212

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Barnabas meets Elizabeth and Victoria.
← Dark Shadows (1966) episode 212 →
Episode number	209
Timeline	1967
First aired	April 19, 1967
Tape date	April 16, 1967
Narrated by	Victoria Winters
Written by	Ron Sproat
Directed by	John Sedwick
Home video	DVD: DS C1D1

The residents of Collinwood are surprised to discover that an unknown cousin from England, Barnabas Collins, has arrived in Collinsport to set down roots.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Memorable quotes 3 Dramatis personae 4 Background information and notes 5 Continuity and mistakes

[edit] Synopsis

Teaser

My name is Victoria Winters. Night is drawing nearer and nearer to Collinwood, and the man who has disappeared into another night, has not been found. But out of the falling dusk, another man has come – a stranger who is not a stranger. A man with a face long familiar to those that live at Collinwood. A man who has come a great distance, but who still bears deep within him a soul shaped by the far country from which he came.

Elizabeth meets her new cousin, Barnabas Collins. She has never heard of this long-lost relative and is amazed by how much he resembles the Barnabas Collins whose portrait hangs in the foyer at Collinwood. The living Barnabas even wears the same black, signet ring and carries the same Wolf's-head cane that the man in the portrait does.

Act I

Barnabas tells Elizabeth that he is a direct descendant of the Barnabas Collins who lived in the 18th century. His family moved to England several generations ago, and as it stands, he is the last of the British branch of the family. He has come to Collinsport to find his roots. Elizabeth is incredibly excited by all of this and is even further amazed when Barnabas demonstrates an uncanny knowledge of the Collins family history. He tells her that he grew up hearing stories about the Collins family history and had intimate knowledge of every detail of his ancestry.

Act II

Vicki and David come downstairs, and David is anxious to go outside and play. He and Vicki talk about Willie, who has not returned, and David hopes he'll come back before heading out. Vicki enters the drawing room and Elizabeth introduces her to Barnabas. Barnabas is instantly enamored with Vicki and begins flirting with her. After talking for a short bit, Barnabas excuses himself and says that he is off to explore the town. Vicki, who is quite taken with the courtly new arrival, asks Elizabeth if Jason found Willie. Elizabeth tells her no, and that troubles her. Vicki explains that she saw Willie from her window and that he was carrying his sea bag with him. Elizabeth is certain Willie hasn't left Collinsport as his personal belongings are still in the house. She chides herself for ever letting him set foot in Collinwood.

Act III

Barnabas arrives later at the Old House – the original family mansion. However, the house has not been used in almost a century and is in shambles. As he enters, he finds David playing on the staircase. When David first notices Barnabas, he thinks that he is seeing a ghost, but is disappointed to discover that his ghost is really just his new cousin from England. Barnabas and David speak for a little while, and David shows Barnabas the portrait of Josette Collins, an 18th century ancestor, hanging above the mantle in the living room. They talk about the Old House, and Barnabas becomes wistful when David tells him he likes to watch the sunrise from one of the upstairs rooms. Barnabas admits that he missed his home for a long time, but he doesn't anymore.

Act IV

David returns to Collinwood and asks if Willie returned. Vicki tells him no and that David should stop asking about it. David explains that he met Barnabas at the Old House; he admires the portrait of Barnabas Collins and says that the man in the painting seems angry, while his cousin seems sad and lost. At the Old House, Barnabas begins speaking to the portrait of Josette. It becomes obvious that Barnabas knew this woman very intimately at some point in his past. Shouting to an empty room, Barnabas boldly proclaims himself the new master of the Old House, banishing "whatever power" Josette's spirit has.

[edit] Memorable quotes

• Barnabas Collins: "The Collins blood always had a certain persistent strength."

• Barnabas Collins: "I've always loved Collinwood. It's just as I remember it."

• Barnabas Collins: "And I wouldn't be a Collins if I didn't recognize in my blood... in my soul... My roots are here... and perhaps my destiny."

• Barnabas Collins (to Vicki): "The name Victoria is so beautiful I couldn't possibly surrender a syllable of it."

[edit] Dramatis personae

• ← Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard →
• ← Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins →
• ← David Henesy as David Collins →
• and ← Alexandra Moltke as Victoria Winters →

[edit] Background information and notes

• Although it is fairly obvious, it should be noted that Barnabas is lying to Elizabeth about his personal history in this episode. He is not a descendant of the original Barnabas Collins. He, in fact, is the original Barnabas Collins. There is no extended family living abroad in England, and Barnabas' knowledge of the Collins family history comes from personal experience – not from studying family journals as he claims.

• When comparing the similarities of himself and his ancestor, Barnabas remarks, "The Collins blood always had a certain persistent strength". This is certainly true, as many members of the family down through the ages carry with them similar physical characteristics. Outside the continuity of the show, the reason behind this is because many of the actors from Dark Shadows portray their own ancestors during various flashback periods, although at this time no one except Kathryn Leigh Scott had played a character from the past.

• Even though he asks Elizabeth if he can move into the Old House in this episode, Barnabas won't officially move into the home until episode 220.

• While talking to the Portrait of Josette, Barnabas says that, now that he has returned, "whatever power" her spirit held over the Old House is broken. This might explain why Josette's ghost does not contact Vicki or David (as she did in the Phoenix storyline) to warn them of danger.

• Jonathan Frid gives an electrifying performance in his first full episode of Dark Shadows.

[edit] Continuity and mistakes

• In episode 210, Barnabas' black, signet ring is seen on his left hand. In this episode, it is now on his right hand, and will remain so fairly consistently throughout the remainder of the series. The portrait of Barnabas Collins shows the ring displayed on his right hand.

• Although Barnabas claims to be Elizabeth Stoddard's cousin from England, he does not have an English accent.

• Barnabas appears to show great fondness for Collinwood, as if he lived there for a very long time. In retrospect, Barnabas had only a scant familiarity with Collinwood. As later episodes will show, the main house of Collinwood had just finished being built at the time that Barnabas first became a vampire. Furthermore, at this time the official storyline was that the house had been built by Jeremiah Collins for his bride, Josette, in 1830 (5, 45), so it would not have been conceived when Barnabas had originally died.

• When speaking of Josette Collins, Barnabas refers to her as "our ancestor from over a hundred years ago". Josette Collins died in 1796, making her relative age closer to 200 years ago, than 100. In the original continuity, Josette lived until well into the 1800's, but this fact is retroactively altered in later episodes.

• David Henesy stammers over his lines quite a bit in his initial conversation with Barnabas Collins.