Discuss - Ep #0215

Robservations - #215

I just wanted to say that John Karlen did a great job in this story line. Willlie did change You would almost think that Jason might have really cared.

The Return of Willie.  Most victims of vampires on Dark Shadow manage to get away with pretending nothing has happened for quite some time, but Willie can't do that.  As soon as he sees anybody again, he has to tell people he's not leaving town - no reason why, he's just not  - and he has to eat crow with Burke because he can't be the troublemaker anymore: he's got his hands full with dealing with the trouble he's just raised.  He would have wanted the drink so the alcohol could perk him up (although when he had the glass in his hands, he had trouble getting it down) but maybe what he really wanted was to pretend that he was back in the good old days when going out for a drink was a normal part of a normal life.

In SE Hinton's book based on Dark Shadows, the Barnabas character didn't want the Willie character drinking or smoking because it would affect the quality of the blood that the vampire was taking from him, but there was nothing of that on the show.  After all, Barnabas could always hit the cows.  About the cows - how many quarts of blood will a calf yield?  And Barnabas took it all, down to the last drop.  It couldn't have been a pretty sight.  What really impresses me is that he just left two neat little holes - imagine biting a cow and getting a mouthful of all that hair or whatever is that cows are covered with (I'm no country girl) - and there was no blood splashed around.  He's improved his technique since he first became a vampire.

I thought I had read that the preparation of veal involves draining the calf of blood, so that Barnabas could have approached the members of the veal industry and made himself a nice little side income, but a cursory googling didn't get me that detail, though it did give me some other really repulsive information.  I'm glad I avoid veal.

John Karlen was fantastic today, of course, but Dennis Patrick was also impressive as usual with his long strings of lines, and no pause or hitch except for a cough when he tried a hoarse whisper.

  This is one of the best episodes in the early Barnabas storyline. Again it appears the whole episode was shot at the Blue Whale. I found myself getting a little ticked with Burke, not just because of his attitude toward Willie, but because he seemed to think he owned the town. He thought he had the right to tell people to leave if he wanted. He was not the sheriff who could later on [spoiler]order Jason out of town after his blackmail/wedding scheme blew up in his face[/spoiler] but he thought he had the right to order Willie out of town. Sure if Willie had come back and caused more trouble, the sheriff would have himself ordered him out of town but he was the only one with this authority.

Interesting conversation between Burke and Jason, Jason actually told Burke the truth about not knowing where Willie was and his concern about him, even to the detail that if Willie left it was without money. He said he had money for him, and Burke had to know the money must've come from Liz. So far he doesn't seem that concerned about Jason and whatever he's pulling at Collinwood right now [spoiler]but that will change[/spoiler]

What a gruesome story about the calf! I try to imagine I'm hearing about this and having no idea what they might be talking about. The blood was siphoned out of the calf and the calf itself left dead. Who would do such a thing? If one were going to steal it, they'd want the meat, who would want just the blood and what would they do with it? Since these people have no knowledge of vampires, they have to be very puzzled by this, as well as just plain grossed out.

Now Willie enters, and it's clear he hasn't bathed in a while, he looks quite unkempt and we can imagine he smells ripe too. When Burke saw him though, the scene became very interesting. First he reminds Willie that he had ordered him out of town. But then he saw the change in him, how Willie was so subdued and even apologized for the trouble he had caused. This was not the same man! It's to Burke's credit that though he had every reason to dislike Willie, he began to be concerned about him. Was he sick? What had wrought this change? Then when Jason came back, he told him he needed to get his friend to a hospital. Willie was indeed very sick, he was shaking like a leaf and wasn't even able to lift his drink to his lips. Burke thought maybe he had seriously hurt Willie when he'd beaten him up, but Jason assures him Willie was fine after that.

Now Jason talks to Willie and though Willie is at first pleased to see him, when Jason begins to grill him on where he had been and what he had been doing, Willie quickly became nervous and wouldn't tell him anything. Jason began to sound like a father ordering his son to tell him where he'd been. This reminded me of scenes between my father and my two older brothers when I was a kid. When Jason told him he knew he'd been to the cemetary, Willie freaked. Jason knew he had been there to rob a grave and though it seems to us that a thief might find it an easy task to "rob a stiff" Jason seemed to believe this was a very low thing to do. I wonder why? Because the thief can't fight back? Seems to me that anyone who would sink low enough to steal wouldn't care if the person could defend themselves or not.

Jason had to know something had really changed in Willie when he refused the $500. But maybe Willie was beginning to gain a bit of conscience since that money for for him to leave town and now he would not be leaving, so he wouldn't take it. [spoiler]he did later on though and one thing I've always wondered is what became of that money? Jason gave it to him just before he moved to the Old House with Barnabas. Did Barnabas take it from him? Was he able to hide it somewhere? It's never heard about again.[/spoiler]

Now Jason notices blood on Willie's sleeve and demands an explanation. We know that it's because [spoiler]Barnabas bit Willie on the wrist, not on the neck[/spoiler] but imagine that Jason had heard the conversation about the calf. It sure would look like Willie had been the person who'd done this.

A great episode!!

Alondra

One of the things that most impressed me about these early Barn episodes was how John Karlen was able to go from cocky, know-it-all Willie (basically just another extension of Jason), to becoming subdued and shaky, and a scaredy-cat. He did a wonderful job at it, and had it been any other actor, I'm sure the transformation wouldn't have been as believeable. Then again, I can only imagine JK in that role, even though he was the recast.

This really seemed to upset Joe. I don't think anyone knew about Vampires. (How could this be!, Collinsport must not have had a library) They must not have watched , or knew about Bela.

I've often thought it was very strange that they seem to have never heard of Dracula, either to read it or to watch it. Surely they would have seen Bela Lugosi in the role. Hasn't eveyone?

As for JK playing the cocky Willie, and then the subdued Willie, yes he was brilliant. Hard for me to imagine James Hall (the first Willie) pulling this off.

Alondra

I guess this is where we have to suspend belief. Didn't we have to do this sometimes with DS.

Definitely! There are many times when you think, "Oh, come on! You can't expect us to swallow this!" but then you just shrug your shoulders and say Ok, whatever.

Alondra

This entire episode was staged in the Blue Whale.  Isn't that a first?  I don't remember ever seeing an entire episode done on one stage, especially in the bar.

This is a wonderful episode, centered around the mystery of a dead calf drained of it's blood and Willie showing up after being gone for a few days.  Maggie, Joe and Burke talk about the calf and drained blood, while Jason tries to find out about the blood on Willie's sleeve.  Is that Willie's blood or the calf's??

Even though we don't see Barnabas in this episode, it's all about him.  The terror is just starting folks and it's all because of the blood sucking vamp who has lived in Collinsport the longest.

I always wondered what Willie was doing those few days when he was missing.  We can only imagine and so I did.  I even wrote a story about this, explaining what it was like for Barnabas in the coffin for 172 years and what happened when Willie released him.  This episode and the ones before and after are just classis DS!!  Great stuff!!!!

I am also wondering why the entire episode was shot in the Blue Whale. Did it seem appropriate to everyone else to have that as the "hub" of the episode, or do you think maybe it was done because of the lack of other sets or lack of time?

I always wondered what Willie was doing those few days when he was missing.  We can only imagine and so I did.  I even wrote a story about this, explaining what it was like for Barnabas in the coffin for 172 years and what happened when Willie released him.  This episode and the ones before and after are just classis DS!!  Great stuff!!!!

This was a great story that Jackie did. Willie was helping Barnabas with new clothes.
There is one thing that got me, Why were not Barnabas' suits not rinkled?
[spoiler]this was when he was living in the musoleum[/spoiler]

This entire episode was staged in the Blue Whale.  Isn't that a first?  I don't remember ever seeing an entire episode done on one stage, especially in the bar.

I always wondered what Willie was doing those few days when he was missing.  We can only imagine and so I did.  I even wrote a story about this, explaining what it was like for Barnabas in the coffin for 172 years and what happened when Willie released him.  This episode and the ones before and after are just classis DS!!  Great stuff!!!!

Yes there was another episode filmed entirely at the Blue Whale, the episode in which Burke and Willie got into it and Willie pulled the knife on Burke. It surprised me to see yet another full episode filmed here. Seems these episodes are both very tension ridden, and just keep you glued to your chair.

I love the story you wrote, as this is one of my favorite DS speculations. In one of my stories I have Barnabas and Willie going to the Old House right away and Willie lugging out a bathtub for Barnabas to take a bath. The next day he buys him a new suit after selling some jewels. Then he is able to present himself at Collinwood.

Alondra

Brilliant acting by John Karlen in this episode.  Makes me wonder whether they ever hand out honorary Daytime Emmies for past service!

The work of Karlen and, in other shows, Jonathan Frid, does a lot to make the original Barnabas Collins storyline one of the most unpleasantly chilling bits of drama in the annals of television--daytime OR primetime.  Just my not-so-humble opinion.

G.

Brilliant acting by John Karlen in this episode.  Makes me wonder whether they ever hand out honorary Daytime Emmies for past service!

The work of Karlen and, in other shows, Jonathan Frid, does a lot to make the original Barnabas Collins storyline one of the most unpleasantly chilling bits of drama in the annals of television--daytime OR primetime.  Just my not-so-humble opinion.

I so agree that it's their brilliant acting skills that convince us in hating the vampire but pitying the slave and victims.  It's also the same skills that cause us, or at least me, to become sympathetic towards the brute after learning more about his story.