365 - (Alexandra Moltke) - A sudden storm over the great house of Collinwood. The heavens are as full of unrest as the house itself. Perhaps the spirits which disturb the house will finally make themselves known--or perhaps they will only bring new horror, and grief.
Liz paces Collinwood's drawing room as the storm surges outside. She enters the foyer to say greet the newly-returned Roger, who complains about the terrible weather. Liz wants to discuss David. Roger opines that they made a mistake bringing him back from Boston. Julia has corroborated David's claim about seeing Sarah, and Liz says she hasn't questioned Julia for details because she's afraid of what she might hear.
Study - Roger and Liz confront Julia, who will only admit that Sarah is NOT imaginary--she thinks Sarah is a ghost. While Roger expresses doubt, Julia flips through the family album and shows them the picture of Sarah Collins. Liz is willing to accept that it could be the same child, but Roger feels it's a coincidence. Carolyn joins them--David doesn't know what he's talking about, she insists, and she only pretended to see Sarah in order to help her disturbed cousin--and perhaps Julia is trying to help someone NOW? I'm not lying, says Julia, and Carolyn, you know it! I don't know a thing about it, says Carolyn, playing innocent. There's no way to prove anything, points out Roger, but Julia suggests there might be--a seance! Carolyn calls the idea ridiculous, and Roger isn't enamored of the idea, either, but Liz, reminding them they learned something from the last seance, insists that it's a go.
We must reach Sarah, says Liz, or we might never find out what's wrong with David.
At the Old House, Barnabas stares out at the storm, then walks around the drawing room, ruminating. Where is Sarah is now? Why did she leave me before I could explain? What can I explain? My life? No. That I still love her? I am still her loving brother, I am not to blame for what has happened to me, I didn't choose this. Or would she rather I was dead--would she forgive me then? Barnabas hears a knock at the door, but before opening it, he asks who it is. Carolyn responds, telling him to let her in. He opens the door partway and tells her he isn't up for company tonight; he has much thinking to do. When she warns him there's going to be a seance at Collinwood, he opens the door fully, allowing her in. The others at Collinwood want to speak to Sarah, Carolyn tells him. Not tonight! Says Barnabas, horrified, remembering what transpired this evening between his sister and him. Julia and Mother are determined to go through with it, says Carolyn, concerned--"Do you want to stop it? Must you stop it?" she asks him.
Study, Collinwood - Barnabas tells Liz he doesn't want this seance conducted. She's surprised he feels this way, considering his passion for the past. I respect my ancestors' privacy, says Barnabas. Liz informs him that Julia saw Sarah. I don't think Miss Hoffman is the most stable of women, says Barnabas. (cold!)
Julia wouldn't lie, objects Liz, and the seance might tell us what we have to deal with, and finds Barnabas' objections to this action shocking. He offers an apology--he thought he was being rational. Roger and Julia join them, and Roger invites Barnabas to the seance. He refuses--I'm a cynic, he says. I was, too, at first, admits Roger. He and Liz leave to find candles for the seance. Julia starts to go, too, but Barnabas calls to her, asking slyly, "What if Sarah doesn't appear--and Dr. Woodard does?" Is that why you're not coming to the seance? Counters Julia--Woodard will name you, not me, as his murderer! Are you willing to take that risk? Asks Barnabas pointedly. "I am willing to take any risk," insists Julia determinedly, "I have no choice but to see this through till the end--you have no choice, either, if you would only realize it." She excuses herself and exits the study.
Foyer - Carolyn meets Barnabas on his way out of the study. I couldn't stop the plans for the seance, he says, I must be very cautious--I have a plan for you, and I will sit next to you during the ceremony.
Drawing room - Roger, Vicki, Julia and Carolyn set up the room for the seance. Liz comes in, pleased to announce that Barnabas is going to join them. Julia lights the candles as Barnabas enters the room. Roger expresses pleasure at Barnabas' decision--he felt her was being "rather stuffy" earlier when he declined. (look who's calling who stuffy, LOL, Roger didn't want to participate either, at first!) I don't mind being called stuffy, says Barnabas, but I don't want anyone doubting my concern for David. I want the family album on the table, says Roger--if Sarah does appear, I want to make sure she's really Sarah Collins. Actual physical appearances are rare, Julia tells him, and attitude is very important during a seance--if anyone doesn't believe, it might stop the person they're trying to reach from making contact. "I'll try to suppress my natural levity" comments Barnabas sarcastically. (LOL!) Vicki brings over the family album, opened to Sarah's picture, and places it on the table. Everyone settles into their chairs and they begin. Roger closes the door and switches off the lights. Outside, the storm continues, unabated.
Form an unbroken circle of your hands on the table, instructs Julia, but when Barnabas deliberately fails to do as asked, Julia is forced to chastise him. "I'm sorry," he apologizes, not sincerely, to my ears. Clear your minds and think only of Sarah, orders Julia. Appear to us, Sarah! Bids Roger. Carolyn looks over at Barnabas, who is seated beside her, and Julia glances suspiciously at both of them. We need you, Sarah! Calls Roger--we want you to help us with your friend, David!--make a sign if you hear us! The sound of Sarah's flute playing "London Bridge" fills the room and Vicki begins to moan. Roger keeps calling Sarah--speak to us, if you won't appear! he urges the little ghost. Barnabas gives Carolyn a furtive nod. She pretends to be going into a trance of her own, speaking in a little girl's voice. No, no! she cries--I do not have a friend named David. Vicki interrupts. "She lies!" insists the governess--"David IS my friend--I play with him--I am Sarah Collins". Carolyn tries to intervene, but Liz stops her. "I will never, ever let any of you see me again," declares Sarah, speaking through Vicki--"I came to her (Carolyn), she saw me--she tells lies!" Carolyn rises to her feet, trying to ruin the seance, but Liz orders her to sit back down and be silent. Barnabas gives Carolyn another nod, and she sits back down. The vampire gives Carolyn an evil look. "Why is my new nursemaid late?" wonders Sarah-Vicki--"I drew a picture of how she is to look--she will be that pretty." We want to know about David, says Roger--why do you come to David? Sarah-Vicki begins to reply, but instead says, "Let me go to the gate, please--I hear the carriage there!" Again, Roger begs Sarah to tell them about David. "Barnabas will take me to the gate," says Sarah-Vicki. This frightens Barnabas, who declares these proceedings ridiculous and cruel. "Barnabas?" asks Vicki-Sarah--"when you marry Josette, will you still love me?--will you come and see me at the new house?" Roger presses Sarah to speak of David. She hesitates, then replies, "To tell him--to tell him the story, how it all began. . . no, I won't go to bed until my new nursemaid comes--you said that I could stay up to see her. . .don't take the candle!--I won't go to sleep--don't take the light--don't!"
Vicki screams, and the candles flicker out.
Barnabas rushes to turn the lights back on. Everyone stares, stunned--Vicki is gone, and a woman dressed in 19th century attire has taken her place at the table. Barnabas gazes at her, terror-stricken. The woman seems totally out of it; she tells them she came from Boston--"The carriage overturned!" she cries. Confused, she stares at all assembled and demands to know where she is. Noting everyone's shocking dress, she insists she only works in "respectable houses." Sit down, commands Roger--we will ask you the questions. My name is Phyillis Wick, she reveals--I was hired by Mrs. Collins to be the new governess for a nine-year-old girl named Sarah. Everyone looks at her, completely flabbergasted.
Vicki stands in a clearing in the woods in front of the Old House, the Collins family history book clasped in her arms. Something is different about the Old House, she notes--it looks downright new!
"It's different!" she says--"Where am I?"
NOTES: For those of you who have seen DARK SHADOWS before, you know exactly where Vicki is, and what is going to happen to her over the next couple of months. Notice here that Sarah speaks of Barnabas marrying Josette, but according to all the stories we've heard until now, Josette was married to Jeremiah, Barnabas' much older uncle. So already there is a gigantic discrepancy, and given how recently we heard a completely different story, we have to wonder exactly when the writers chose to alter history in this manner. This is going to explain how Barnabas came to be a vampire, and introduce us to some fascinating new characters, all played by actors with whom we are familiar. Curtis could have hired an entirely new cast, but why bother when you're already paying these people, and now they can play the Collins family ancestors! It's a stroke of brilliance.
Watch as the kindly Joe Haskell becomes a totally different character in the personage of Lt. Nathan Forbes. The murderous Matthew Morgan becomes Ben Stokes, a completely opposite, totally fascinating character. Meet Angelique, one of DS' most talked about, alluring, enduring and complex villains. Silly Millicent, seemingly heartless Joshua, loving drunk Naomi, sweet Sarah, pious-to-a-fault Abigail, witch-hunter extraordinaire Reverend Trask, Peter Bradford, who will make Vicki pretty much forget Burke, pretty, innocent, doomed Josette, the delightfully forthright Countess duPres, loving father Andre duPres, Jeremiah, Barnabas' loving yet strangely betraying uncle, young Daniel, heir to all the Collins possess, Noah Gifford, a blackguard supreme, Suki, a wronged, blackmailing wife--and anyone else I might have forgotten.
1795 has always been my favorite trip to the past, and I look forward to taking this journey into "a sea of familiar faces" with Vicki yet again.
366 - (Joan Bennett) - Inside the great house at Collinwood, a seance has been held in an effort to establish contact with the supernatural. But at this moment, life for the six members of the seance has suddenly come to a standstill. For one of their members has mysteriously disappeared and been transported back through time and space. Victoria Winters has begun a terrifying journey into the past.
Vicki is quick to notice how brand-new the Old House looks, but she isn't too on the ball about much else in her new surroundings. Then again, how often does one find oneself transported to another time?
Barnabas comes out of the Old House, and Vicki tells him she's glad to see him. He is confused; he's never met HER, he says, and she asks him if he's teasing her--and why is he wearing those old clothes?
He notes that her attire is odd, to say the least. He begins to suspect she's ill. Sarah comes out, protesting that she doesn't want a nap. Barnabas kneels, very sweet and affectionate towards her, insisting gently that she must do as he says. Sarah tells him this lady is her governess, but when Barnabas asks Vicki if this is so, she says she doesn't know. Sarah wants to take her new governess to her room, but Barnabas orders his sister to take her nap. Vicki introduces herself to Sarah as "Vicki," then corrects it to "Victoria" when the child finds the name peculiar. "Au revoir!" Sarah says to Vicki--she's learning French for the wedding--she's going to be a flower girl! Vicki is shaken to realize that, to Barnabas, she's a total stranger, and starts mumbling about the seance, which puzzles him further. She mentions his cousins, Roger and Mrs. Stoddard, and those names mean nothing to him, either. He suggests that she lie down. She admits she IS a governess, and Barnabas suggests she get hold of herself. She also reveals that she lives at Collinwood, which startles him, since it's only now under construction. Vicki is further stunned, so Barnabas ushers her into the house to take a rest. She's shocked at the new furniture in the Old House, and after Barnabas takes her upstairs (and was probably staring in shock up her short skirt), Sarah sneaks out and watches them go up the steps.
In her simple room, Barnabas asks Vicki where her luggage is, but all she's got is the Collins family history book--and she doesn't know how it or she got here! Barnabas calls her strange. This must be a nightmare, she says helplessly, shaking her head. He explains the Collinses have been called many things, but not the most nightmarish people in the Province of Maine. PROVINCE? wonders Vicki. He leaves her alone, suggesting she rest. All Vicki can think is that she's having a dream from which she can't awaken.
Vicki isn't alone long. Sarah sneaks in to visit her, asking her not to tell on her for not taking her nap. Although Vicki insists she isn't Sarah's governess, Sarah says she is--she drew a picture of her.
She shows Vicki the crude drawing, which could be anyone, although it does have Vicki's long dark hair and one of the bows she always wears in it. Vicki tells Sarah everything has changed except she herself, and it frightens her. Sarah tells her not to be afraid, and when she hears her mother coming, swiftly skedaddles. Vicki quickly leaves her room and runs downstairs. A handsome man in a blue and yellow uniform is in the drawing room, and he looks exactly like Joe Haskell. To his delight, Vicki runs into his arms, calls him Joe and asks him to take her to Collinwood. She accuses him of playing a joke on her and asks why he's dressed that way, and he smirks and remarks she's hardly dressed at all. He identifies himself as Nathan Forbes, Lieutenant in the Navy, tells her she's pretty and begins to make amorous moves on her,
backing her into one of the columns, which she rebuffs, eventually slapping him across the face. You're engaged to Maggie Evans, my best friend! she accuses. He only knows a scullery maid named Maggie, says Nathan, and she knew her way to a man's heart, for sure. He guesses that she's Millicent Collins, newly-arrived for the wedding, and when Vicki asks WHAT wedding, Forbes tells her Barnabas Collins is marrying the beautiful, rich Josette duPres. HUH? Josette came there to marry Jeremiah, Vicki muses to herself, so this MUST be a dream. Aloud, she says, agitated, if it's a dream, why can't I wake up? If it's not, what is it--"Why doesn't anyone know me?" Forbes isn't thrilled at being slapped, and regards her coldly.
A woman who looks like Liz Stoddard (and what a magnificent gown she wears!) enters. Vicki wonders aloud if she's going mad, and the kind woman, who introduces herself as Naomi Collins, urges Vicki to sit down. She'll get a doctor for her, she promises, and asks about Vicki's carriage ride from Boston. Since Vicki took such a trip back in 1967, she wisely mentions she and David took a bus there and flew back, which makes Naomi suggest to Nathan, "The child obviously has a fever." She asks Nathan to read aloud one of the wedding invitation he picked up in town for her--"We request the honour of your presence. . .wedding of Barnabas Collins to Josette duPres on December 20, 1795. . ." Hearing the date, Vicki says, "That's impossible! I must be dreaming!" Josette married Jeremiah! Vicki tries to induce herself to awaken from this, and Naomi, probably suspecting the new governess has gone mad, gazes at her, alarmed. Barnabas comes in and tells Forbes and his mother that the carriage carrying the new governess overturned--three people were killed and the governess is missing! That might explain the way Vicki is behaving, suggests Naomi,
but then they realize there's a difference in the name--Victoria Winters isn't the name of the woman she hired, it was Phyllis Wick! The three of them stare at her. Naomi turns to Vicki, demanding to know who she is. Miss Winters decides it's time to tune out of this bizarre gig and faints at their feet.
NOTES: The gorgeous costumes in 1795 always made me glad the show was in color. 1967 is so drab by comparison. We meet the handsome, skirt-chasing Nathan, who here seems an OK guy, with an eager eye for the ladies. Vicki can't believe what's happened to her, evidence to the contrary, and she really seems to be dumbing down here. Of course, it's hard to accept such an enormous change, but she catches on so slowly!
Barnabas is a nice guy who loves his sister, looks much younger and is anticipating getting married to Josette. This is at odds with what Vicki knows, of course, but does she have to say everything out loud so they can think she's crazy?
I loved the beginning of 1795 and couldn't wait to get home from school every day to see it. So many wonderful things are going to happen soon!
Love, Robin
