libraries). She seems unaware of Barnabas’s presence as she climbs up and starts to remove the still-draped painting from over the mantel. Hoffman arrives and objects. It should not be hanging here now, Elizabeth says. _She_ did not even want you in this room, Hoffman says with deepest contempt. How dare you come in here now? You will not take it down. _He_ is coming, Elizabeth argues. _He_ will not want it up. Then _he_ will tell us, Hoffman says smugly. Until then, let it hang. She smiles as she continues, Let everyone in this house see it. It has been covered long enough. She pulls the cloth away and uncovers an over-lifesize portrait of-- a beautiful blond woman with a self-absorbed, almost smug smile. She is wearing the blue sleeveless gown Elizabeth was removing from the wardrobe the first time Barnabas saw her, as well as matching over-the-elbow gloves. Angelique! he gasps in sheer amazement, but the others don’t seem aware of him. No, no! Elizabeth protests, climbing down the steps. No one must see it! Let everyone see it! Hoffman says defiantly--and let them remember her! How could anyone forget her? Elizabeth retorts in apparent disgust. Once again she shuts the doors in Barnabas’s face. Why can’t I get in? he laments. He pounds on the doors, calling, Let me in!....

If Lydia's hypothesis about Vicki is correct, Peter would have considered it only poetic justice for Jeb to die the same way in the same spot.

THE EAST WING! THE EAST WING!! I still remember feeling a little jolt when I saw the next ep. for the first time.