Collinwood just before dawn, the most important dawn the Collins family has ever faced. For Morgan, knowing that his wife carries Bramwell's child, has put her in the locked room with him. And, as the rest of the family pray that Bramwell and Catherine may survive the night, and that the curse upon them all may come to an end, Morgan goes down the corridor to the room determined that if the spirits in the room have left Catherine and Bramwell alive... he will kill them.
Brutus keeps Morgan out of the locked room, where he torments Catherine and tries to get her forgiveness (calling her "Amanda"). Catherine and Bramwell are resolute and Brutus backs down. They rejoice that the curse is finally over, but then Catherine remembers Morgan.
Morgan shoots Bramwell, but it's just a scrape. Morgan makes off with Catherine; Flora and Julia find Melanie, uncursed, in the Tower Room. They tell her of Bramwell and Catherine's victory; Melanie stops trying to salvage Flora's concept of Catherine as Kendrick enters the room. Melanie and Kendrick are reunited in passionate embrace.
Morgan holds Catherine at bay in the hopes that Bramwell will find them; Kendrick appears and, as he and Bramwell struggle with Morgan, Morgan breaks through the railing and falls off the roof to his death. Flora struggles not to blame Catherine and Bramwell, of whom Julia is surprisingly supportive.
Kendrick tries to get Melanie to come away with him so they can start their lives together; Melanie consents to leave with him as they kiss amorously. Bramwell and Catherine also affectionately kiss. Catherine expresses her guilty feelings over Morgan's death. Bramwell assures her they will leave Collinwood within the week and she will forget everything. Catherine says she cannot forget, but has learned a valuable lesson from the mistakes she has made. Flora, learning from the past, quickly forgives Bramwell.
A servant brings an unconscious Melanie in from the woods. Melanie has strange bite marks on her neck. Folks suspect animals; Stokes suspects a vampire.
There was no vampire loose on the great estate. For the first time at Collinwood the marks on the neck were indeed those of an animal. Melanie soon recovered and went to live in Boston with her beloved Kendrick. There, they prospered and had three children. Bramwell and Catherine were soon married and, at Flora's insistence, stayed on at Collinwood where Bramwell assumed control of the Collins business interests. Their love became a living legend. And, for as long as they lived, the dark shadows at Collinwood were but a memory of the distant past.
Memorable quotes
Ben Stokes: If I didn't know better, if I didn't know it was impossible, I'd swear there was a vampire at Collinwood.
Joan Bennett and Louis Edmonds are the only actors to have appeared in both the first and final episode. Nancy Barrett is the only other actor to have been with the series from its beginning, having first appeared in the second episode.
The final line of dialogue, "If I didn't know better, if I didn't know it was impossible, I'd swear there was a vampire at Collinwood", was originally written for Jonathan Frid as Bramwell to say as a little wink to the audience. However Frid, feeling it was a little too knowing and mocked the character of Barnabas Collins, refused to say it. Instead, the line was given to Thayer David as Ben, having not originally been scheduled to appear, hence why David only appears in the final scene of the episode. [1]
The final scene, after Harris enters, as originally scripted:
HARRIS' VOICE: Mrs. Collins!
FLORA: What is it, Harris?
(Harris appears in the doorway. He is half supporting Melanie, who has been attacked in the woods.)
HARRIS: I found her in the woods.
KENDRICK: Melanie! What's happened? My God . . .
JULIA: Get her to the sofa . . .
(They do . . .she is crying softly.)
HARRIS: She must have been attacked by something -- some animal.
FLORA: Get the doctor.
(He nods and leaves.)
KENDRICK: Melanie. . .Melanie. . .are you all right. . .?
JULIA: Look!
(She points to Melanie's neck.)
FLORA: What. . .what. . .
(Bramwell looks down. The camera zooms to what he sees. There are two holes in Melanie's neck.)
KENDRICK: What could have caused them? Melanie, talk to us. . .tell us.
(But she cannot. She shakes her head.)
FLORA: What could it have been?
JULIA: What kind of animal makes a mark like that?
BRAMWELL: If I didn't know bettter [sic] . . .
(He stops)
KENDRICK: Yes, Bramwell?
BRAMWELL: If I didn't know is was impossible, I would say. . .there is a vampire at Collinwood.
(And we pan their shocked faces as we:)
FADE OUT.
ONE COMMERCIAL.
Several months after the airing of this episode, Sam Hall would write an article for TV Guide which tied up several loose ends pertaining to the main time-band, titled Here's What Really Happened to Barnabas & Co.
Possibly as a result of David Selby's sudden departure from the series due to appendicitis, Bramwell was able to steal Quentin's inheritance: Morgan was dead, Gabriel was dead, Melanie was going east with Kendrick so Quentin should have inherited everything at Collinwood. Instead it is all handed to Bramwell, and this is after he was already made rich by his ship coming in. (Being realistic to the time and circumstance, if the Collins family wanted their business to be respected and taken seriously by the movers and shakers unimpressed with their money or social standing, it wouldn't have been wise to have the new head of the Collins family be a known murderer such as Quentin, even if he had done time for his crime.)
GHOSTWATCH: Brutus Collins' ghost appears to Morgan. Later, Brutus appears to Bramwell and Catherine.
TIMELINE: Kendrick will return for Melanie in an hour. 10pm: The final scene.
Bloopers and continuity errors
The hand gun Morgan is holding is a single shot musket style gun. He would have had to reload the primer, powder, and bullet after shooting Bramwell. Catherine and Bramwell should have known that since that is how guns and rifles were in that time period.
