718 - (Grayson Hall) - The great house at Collinwood stands deserted. A ghost, evil, filled with mad plans, walks the empty halls. Barnabas Collins is determined to thwart the spirit, and finds himself alive in the ghost's own time. The year, 1897, a year of terror and intrigue for all who lived at Collinwood then. And so Barnabas sets out to discover every family secret that can help him. including the mystery of the locked tower room, where the governess has recently been assaulted.
Discontinuity note: Barn checks out a rumpled bed in this episode, but it was neatly made in the previous ep.
The tower room door opens, then slams shut. No one is there, or so it seems. "Where are you?" he demands. "I know you're here, Angelique, where are you?" And he looks around. . .
Appear to me, Barn demands--I know you're hovering here, I¢â‚¬Ëœve been waiting for you--let us meet now, here in this room!--are you the strange creature who's been living here?--I feel your presence--show yourself! He hears only her mocking laughter, then Angelique appears before him. Aren't you going to kiss me? she asks. You know the answer to that! he says harshly. Other men embrace their wives when they haven't seen them for so long, she protests. You aren't like other wives, he retorts--the last time I was in this room--the LAST TIME! You and Ben thought yourselves so clever, she taunts--"BURN, WITCH!"--my Master's powers are more powerful than your flames. Then there's no way to get rid of you, he laments. As I am, oh yes, she says, there's a way--shall I tell you? I'll use it, he promises. "Love--Barnabas, your love will change me," she says sincerely--"Your love could make me anything you wanted me to be." I hate to be ungallant, he says, but looking at you, I see nothing but the misery you caused, the madness, the deaths. "Oh, but what do you see when you look in the mirror?" she demands. (Low blow, Ang.)--"Oh, but I forget--you see nothing." She smiles--"So you are spared your conscience. "NO!" he bellows. I'm not spared THAT. "You blame me still!" she cries. "Who put the curse on me?" demands Barnabas. "For a reason!" she retorts. "Because I could not love you!" he says. Well perhaps this time you will learn to love me, she suggests--we're both strangers there, in a foreign century, and if you do, I can help you. Barnabas laughs in disbelief. I have friends here, she adds. Who, Quentin? he demands--have you told him that I come from another time, that I'm a. . . I save what I know, she assures him. Yes, when the price is right, he says, turning away from her. Quentin is quite curious about you, she says. Barnabas admits, I feel the same about Quentin. Barnabas sits on the bed. She sits behind him, kneeling, warning, him that Quentin is clever and dangerous Quentin is--how are you going to save David?--how do you plan to solve the secret of the werewolf? Barnabas is stunned she knows all this, and asks how. I care about David, says Angelique, I did know him, and care for him as much as you do. "You care for no one!" shouts Barnabas. She snuggles in closely against him, putting her hand on his back. How can you say that? she asks, when I'm offering you my help? I don't trust her offer! says Barn. She presses her face against his shoulder. "Oh, Barnabas," she sighs. "If we could simply begin again. Will you never let us? Will you never forgive. . ." No, I will not, he says firmly. She snuggles her face against his shoulder again and says, "This time you may have to." He pulls away from her embrace. "You are going to need my help!" she insists--how naƒ¯ve are you, to believe you can come to another century and watch the action as if it were some play? It's the only way to find out why Quentin wants David, explains Barnabas. But life won't go on as it did originally, she objects. "You are here now!"--you have already changed things--like Rachel--she is already different because of you. But the end will be the same, insists Barnabas--Quentin will die the way he did, walled up in his room. Are you sure of that? she asks. Or will you change that, too? she asks--or will David die, the victim of a cruel trick in time? Barnabas reminds her, you weren't here originally, either, and will change things, too.
I can change them to your advantage, she insists--you're so worried about David, she says, has he thought about the danger in this endeavor?--time may trick you, too, you might never return to your own century. Look out the window, she orders. He doesn't at first. Has living 200 years had robbed you of your curiosity? She wonders. I want no more of your tricks, he insists. You'd better look, she warns--this is the end of your visit here, this is the last day in the past--why are you afraid to see? Because I refuse to give in to you, he replies. She throws open the window. We see the setting (or rising) sun. Angelique describes for Barnabas what's going on: There's a casket in a darkened room, where no sunlight dare penetrate. The coffin is closed and someone sleeps in it. Is it you, Barnabas? A hooded, faceless figure opens the coffin, but the person inside is not disturbed. A wedge of wood--a mallet--what kind of weapons are these? The hooded figure slams the mallet down on the wedge of wood. "Who would guess that these are the weapons of death?" asks Angelique, closing the window on the vision. Barnabas grabs her and demands who is going to try?--WHO?--tell me! he screams, leaving himself breathless. Angelique has disappeared, however. He whirls around trying to find her.
Cottage - Quentin impatiently asks Jamison where Barnabas spends his days. Jamison can't find out. You're going to spy school, says Quentin--I was one, once, and not long ago. Jamison wants to hear more, but Quentin insists it's not a story for young ears--it happened in Alexandria, Egypt--I he was a spy for the police. Why? Jamison asks. Quentin gets angry and tells him to stop asking questions. Jamison is upset by his uncle's anger. Quentin wants to get back to Barnabas--you, Jamison, are Agent 916, but you haven't been getting the info required--where does Barnabas go every day? Does he go into Collinsport? asks Jamison. Not without a horse and carriage, says Quentin--I checked the stable. The Old House? guesses Jamison. No, Magda and Sandor say not, answers Q. Jamison suggests he's a mad doctor with all sorts of experiments going on (we should introduce him to Dr. Lang). Or even a murderer, says Jamison. We could use a mad doctor and a murderer, quips Quentin. He calls the boy "Secret Operator 916"; Jamison leaps to attention. I'm giving you a dangerous assignment this afternoon, says Q--I need some personal property of Barnabas'. That would be stealing, protests Jamison, but Quentin says not to a spy--that's evidence. But being very good spies, we will return whatever we get, promises Quentin--bring me Barnabas' cane. How will I get it? asks Jamison, can't it be something smaller? Don't argue with your chief, orders Quentin--the cane is important because Barnabas always carries it--if the cane is at the house, then so is he, and that means the gypsies are lying--for a reason? Jamison is reluctant. Are you having doubts? asks Q--you're much like my FATHER, who never liked my games, either, and never wanted to play. I am NOT! insists Jamison (touchy subject there)--I do! he swears--be honest, Quentin--why do you hate Barnabas so much? Because he put a curse on me, says Quentin, the worst curse of al--he made me poor and will keep me poor until he can break the curse--and that's why they play this game. Go, he tells Jamison, and remember, only a bad spy gets caught. Jamison vows not to let that happen. Quentin grins to himself. He finds a clay figure and wonders, how can I make it look more like Barnabas--burning eyes?--a firm mouth?--I wouldn't want the gods of voodoo to think I was working against anyone else, he chuckles.
Old House - Magda laughs because Jamison has come by asking to play with Barnabas. Shining up her crystal ball, she calls him a brave boy, but says Barnabas has locked up his toys and gone into town. Why is he always in town? pouts Jamison. Magda suggests it's because he hates the way I keep his house. She laughs. What does he do there? asks Jamison. Works, says Magda. At what? asks Jamison. She orders him back to Collinwood--you have too many questions for me--I have much to do--he's brought her something called wax for the floors. (this annoys her.) Jamison spots Barnabas' cane and takes it into his hands--he forgot it, he points out to Magda, touching the wolf's head and observing he's never without it. He is now, she says. He asks if she ever put a curse on someone. She dusts and says gypsies don't do such things. (Oh, really?)
I hoped you could tell me how they are done, he says. Who's been telling you about curses? She asks. No one, he says. You're lying, says Magda. I was just wondering, he says, people do have curses put on them, just the way people work with black magic--did you hear something from the basement? I heard nothing, she insists--it's nearing dusk--you must leave. She takes the cane back from him, over his protests. I was playing with it! he says. This isn't a playpen, she insists. (did playpens exist that far back?) He asks when Barnabas will be back. I'm, not his timetable, replies Magda--I'll tell Barnabas you stopped by. She hurries to the window and looks out, watching him go.
Quentin is also looking out the window, impatient. He takes the clay figure and says, "Not yet, Barnabas, not yet--you still have a few more moments to live."
Barnabas asks Magda why she sent Rachel to the tower room. I told her she had an enemy, explains Magda. Do you tell everyone that? Barnabas demands. I tell what I see, she assures him--I told her the truth. Don't read Rachel's palm again, orders Barnabas--she was nearly killed in that room--do you know who's living up there?
When she just gives him a wide-eyed look, he says, I'll find out myself. She tells him not to worry--nothing can harm him. Barnabas discovers his cane is missing. It must be Jamison, insists Magda.
Quentin has the cane--and the clay doll. Yes, Jamison, he says, we're ready--Barnabas deserves what he will get--I must fight him in any way I can--do you understand? I really think so, says the boy. Quentin takes a pin and starts to aim it toward the clay figure. Yes. . .yes, he says with satisfaction.
Jamison stops Quentin from stabbing the doll with the pin--that won't end the curse, it will only hurt Barnabas! Quentin orders Jamison, keep looking at me--I thought you were my friend, on my side, that you want what I do--don't you? Yes, agrees Jamison. Remember what I taught you, says Quentin, which will help us to understand why we must go on--Baal gives us the power to serve him, says Quentin.
Jamison repeats it. Baal's hand becomes my hand, intones Quentin. Jamison repeats. Whatever Baal's hand does is the good for man, says Quentin. Jamison repeats this. Do you believe it? asks Quentin. Jamison nods. You have the greatest gift, the greatest power--innocence, says Q--each man is vulnerable, but each man's vulnerability is different. Where on the doll should I put the pin? Quentin asks Jamison--above the heart? No, says Jamison, seemingly in a trance now. Quentin suggests another point. No, says Jamison, not there. Silver--it must be with silver, Says Jamison. Quentin takes the cane--with this silver? He presses the wolf's head against the clay doll, which he's placed on the table.
At the Old House, Barnabas and Magda are trying to figure out why Jamison would have taken the cane when Barnabas experiences some serious pain in his chest. Quentin, chanting, "Silver. . .silver," presses down on the doll with the cane.
Magda asks Barnabas what's wrong. I don't know! he gasps. She helps him over to a chair. It feels like something cold, metal is pressing against me, he says. You aren't the kind of man to feel any pain, she notes, unless somebody knows enough magic to make you feel it. She gasps--I know who it is! Barnabas presses his hands to his chest as Magda runs from the house.
Quentin asks Jamison, does he still feel the pain--does he? Jamison suddenly collapses to the floor. Quentin kneels beside him. Magda comes in and tells Quentin, I know what you are doing! He demands to know what she's doing here. You're a coward, accuses Magda--the only way you can kill is with dolls! He orders her to get out. She gestures disdainfully to the table. Magda spots the mark of death on Quentin's face--"YOU are the one who is dying!" she tells him. A skeleton's face appears over Quentin's.
NOTES: One of the very best Barnabas-Angelique scenes ever, IMHO. I love the venom, the bringing up of the past and future, her insistence that she loves him and only his love can change her. She's persistent, you've got to give her that, and after Rachel's saccharine sweetness, a welcome relief. Quentin really is an SOB, using Jamison in his plot against Barnabas, and actually convincing the kid he's right in wanting to kill a man who rendered him poor! Bad, bad Quentin! Why did Jamison faint?--was he having sympathy pains for Barnabas' plight?
719 - (Joan Bennett) - The great house at Collinwood stands deserted, the family driven from it by an evil spirit, who is determined to claim a possessed child as his own. But Barnabas, in an attempt to confront the ghosts, finds himself back in the year 1897, when the spirit lived as a man who uses a child to help him practice the black arts, as a gypsy discovers--but that is not all she suddenly sees.
In Quentin's room, Magda reads Quentin the riot act for using Jamison to perform his evil deed. Quentin assures her the boy is safely in bed and won't remember, but she doesn't agree, and is disgusted with him--to lose innocence is something one doesn't forget, says Magda. He orders her to stop lecturing him, then nervously asks if she still sees the mask of death on him. She nods. He thinks she is making it up to frighten/punish him. I don't say that lightly, she assures him. He claims if she can see that, she knows who will kill him and how. It's gone, she says. So it conveniently disappeared just as I was about to force you to tell me everything you know? he says. You can think that if you want, she retorts. He grabs her arm and demands to know--who will kill me--Barnabas? One minute you make fun of me, the next you're frantic with fear, says Magda--you must believe in my power, she says triumphantly--whoever believes in voodoo must believe in me. He admits, you did see it, I believe you--when and how did it happen? he demands. He grabs and twists her arm to force the information from her. (such a bully!)
Magda struggles to free herself from Quentin's grasp--why should I tell you?--you're an animal!--no, you're a child, she amends--grabbing, hurting, only wanting to hurt, to get your own way, when the easier way would be smiling. He grins at her. There, he says, smile enough for you?--my God, if you know how I'm going to die, you must tell me.
Why? she asks, so you can run away from it, hide the knives? Quentin pounces--a knife?--is that how I will die? Yes, she admits. Who? he demands. I have told you all I see, she insists. Quentin feels she can see more. If I choose, I can, she admits. He offers to smile again, but waves money under her nose, too. Magda says, I can see far more clearly now. "You're a fraud," he accuses as she grabs and takes the money. She reminds him, there is another world, in which death can be pre-ordained. They sit down; she checks his palm. "And be avoided," he says. Yes, she agrees. She looks at his palm. She sees a person holding a knife, a woman.
We see a childlike Jenny smiling welcome at Judith, who has come to see her. I have so little time for tea parties, she says, with the babies. . .she apologizes that Judith can't see them, but I never disturb their nap--it's harmful to their health. Judith asks if she's felt better since being transferred to this room.
Jenny says yes--I was most unhappy in the other place--babies need sunlight. I forget your name, admits Jenny, although the face is familiar. Judith tells her who she is. At the mention of the name "Collins," Jenny grows very upset. She smiles, saying it's terrible of her. . .Judith. . ."I don't LIKE that name!" says Jenny through gritted teeth. Abruptly, she calms, and asks Judith, What should I name my babies?--I can't decide what's pretty anymore. Boys are to be named after their father, she remembers that (and gets damn near hysterical at the thought of him). Judith diffuses this dangerous mood by telling her that her babies are awake now. Oh, I didn't hear them!, says Jenny, dismayed. She takes both dolls into her arms and croons to them, asking if they dreamed pretty dreams, if they're hungry. She hugs and rocks them, asking what she would ever do without them--sweet, sweet babies. Judith looks upset by this sight.
That's all you know, scoffs Quentin--that a woman is going to kill me? He laughs hard--really, of course it would be a woman--I wouldn't have it any other way--what color hair? He turns on the gramophone to listen to his beloved music. Magda asks him what he thinks of when he listens to it. Myself, he answers--I have lost all interest for anyone else--wasn't that in my palm?--I read that everyone has a theme of music (talk to Ally McBeal's therapist!), and when I'm alone, depressed, I can play this and suddenly I'm not in this room or house, I'm free, somewhere exciting. She takes his palm and promises to tell him where he is. He gives it to her with a smile.
Jenny tells Judith, my babies are asleep, and I so wanted you to have a chance to play with them! Some other time. . .Jenny hears Quentin's music and begins to hum along. She screams, "He's back!" Judith asks who. "You know who!" cries Jenny--that's what you came to tell me--he's back! "HE'S BAAACK!"
Jenny's nostrils flare; she accuses Judith of "not being able to wait to tell me". . .I heard him, talked to him, he's got to be punished, will YOU punish him? Scared, Judith tries to tell her the babies are crying, but Jenny says they aren't, seeming very confused. Who will punish him? demands Jenny. Judith again tells her to tend to her babies--then leaves the room and locks Jenny in. Jenny covers her hears. "Don't listen to that music!" she wails. She takes the dolls and holds them, telling them, "You don't hear it!" growing quite hysterical.
Magda tells Quentin's fortune with the Tarot. She asks if he has to keep playing the music. "I like it!" he insists. You've heard it before, he says, but it's soothing to me while I listen to you telling me my future tragedies. You HAVE no future, says Magda. Judith bursts in and orders Quentin to turn off the music. Go away, he says. She commands him to do as she says. Why? He demands. Because it's driving me mad, says Judith. "Perhaps that's why I play it," he says. She goes over and shuts it off herself, infuriating her brother. It's bad enough to see you sitting with "that woman," says Judith, "listening to her!" You always advised me to learn more about my future, Quentin reminds his sister-- "Get out of this room!" he finishes, looking quite dangerous. This is my house, she reminds him. You point that out with ever-increasing frequency, says Q sarcastically. A fact you seem to forget! she retorts. "Would that I could!" he yells--remember, I have a home here for the rest of my life, and that imparts a certain freedom, including entertaining Friends--"Friends," he repeats, "and a place to meditate on the soon to be tomorrows." Judith orders him to get Magda out and stop playing the music, then flounces out after she and Quentin exchange looks of hatred. Quentin closes the door and tells Magda, my sister likes to make nasty little scenes, so we oblige her--it embarrasses us to have it in front of friends, Judith knows no one can keep a secret in front of her (Selby got a tad mixed up with his dialogue here, so I have no idea what he was actually trying to say.)
Foyer - Judith speaks to Dirk, who is getting ready to start his rounds. How much do we pay you? she asks--do you want to get more? Depends on what I would he have to do, he says. Be very quiet, she says, and don't tell anyone else in the house what you do. "Another little Collins secret?" he says. You're impertinent, she says.
Dirk tells her, if you're asking if I can keep my mouth shut, I can--I don't care what you or the others do as long as I get my pay, and any way I can earn more, you just have to tell me how--"Come on," he urges. She takes him to the servants' quarters.
Jenny dances in her room, humming Quentin's music. She suddenly seems to realize what she's doing and grows agitated again. She tells her "babies" that wasn't me dancing, no, it wasn't me, it was HER, the other one. . .I wouldn't dance to that music, she sobs, please believe me!
As Judith and Dirk come downstairs, she's saying, ". . .now you can see why you can't tell anyone." Beth knows, Dirk says. Judith says they need someone to handle Jenny with force, if necessary. They are standing at the door to Jenny's new home, and he repeats, "Beth knows everything." Why are you concerned about that? she asks. I thought I knew everything about her, that's all, replies Dirk. Jenny hears the door being unlocked and cries, "Don't come in here, I don't want to see you!" Judith tells her who it is. Jenny clings to the brick wall and asks if "he" is with her. Of course not, Judith assures her. Jenny, screaming incoherently, races from the room. Dirk captures her in his arms. There's a struggle (he's struggled with many women on this show, hasn't he?). Judith tries to get the screaming Jenny to quiet down, slapping her across the face to effect her goal. With Jenny chastened at last, it's easy for Dirk to drag her back into the room. Sternly, Judith tells Dirk Jenny must never leave this room--"You must see that she doesn't," she says firmly.
Magda tells Quentin the cards are silent. He demands she check the crystal ball. No, she says, but he's insistent--do it now! he warns. (nasty Q!) She takes the crystal ball from her bag and looks. The full moon, she says. Is that when it will happen? he asks. Yes, she says. When" he asks--how long do I have? Nervously, she refuses to answer. Are you going to drive me to the Farmer's Almanac? He demands--when is the next full moon?? Two days, she says. Well, says Quentin, he shall make the most of them--who will do it?--look into the ball. She does--she was once very beautiful, Magda says. Q complains thats no help. I can't see the name, she says, just a letter--the woman who will kill him, her name begins with J. Quentin begins thinking of all the J's who might want him dead.
J, muses Quentin, what a curious initial--no one comes to his mind--Judith? I didn't say that, says Magda. She loves me, he insists--beneath that cool exterior, she feels great affection for me. (she hides it well!) I don't care how you all feel about each other, says Magda. A woman, he muses--I'm not sure anyone could classify Judith as that. (low blow!). A fig, a prune, a dried apple, but not a woman, he says. Magda moves to leave. Q angrily asks if she's running back to Barnabas--tell him how you frightened Quentin. Barnabas thinks of her as a charwoman, she grins--we don't confide in each other. Quentin grabs her arm and warns her not to tell him anything--I don't intend to die, and I don't want you to do anything to make me angry with you.
Down in the drawing room, Judith glances solemnly at a key she holds in her hand. Quentin comes down with Magda and tells his sister, we were just talking about you--Magda has a very interesting theory about you. He orders Magda to leave, (and very cruelly, too). Magda curtseys and goes. Quentin says to Judith, "Step into my parlor, said the spider to the fly--but in this case, who is what?" She accuses him of drinking. He assures her, that was never one of my bad habits, never could be, but I thought if you took up a hobby, it might be sherry. They go into the drawing room and he asks her for solutions to his life. You have to find your own, she says. He insists, you've been thinking a lot more about me than I have, I'm sure, dear sister, and since you're saddled with me for eternity, what are your plans?
I offered you money to get out, she reminds him. I turned it down, he says, and that was plan A--what is plan B? I hoped that you'd change, she says. How can I, when my position hasn't? he asks--no, no, Judith, you haven't been that optimistic--if you had the problem of Quentin, he asks her, what would you do?--think, he demands. She insists she can't. He grabs her. Murder, he says, haven't you ever thought of murder?
Dirk brings Jenny some coffee, telling her how nice it smells. She pushes the coffee off the table. You aren't being a nice girl, he chastises--you got coffee all over the floor and now I haves to clean it up. He's annoyed as he gets on hands and knees to sop up the coffee, but Jenny takes the metal tray upon which he carried her coffee and hits him over the head with it. He falls to the floor with a grunt, unconscious. She takes the keys from his belt and looks them over, smiling, excited.
Judith asks Quentin, do you think me capable of murder? I know you are, he replies. Did the gypsy tell you that, she asks?--how I wish we were both right, murder would make my life much easier. . .no it wouldn't, he says, don't start thinking about murder, Judith, because I'd come back to haunt you until the state hung you by the neck. He gets right into her face and repeats, "Don't start thinking murder, Judith--don't!" They stare each other down, neither giving an inch.
Jenny enters Quentin's room, looking about herself, frightened of the gramophone. She finds a letter opener and says, "Quentin, Quentin!" She takes it and thrusts it forward, as if stabbing someone.
NOTES: A nice, restrained performance by Roger Davis today. Selby was terrific, as was Hall, and their sparring fun to watch. Selby alternates between affability and violent cruelty with exceptional grace and ease. The Sparring Award of the Day, however, goes to Quentin and Judith, the quibbling siblings who hate each other's guts. I think this family totally capable of murdering each other, I really do. Marie Wallace as Jenny turned in another wonderfully insane performance, and she's having fun with it. Alternating between violence, poignancy and confusion, she walks the tightrope of sanity and insanity flawlessly.
Love, Robin
