868 - Aristede's eyes grow huge with terror. He hastily jumps to his feet and runs away. "No," moans the sickly, pale man who so looks like Barnabas, "no!" And he, too, loses consciousness.
Quentin listens to yet another classical tune in the drawing room while reading a book. Edward comes downstairs, looking puzzled, and joins him, surprised to find him up. Kitty remembers nothing of what happened, he says--the first thing she does recall is lying on her bed, crying, with an overwhelming sense of loss. Oh? asks Quentin. Edward, exasperated, wonders what makes this happen. I think I know, says Quentin--and shows Edward a diary faithfully kept in the 18th century by Ben Stokes. What has that to do with Kitty? Edward asks. Ben was no ordinary servant, says Q, he worked for Barnabas Collins. "Barnabas Collins!" shouts Edward gruffly--he's dead, will we ever be rid of him? No, says Q, dead or not, his shadows continues to fall on many people, including Kitty. Barnabas has nothing to do with Kitty, insists Edward. (How can he say that?) You can think I'm talking nonsense if you want, says Q, but listen--Ben Stokes wrote that Barnabas was in love with an heiress named Josette, from Martinique, but she rejected him. What does this have to do with Kitty? Edward repeats. Everything, says Quentin--Kitty somehow is reliving that thwarted romance, and becomes Josette at times. That makes no sense, says Edward. Doesn't it? asks Q--why is Kitty constantly being drawn to Barnabas' portrait?--why did she go to Jeremiah's grave, the man Josette married?--and why did Kitty appear in Josette's wedding gown, and demand Barnabas' ring, and awaken with a sense of loss--immediately after the fact they said Barnabas was dead in his coffin? Because Gerald Soames is dead and Kitty is grieving for him! insists Edward. Quentin asks, isn't her grief rather excessive? Not at all, under these circumstances, says Edward. Quentin chuckles--what circumstances? You never saw them together, they were a devoted couple, says Edward--their romance is out of a storybook. Quentin laughs and says, if you believe that, you do believe in storybooks! You are in no position to say so, insists Edward--you never saw them together, nor met Gerald. Do I need to? asks Q-- I know Kitty and she's far from a storybook heroine--she's practical, and down to earth, exactly what you need for many reasons--but Josette Collins is someone NONE of us need. Forget about Josette, insists Edward. I can't, as long as she's a part of Kitty, says Q--adding as long as this battle goes on between them unchecked, Kitty can die. Edward is shocked. Josette becomes stronger, Kitty, weaker, explains Q, until Kitty ceases to exist at all and Josette will live in that body again.
This infuriates Edward, who says, understand this--and clearly--if I ever hear you have shown that diary to Kitty, or speak of your wild-eyed nonsense, I'll see to it personally that you're thrown out of the house. Edward walks out, angry. Quentin calls to him, urging him to come back, but he has to answer the phone. "You fool!" mutters Q before picking up the phone. The man on the phone asks for Edward. He's gone to bed, says Q. Wake him, orders the man. I won't, says Quentin--I don't have to deliver messages. I don't know who you are, but I am Dr. Ian Reed--a strange man just stumbled into his office, asking for Edward Collins, says the doctor. This interests Quentin. Who is he? he asks. He collapsed as soon as he got here and hasn't yet revived says Dr. Reed, and never said who he was. What does he look like? asks Quentin. "Tall, thin, dark hair," describes the doctor--he's very sick. I am Quentin Collins, you have impressed me--I'll be down to take care of the matter immediately. Quentin opens a drawer and pulls out a pistol, which he fills with silver bullets.
Dr. Ian Reed gazes upon the unconscious man in his office, the man who looks exactly like Barnabas Collins...
Dr. Reed takes the man's pulse. He answers Quentin's knock at his door. Where is Edward? asks Dr. Reed. I said I would take care of the matter, Quentin reminds him. The doctor brings Quentin over to look at his patient. Quentin is shocked, stunned, totally amazed. He looks at the sleeping man and says, "Leave me alone with him." The doctor refuses--he's still unconscious. Go! demands Q. You may be in the habit of running Collinswood in Collinsport, but I run things in this dispensary, says Dr. Reed, and no one tells me what to do. (Go, doc, go!) Angry at being thwarted, Quentin just looks at him. The man awakens--where am I? he asks. You're in my office, Dr. Reed assures him, perfectly safe. How did I get here? the man asks. "That's exactly what *I* would like to know," says Quentin. The man who looks like Barnabas turns his head and looks at him. "Are you Edward Collins?" he asks. "Am I WHAT?" asks Q, baffled. "Edward Collins," the man repeats--"I asked for Edward Collins." This is Quentin Collins, says the doctor, don't you know him? No, I don't, replies the man. He's telling lies, insists Quentin. Don't use that tone, orders Dr. Reed--this man is very sick, and I don't like... "And I don't like you interfering in my business!" says Quentin cruelly--"Now get out!" Again, the doctor refuses--you can't talk to me in that tone--but he does leave Quentin alone with the patient. Quentin reaches into his pocket and says, the doctor is out of the room--"Open your eyes!" Barnabas does so, only to find Quentin pointing a gun at him. I don't know what you did, or how, says Q--it doesn't matter, because I'm going to kill you! Dr. Reed returns--drop the gun, he commands. You don't realize what's going on here, says Q. The doc sticks to his guns and demands Quentin drop his. Reluctantly, Quentin does so. What do you have against this man? asks Reed, who has never seen you before?--have you seen him? "No, he hasn't," says the man who looks like Barnabas. Don't upset yourself; urges Dr. Reed--I called Edward Collins and got him this time--he'll be over in a few minutes--in the meantime, you're quite safe here, if he tries to harm you again, he'll have to shoot me first. Quentin looks pissed, and quite prepared to off the doctor, too.
Time passes. Barnabas opens and closes his eyes, drifting into and out of sleep. Quentin paces the room as the doctor watches his patient. When Edward finally arrives, the doctor calls to him to enter. "Come on in, Edward," says Quentin. Edward sees the man on the table and, rocked and scared, insists, "This can't be!" Who is this man? asks Reed, and what is it about him that makes you all so peculiar? He's a distant relative, answers Edward, one we didn't expect to see again--could we be alone with him? The doctor looks at his patient and decides it's OK--he can trust Edward. Quentin closes the door after the doctor and takes out his pistol again. "This man is dead, we know he's dead!" says Edward--"Don't we?" I saw him in his coffin, agrees Q. Then how can he be here? demands Edward. I don't know, says Q. You know what we must do, says Edward. I sure do, says Q--and points the gun at him. The man wakes up, sees the gun near his face again, and weakly asks, "Why are you pointing that gun at me?" You know who you are, as do we, says Edward. You know nothing about me, I'm a stranger here, says the man, how could you know anything of me? A stranger? scoffs Edward. Yes, says the man, I came from England first (he coughs). When? asks Edward. "I can't remember," the man says. "After everything that's happened here," says Q. What has happened? asks Edward. Nothing, answers Quentin, he's just trying to fool you again, but he's not going to get away with it. "Fool you again?" asks the man--"I've never seen either of you before." "Let's finish him off now," says Quentin. Edward stays the hand holding the gun. Wait a minute, says Edward, Dr. Reed is standing outside the door, if you kill him now, the doc will say we killed an innocent man. I don't care about Dr. Reed, says Q. It will be dawn in a few minutes, Edward reminds him--then, we'll prove to Dr. Reed the man isn't as innocent as he thinks he is. All right, agrees Quentin, what do you have in mind? Edward checks his watch--it will be dawn in a few moments, and it won't be long before we all know the truth. The man on the table says, I AM innocent. You don't need to say anything now, says Edward--in a few minutes, you may have a good deal to explain. "If you're still alive, when dawn comes, says Quentin. The man on the table looks terrified.
Time passes. Quentin aims the gun on the man lying on the table. Edward's watch shows 6:40 AM. He looks out the window at the approaching sun. The man...the gun...Edward at the window...the rising sun. The sun has risen, announces Edward. "Oh, thank God!" says the patient reverently. Why? asks Quentin. "Perhaps now you will listen to me, who I am, and what has happened," the man says. I don't care, says Quentin, still holding the gun on him. He's lived through dawn, points out Edward; he's not the man we thought he was--I don't know who he is, but I'm going to find out--"Who are you?" he asks the man, who responds, "My name is Barnabas Collins." What? asks Edward. It's an old family name, says Barnabas--"My ancestors came from Collinsport, so I came here." Came from where? asks Q. "From England, at first," says Barnabas, "then Boston--in a newspaper, I read about Edward and Judith and Quentin Collins, so I came here." I don't believe you, says Quentin. Let the man speak, orders Edward. Barnabas continues, "I would rather not--this part of the story is so horrible, it terrifies me to tell it." "What happened, my boy?" asks Quentin, still rudely holding the gun on him. "I came to Collinsport, says the patient, and as I set out to your house, I met him..." "Who was he? asks Edward. "I don't know," says Barnabas--"I don't know!" What did he look like? asks Q. "Exactly like me," says Barnabas, "I saw him first very suddenly in the dark woods, and as he came close to me I could see the terrible cruelty in his face, the need to destroy, and from what night on, he tried to destroy me." How? asks Q. "By putting me under some sort of thrall
--I could do nothing, could remember nothing from that night on, except for when he would come to me every now and then, approaching me in the same manner, with his mouth open wide and two terrible fangs in his mouth..." Again, Q says, I don't believe him. It's well past dawn and he's still alive, Edward points out. It's a trick, insists Quentin, holding the gun on Barnabas, and pulls down his collar, showing no marks on his neck. It's a miracle! cries Barnabas--perhaps it's true--"He's gone, he's finished with me--he's never going to come back to me anymore!" He IS finished with you, says Edward. "Yes," says Barnabas, relieved. "How do you know?" He's dead, reveals Edward. Quentin pulls Edward away from Barnabas, and says, wait a minute, come here you fool--why are you telling him the creature's dead?--do you know what that means?--that you believe he's a vampire victim and not the vampire? Well, I don't. Incredible as it sounds, says Edward--it could have happened. If it didn't, says Q, and the man is lying, what then? Edward agrees--I was ready to accept this man too easily. I want to finish him off right now, says Q. Not yet, says Edward--there's one way we can test him, one more way, with more than words to prove it--the three of us together can go to the cave and look into the coffin. No, says Quentin, I saw the body in the coffin and brought you the ring. Yes, but you were there before this man went to Dr. Reed, Edward says--I think we should go another time--now. I think he's too weak to go to the cave, says Q. We must take him anyway, insists Edward, who helps the unsteady Barnabas off the table and assists him in walking. Dr. Reed starts to tell them this man is in no way ready to leave. I'll take full responsibility for him, says Edward. Dr. Reed says he's very ill--he may not live through what you have in mind for him. You're quite right, agrees Edward (how cold!), he may not, then asks Barnabas, are you willing to come with us? "I'm willing," agrees Barnabas. Even Quentin helps Edward assist Barnabas from the room, gun still in hand. Dr. Reed says, I'm no longer responsible, and as a parting shot--I'm through with this whole peculiar business, and well rid of it! He closes the door after him and sits at his desk to write.
Cave - They find the door open. Quentin volunteers to check for trouble while Edward supports Barnabas outside the cave. Quentin enters and whispers for Aristede, but receives no answer. The chains on the coffin are unlocked. Quentin calls to Edward, I found absolutely nothing, seeming very happy about it--I found nothing--but that, he says, gesturing with the gun to the unlocked coffin. "His story was pathetic, but you're right," says Edward. "I accepted it too easily. Put that gun to his heart--right to his heart--and if that coffin is empty, you fire." Quentin points the gun at Barnabas' heart. Edward opens the coffin. The chains fall to the floor. Inside lies the staked body of Barnabas. Quentin's eyes widen to the point of just about falling from their sockets. "It's HIM!" says Barnabas in a hushed, frightened voice.
The three of them stare at the vampire's bloody mouth. Barnabas walks around to where there's more room and drops unconscious to the floor. Edward and Quentin kneel beside him. Quentin checks his pulse. Edward looks once again at the body in the coffin and, in a stricken voice, says, "Oh, God, what's going on here? What's going on?" Barnabas lies, unmoving, on the dirt floor.
NOTES: What a GREAT episode (script by Violet Welles), and what a clever, clever plan the team of Barnabas, Julia and Angelique came up with! It was so good seeing Frid/Barnabas again, and the story he told was marvelous. Fantastic acting by Edmonds/Frid/Selby in all scenes. Poor QIPB was chafing at the bit to just kill the poor, sick man, but luckily, Edward arrived and saved him, and believed him. Didn't it give you chills, though, when Edward ordered Quentin to shoot him in the heart of the body wasn't there? What if someone had taken it? Never mind, don't want to go there. Hope poor Barnabas is OK, and will be his old self again soon. Since he didn't disintegrate at the rising of the sun, can we safely assume this Barnabas is fully human?
869 - Barnabas lies unconscious on the cave's floor. Quentin joins Edward by the coffin and both gaze down at the staked vampire's body. The newly-arrived Barnabas begins to moan and awaken. Edward tests his pulse--we shouldn't have brought him here, he says, worried. Quentin protests--the man wanted to come see for himself! The doctor was right, frets Edward, he was too sick to come. Perhaps we should return him to the doctor, says Q. No, we're taking him back to Collinwood, insists Edward. Are you crazy? asks Q. No, says Edward, you heard his story, he's a Collins; and has been through a terrible experience. I'm not sure I believe him, says Q. What other choice do we have? asks Edward--clearly we are in the presence of two different bodies. But they look completely the same! argues Q. We've both seen this man can exist in daylight, says Edward, and the stake remains in the heart of the vampire--we must help him in every way we can--as soon as we chain the coffin, we'll take this man back to Collinwood and help him regain his health. Edward firmly closes the coffin.
Collinwood - Charity comes into the drawing room and sets up Amanda's portrait on an ornate stand. She smiles, singing her song, then closes the double doors on the portrait and sits on the table in the foyer. Trask enters and sourly reminds her, "Singing is forbidden in this house." You did tell me that, quite some time ago, she admits. Then why did I hear you singing just now? he asks. Maybe because there's a bit of the devil in me, she teases, leaning in close to him. (This was a great line, and scene!) You still refuse to recognize me as your father? He demands. You've never been my father, never will be, she insists--I remember old Bertie well, though not always with pleasure. Since you insist you have no family here, might you not be happier someplace ELSE? Trask suggests. She laughs--you're the transparent one, she says--does my presence here embarrass you?--if so, take it up with your wife; I'm her guest, she's been very kind, and I'm grateful to her--Judith thinks I can be respectable--which is more than I can say for YOU, she finishes nastily. He grabs her arm and orders, listen to me--you aren't going to stay here! Listen to ME, she counters--if you're a good chap and leaves me alone, just maybe I won't tell Judith what a rotter you really are--"Get my meanin', Guv'nor?"--and grins evilly. Furious, Trask bursts into the drawing room and is confronted by Amanda's portrait.
Pointedly, Charity remarks how pretty Amanda is, claiming, I have no idea who brought it into the house--does it bother you? she asks. It should brother you more than me, he says, wasn't it Amanda Harris who drove you from the house? What drove me away, rails Charity, was the way you were carrying on with her! "I was NOT carrying on with her!" bellows Trask. I saw it with my own eyes, insists Charity--the way you looked at her and touched her, claiming to be "helping" her--ain't much escapes old Pansy, Luv, she says, and walks off, singing her song. Trask follows her dancing figure. That picture was brought in to discredit me! he says--I swear I'll find out who brought it in and make them pay! Charity, already on the landing, gives him her rump toss and, still singing, disappears. Trask is livid. He goes back into the drawing room and stares at Amanda's portrait. Hearing the door open and close, he is stunned to see Quentin and Edward enter the house, Edward supporting Barnabas Collins!
"You've brought him back from the dead!" gasps Trask, horrified--"You've brought the vampire back!" Don't be absurd! Edward advises--listen! This is the devil's work, accuses Trask, and he's called upon you to help him! "Who is he? asks Barnabas, looking askance at the man in black. "Mr. Gregory Trask," responds Quentin, protector and guardian of family virtue--may I present to you... Edward stops Quentin--it's not time for your humor, insists the older man--take Barnabas upstairs, I'll speak to Trask. Quentin leads Barnabas upstairs, slowly, as Trask sharply watches, then asks, is that man Barnabas Collins? That is his name, says Edward. He was in his coffin with a stake through his heart, says Trask. The man you're thinking of is still in his coffin, a stake through his heart, says Edward--this is not the same Barnabas--he was victimized by the Barnabas we all knew, and is in a terrible state. I refuse to believe it's a different man, insists Trask--I trust my instincts and believe the devil is at work here, and has deceived you as he has so many others. I trust my eyes and heart, says Edward, which have not deceived me in this instance. You've made a mistake, says Trask--the man must not be allowed to stay. The man is very ill, says Edward--do you want to turn him out into the woods and let him die? His presence is a danger to all--he must leave, says Trask. If he leaves this house, says Edward, it will be on Judith's orders, not yours! (go, Eddie!) "Well, I assure you, Edward, I will speak to Judith about it!" shouts Trask peevishly. Trask follows Edward into the drawing room, where the latter has found the portrait of Amanda. I've encountered callous and insensitive people in my time, says the scandalized Edward, but you deserve a special award--how could you have the audacity to bring a portrait of this woman into Collinwood? I'm not responsible, Trask assures him, and I don't know--I was as shocked as you were. I don't believe you, says Edward. Trask says it's true--there was nothing between that girl and me! Rubbish, says Edward, even the servants know there was something between you two, and when the servants know about something, you know it's true!--get the portrait out of here before Judith sees it, do you understand?
Quentin has Barnabas ensconced in an upstairs bedroom. Barnabas thanks him and Edward for bringing him here. Barnabas, Quentin says, now that we're alone, you don't have to play act anymore--I know the full story. Barnabas is puzzled--play act? You are the same Barnabas we knew before, says Q--there can't possibly be two of you. "Mr. Collins," says Barnabas, disappointed, "you haven't understood a word I've told you." This is your friend speaking, says Q, you can be honest with me. I've told you and your brother everything, says Barnabas. I can understand your not telling Edward about Angelique and Julia, says Q. "Angelique?" asks Barn-- "Julia?" Yes, Q says, I know you were working together to bring you back--how they did it I don't know, that's irrelevant--what matters is, you are back, and now we can work together to fight Petofi. "Petofi? Fight?" asks Barnabas, lost--"You must believe me, everything I told you in the doctor's office was true--I don't understand why you doubt me--you, too, saw that coffin." Yes, I see, says Q
--well, perhaps I was wrong, but you'd better get some rest...Barnabas. And he leaves the room. Barnabas lies in bed, exhausted. We still can't tell for sure what's going on.
I'm going upstairs and will return in half an hour, Edward tells Trask--attend to the portrait. Are you going to visit the patient? Sneers Trask. I am, says Edward. I'll pray that no harm befalls anyone in the house because of HIS presence, says Trask, because if it does, it will be your fault. In all your fanatical ravings, says Edward, there's one salient point you've failed to grasp--Quentin and I brought this man in during broad daylight--even you must grasp the significance of that--a vampire can't live during the day. Quentin enters, asking, Edward, are you STILL explaining things to Trask? No, I think he gets it now, says Edward, and leaves. Trask gazes with hatred at the smiling Quentin, who spots the portrait and asks, what we have here? You tell me, suggests Trask--you're the only one who could have done it! That is a brash assumption, says Quentin. You brought it here to embarrass me, accuses Trask. Smiling, Quentin says, that's another intriguing statement--why should this portrait embarrass you?--don't tell me you weren't a good boy while my sister was away? (Loved that dig!) Remove it at once, demands Trask. Sorry to disappoint you, says Q, the portrait isn't mine and it would be wrong for me to take it, wouldn't it?--you have aroused my curiosity, I'd love to know who does own it. I'll ask the painter, Tate, says Trask, and right now. That might be a mistake, says Q, my instinct tells me you'd be better off leaving well enough alone. Trask storms off. Quentin looks once more at the portrait, then gazes out the window.
Cave - Quentin opens the coffin and stares down at the body inside. Barnabas Collins, my enemy, he says, are you as dead as you seem? I think not, somehow, there is a connection between you and this coffin and the man who walks in the day. You must be destroyed! He closes the coffin, covers it with gasoline and takes in hand a flaming torch that just happens to be there. Just as he's about to set it aflame, Edward enters--what are you doing? he demands. I'm going to destroy this creature, says Q, whatever it is. That's inhuman, protests Edward. Does this creature deserve humanity? queries Quentin. Of course not, says Edward. You must admit, Edward, says Q, as long as the body is here, the family is in danger, and besides, I'm very curious to know how this destruction will affect the Barnabas who is inexplicably among us--yes, he says, grinning madly, extremely interesting. Quentin sets the coffin on fire and laughs--"Yes! The vampire is destroyed--forever!" he gloats.
Barnabas sleeps. Someone, we don't see who at first, enters his room--Trask. He gazes at Barnabas and says, I didn't knock because I thought you'd be asleep--"I am the Reverend Gregory Trask," he says. "How do you do?" asks Barnabas. I was concerned about you, says Trask--you seemed so weak when they brought you in. I'm not feeling any better, answers Barnabas. I'm sorry, says Trask--perhaps you could use something to help sustain you through this great trial, something like this--and holds up a cross.
"Is something wrong, Reverend?" asks Barnabas (sounding devious). Trask is pissed, but quietly says no, I merely brought it along to help you pray for his swift recovery. "Thank you," says Barnabas, "That's very kind of you."
Drawing room - Charity is not happy when Edward tells her that a man who looks like Barnabas is now in the house--Quentin and I went to the place where you killed him, he explains--his body is still there. Charity looks distressed--I don't like it at all! Don't let this stranger's presence upset you in any way, he says, you're in no danger. I think I understand, she says. I'm going up to see the patient, he says. Quentin enters; Charity cries out. Quentin closes them in the drawing room, but she refuses to stay alone with him, promising, I'm gonna scream if you don't open the doors. You must not be frightened of me, he says. That's what you say, she retorts. I'm as scared as you are, says Q, wondering if Edward is wrong about the man upstairs. I'm not sticking around to find out, she insists--I'm leaving the house! That won't solve anything, he says--you're the only one who can help me, since you're the one who destroyed the vampire--if anyone can tell us if he's the real Barnabas, it's you. If you think I'm going to that creature upstairs, you're crazy, she says. "Pansy, you owe it to Judith," he reminds her, who's letting you stay in the house because she likes you--I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. What do you want me to do? she asks. Look at the man, says Q, don't worry, I'll be standing right beside you--look at that man and tell me if he's the same Barnabas who was at Collinwood before. Hearing of this little experiment in what she must play a major part, Charity looks very displeased...
Quentin enters Barnabas' room and says, I'm here to settle this matter once and for all. I don't understand, says Barnabas. You will, Q assures him, and brings in Charity/Pansy. She looks away at first. Look at him and tell me if he's the real Barnabas Collins! Demands Quentin. Obviously terrified, she turns her head slowly and looks at the man in the bed, who gazes steadily back at her.
Charity's mouth drops open and her eyes widen...
NOTES: Oh, the suspense is killing me! What does Charity/Pansy see? Is this man the same Barnabas? Why is he so ill? Is he acting very brilliantly, or does he really not know these people? It's really exciting, isn't it?
We know Charity bought Amanda's portrait, but for what reason? To drive Trask nuts, as he so deserves? Everyone is wondering where it came from, especially Trask.
These shows are so exciting, aren't they? I always loved this portion of 1897.
Love, Robin
