275 - (Nancy Barrett, the first episode that doesn't begin with "My name is Victoria Winters," spoken by Alexandra Moltke.) A yellow haze obscures the morning sun, and the meadows and forests and beaches surrounding Collinwood appear black and desolate in the hazy curious half light. It is as if day and night have intermingled, two worlds have become one. Inside the great house, there is a woman who is hovering between two worlds, the waking world and the world of dreams, for though she has been purged of fears and guilts that have haunted her for years, she has come to know an even greater desperation.
A restless, disturbed Liz lies in her bed. She's worried about Carolyn, wondering where she is, and wants her to know the truth about Paul.
Carolyn walks along the seashore, pondering everything that has happened. She returns to the front door of Collinwood and hesitates before going inside. Carolyn goes upstairs to her mother and apologizes for running out the way she did--she realizes her mother did what had to be done in regards to Paul,
and she will stand by her no matter what--they can get the best lawyer. . . Liz interrupts, explaining that Jason lied--she never killed Paul, as she believed all these years! Liz, groggy from the medication the doctor gave her, falls asleep, and Carolyn returns to her mother's room later to talk to her. They agree to work on their communications skills, and Carolyn cites her own intolerance of Jason. I don't want revenge, says Liz, I just want Jason out of town.
Bitterly, Carolyn replies, "I hope he's gone to the ends of the earth."
Old House, drawing room - Willie catches Jason snooping around the tries to warn him away, desperation filling his voice at Jason's stubbornness. They get into a physical fight, which Jason wins, and he demands to know where the jewels are. They're down in the basement, admits Willie, but strongly advises his former friend not to go down there. "Barnabas, he isn't alive," says Willie, "he can walk at night, but he's dead--if you go down there, he'll kill you--or worse."
Jason, however, pooh-poohs Willie's warnings and insists they go down to the basement. Once downstairs, Jason homes in on Barnabas' coffin and demands to know what's inside. Scared, Willie tells him the jewels are in a drawer in a table close by, and he goes to collect some pieces. Jason insists on having more, but Willie says the remainder are walled up. Jason is convinced the rest are in the coffin. Willie makes an effort to stop him, but Jason tells him, "I'm gonna open this coffin, Willie, and you're not gonna stop me.
When Jason lifts the lid, however, his expression of glee turns to one of terror as Barnabas' hand reaches out and clutches his throat.
NOTES: Lovely, touching scenes between Nancy Barrett and Joan Bennett highlighted this episode. This is the first time someone other than Alexandra Moltke spoke the intro, and Nancy Barrett did a fine job.
Carolyn finally returns after a night-long walk, and we get a great scene of her in a remote walking along the shore. She's made up her mind, she tells her sedative-confused mother. She knows Liz would never deliberately hurt anyone. They'll get the best lawyer and. . .but Liz explains to Carolyn that she DIDN'T kill Paul, it was all a scheme concocted by Jason and her ex-husband. To know that Carolyn had come to terms with her mother murdering her father shows that the girl who was about to marry Buzz really does have sensitivity and intelligence.
Carolyn wishes her mother had confided in her before about this, and asks Liz to always feel free to talk to her. "It's all over," proclaims Carolyn, although she is miffed that Jason's going free.
Well... Jason nearly breaks Willie's arm at the Old House, and forces him to tell him where the rest of the jewels are. Down in the basement, Jason is exultant--the jewels must be in that coffin! Willie has to be thinking to himself what an irony it is that Jason thinks such a thing, considering it's what drew him to open that very coffin himself. Willie still cares enough about Jason to try frantically to argue him out of opening the coffin, even going so far as to tell Jason that Barnabas is the living dead. Jason doesn't believe such a fantastic story for a moment, and the last time we see Mr. McGuire, he's opening Barnabas' casket--and a hand shoots from the coffin and grabs him around the throat!
R.I.P., Jason. You sure were fun to have around!
276 - (KLS) Collinwood is a legend for those who know it. The great house represents a heritage of fabulous wealth. There have been many men driven by avarice who have wished to plunder its walls. Such a man has attempted to seize a large part of the Collins fortune, but through his own avarice has failed. Now, in another house on the great estate, he has engaged a last desperate plot to satisfy his greed--and, in so doing, he is courting his own destruction.
Basement, Old House - Willie stands stunned by Jason's death. Barnabas chides him angrily for allowing McGuire into the basement, promising him a fate worse than death should it happen again.
Barnabas decrees that Jason's body will be buried in the secret room in the mausoleum Willie doesn't want to touch his friend's dead body and expresses sorrow over Jason's death. Barnabas nastily points out his servant's streak of sentimentality. "You wouldn't understand," says Willie. I know what it means to lose a friend, Barnabas assures him--long before I met Josette, I lost a friend when she was very young. They carry the body upstairs. Sarah appears, tossing her ball up and down. She picks up Jason's cap, which had fallen off, and places it on top of Barnabas' coffin.
Windcliff - Dave Woodard tells Julia he's concerned about Maggie's safety and wants to show her the drawing Sam made of the little girl--and he's proceeding with or without Julia's permission! When Nurse Jackson escorts Maggie into the room, she doesn't recognize Dr. Woodard. He shows her the drawing, and she examines it carefully.
She remembers Sarah, and even says her name aloud, startling both doctors. Maggie remembers being in a locked room with Sarah, but soon, the memories overwhelm her, and she goes into hysterics. "You've asked her enough!" insists Julia, and has the nurse take Maggie out, ordering sedation. Julia is angry with Dave for impeding the progress she's made with Maggie--again. Woodard believes they have made progress--Maggie knows the little girl, and thus they have established a connection. Dave feels Sarah is the key to everything in this case.
Barnabas and Willie carry Jason's body to the secret room in the mausoleum. Willie does the actual labor of digging and burying the body as Barnabas watches. Willie is really upset as they prepare to leave, but Barnabas gives the eulogy: "Goodbye, McGuire. You might have lived, but your greed destroyed you." They leave the room. Outside, Willie closes the panel. Barnabas laments the fact that they must leave a man of Jason's ilk buried in the tomb with his family. Willie looks over the plaques above the coffins: Joshua, Barnabas' father, who thought it a mercy to chain up his son destroy him, but, says Barnabas bitterly, what my father did was no act of mercy.
Next is Naomi Collins, Barnabas' mother, and last, Sarah Collins, Barnabas' beloved sister, who died at the age of nine. Sarah was very dear to me, says Barnabas sadly, and Willie, surprised, comments that Barnabas seems almost human now. Was Sarah the friend you mentioned earlier? Queries Willie. Perhaps, says Barnabas coldly, and they leave. Sarah appears.
NOTES: Dennis Patrick was little more than dead weight in this ep, and I wondered if he was actually wrapped up in that tarp Barn and Willie were carrying.
After Barnabas murdered Jason, Willie became, according to the vampire, "appallingly sentimental"--he couldn't bring himself to touch the man who was once his friend. Barnabas, whom Willie almost referred to as "almost human," said he, too, had once lost someone dear to him, a young, sweet innocent friend. Anyway, they decided to "bury him in the Collins tomb, in the secret room," a place Jason was always curious about--and now will lie for all eternity. As they carried Jason upstairs, little Sarah watched them, then took Jason's fallen cap and placed it on her brother's coffin, almost as if saying farewell to him.
Julia and Dave argued about whether or not to show Maggie the picture Sam drew of Sarah, and Dave finally insisted. When Maggie looked at the photo, she didn't recognize the subject at first, but then memories seemed to be seeping into her mind and not only did she identify the child pictured as Sarah, she also grew extremely agitated and hysterical. "Sarah!" she cried. "Escape! Room, the room! Take the key and lock her up, lock her up!" Julia was furious at Dave for dredging up these memories in Maggie, but Dave seems to feel it's necessary that Maggie remember, so she can be safe from the maniac who kidnapped her.
I wonder--is Julia already protecting her unknown vampire?
After Barnabas and Willie bury Jason in the secret room of the tomb, Barnabas performs the eulogy: "Farewell, Jason McGuire. Your greed destroyed you." Then Barnabas gazes at the plaques on the wall, ruminating over defiling his family's tomb with the likes of McGuire--his father, Joshua, who wasn't merciful even though he thought he was; his gentle, quiet mother; his sweet sister, who died with the doll he had mended the day before clasped in her arms. Willie comments that it's strange to think of Barnabas caring for someone, a remark to which the vampire takes offense.
After they leave, Sarah, holding and rocking her doll, sits on her casket as "London Bridge" plays mournfully in the background--a very stirring scene.
Love, Robin
