← 224 → Timeline 1967 Narrator Victoria Winters Writer Malcolm Marmorstein Director John Sedwick Airdate May 5, 1967 Tapedate April 28, 1967 Home Video DVD: DS C1D2 We have 4 images of Dark Shadows #224

Elizabeth learns that Willie is working at the Old House, and orders Barnabas to fire him.

Synopsis Edit

Teaser

My name is Victoria Winters. Sunset at Collinwood, and the coldness of night settles in. This is a coldness that comes not from the air, but from a place that is still and deep.

David is trapped inside the Old House, while the growls of a pack of angry wild dogs can be heard outside. All of a sudden, the howling stops, and Barnabas is standing in the room!

Act IEdit

David, admitting he was afraid, tells Barnabas he couldn't open the stuck door. Barnabas opens it easily. Barnabas notices that David has been crying; David denies this, brushing away his tears. David asks Barnabas about the portrait of Josette and wonders if he could have it. Barnabas cannot give the portrait to him, but tells David that once it is re-hung, he can come over to see it whenever he likes. Willie enters the room and takes a protective position behind David. He ushers David out of the house. Barnabas tells Wille that he worries "much too much," and just to torment him, offers to walk David home.

Act II

Back at Collinwood, Jason learns that Willie is working at the Old House and plans to take action. But first he continues to blackmail Elizabeth. He has forced her to set him up with a Swiss bank account and gloats over it shamelessly. Barnabas and David enter the house and Liz takes Barnabas aside. She asks him to fire Willie Loomis immediately.

Act III

Barnabas tells her that he is aware of Willie's history and assures Elizabeth that he has Willie completely under his control. He convinces Liz to give Willie the benefit of the doubt. Later that evening, Jason goes to the Old House to talk to Willie. Grabbing Willie by the shirt collar, he demands to know why he insists on hanging around the Collins family. He is firmly convinced that Willie is up to some scam. Barnabas suddenly enters the room and surprises Jason.

Act IV

Barnabas gives Jason an entire account of Willie's progress. Jason offers to help control Willie should Barnabas need it, but Barnabas is very firm that Jason is surplus to reqirements. As the evening grows on, Sam arrives at the Old House for another evening of painting. Barnabas sparks up conversation by talking about Maggie. Although Sam appears to be oblivious, it becomes quite obvious that Barnabas is beginning to develop a deep affection for Sam's daughter. Back at the Evans cottage, Maggie suffers a horrible nightmare, in which she sees herself staring at her own dead body inside of a coffin and her face becomes a skull. She wakes up screaming in terror.

Memorable quotes Edit

• Barnabas Collins: "Willie and I have an understanding."

• Barnabas Collins (re: Willie): "I can deal with him far more effectively than anyone."

• Barnabas Collins to Willie Loomis "Well I can't let the child walk alone in the growing darkness can I?"

Dramatis personae Edit

• Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
• Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins
• Dennis Patrick as Jason McGuire
• John Karlen as Willie Loomis
• David Ford as Sam Evans
• Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans
• David Henesy as David Collins

Background information and notes Edit

• First appearance of Maggie's room.
• Barnabas Collins implies that the original 18th century portrait of himself was painted in the Old House.

Bloopers and continuity errors Edit

• There is some discrepancy as to when this episode takes place in relation to previous episodes. At one point, Barnabas remarks that it has been several weeks since Willie began working at the Old House, but at another point, Jason indicates that it has only been a few days.
• A shadow from one of the stagehands can be seen falling across Joan Bennett's right arm, during her argument with Dennis Patrick's character, Jason McGuire.
• In the dream, Maggie's screams do not match the movement of her mouth.