276

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Number	272
Timeline	1967
Narrator	Kathryn Leigh Scott
Writer	Ron Sproat
Director	Lela Swift
Broadcast	July 17, 1967 (Monday)
Recorded	June 29, 1967 (Thursday)
Video	Complete: Disc 31 Collection 2: Disc 3

We have 6 images of Dark Shadows 276

As Jason's body is disposed of, Maggie briefly makes progress at Windcliff Sanitarium.

Synopsis[]

Teaser

Collinwood is a legend for those who know it. The great house represents a heritage of fabulous wealth. There have been many men driven by avarice who have wished to plunder its walls. Such a man has attempted to seize a large part of the Collins fortune but through his own avarice has failed. Now in another house on the great estate, he is engaged in a last, desperate plot to satisfy his greed. And, in doing so, he is courting his own destruction.

Jason has forced Willie to lead him down into the Old House cellar, which holds Barnabas' jewel chest. In an attempt to prevent McGuire from opening the coffin housed in the middle of the room, Willie grabs a handful of priceless gems Barnabas instructed him to sell from inside a nearby table. But it is not enough for McGuire. Despite Willie's protests to the contrary, Jason believes the remainder of the jewels are sealed up inside the coffin, which he is determined to open. Willie backs away as McGuire lifts the lid, knowing all too well what might happen... Barnabas' hand shoots out and grabs Jason's neck!

Act I

Barnabas has strangled McGuire to death, and Willie mourns the loss of his former friend. The vampire questions his servant about Jason's presence in the house, and is angered to learn of recent events. Barnabas grabs Willie by the throat, threatening to kill him if he ever betrays his secret again. Then he turns his attention to McGuire's corpse, which must be disposed of in a manner that will not raise suspicions. He decides that Jason will be buried in the secret room of the Collins Family Mausoleum. However, Willie balks at the idea of touching McGuire's dead body. Before they arrived in Collinsport, he and Jason had been good friends. Barnabas confesses that he once had a young and innocent friend who died many years ago, who he mourned for a long time. Willie, taken aback, sees Barnabas in a new light. The vampire quickly changes the subject, and forces Willie to help him carry McGuire out of the cellar. After they leave, Sarah appears and picks up Jason's cap, which was left behind on the floor.

Act II

At Windcliff Sanitarium, Dr. Woodard is consulting with Dr. Julia Hoffman and wonders if Maggie has been shown the sketch Sam drew of Sarah. Julia believes it is too soon, and that Maggie might suffer a setback. But Woodard is willing to take that chance. He is certain that the best way to help Maggie is to discover the identity of the "maniac" who kidnapped her, and that the little girl in the sketch will lead them to the answer. Against Julia's wishes, he insists on Maggie being shown the sketch. At that moment, Nurse Jackson escorts Maggie into Julia's office. Although she says she is feeling fine, Maggie appears to be a little frightened and she does not remember Woodard. He encourages her to take a good, long look at the sketch, and after a long moment Maggie gasps out Sarah's name.

Act III

Woodard assails Maggie with questions, which only results in pushing the troubled girl over the edge. She begins to repeat the riddle Sarah told her, then becomes hysterical as she sings London Bridge. Julia, infuriated with Woodard, calls Nurse Jackson to take Maggie back to her room and administer a sedative. She rails at Woodard for setting back the progress she has made with Maggie. But he is insistent that Maggie regaining her memory and finding Sarah will break the entire case wide open.

Act IV

Meanwhile, Barnabas and Willie have wrapped Jason's corpse in sacking and are carrying him to the Collins Family Mausoleum. They proceed into the secret room hidden behind Naomi Collins' tomb. Time passes... Willie finishes burying McGuire, and he is anxious to leave. He and Barnabas emerge from the room, then seal it shut once more. Barnabas is disgusted at having been forced to defile his family's tomb with the body of Jason McGuire. The melancholy vampire remembers his family: Joshua Collins, his father, who could have brought him peace but instead chained Barnabas in his coffin; Naomi Collins, his mother, a very quiet, gentle woman; Sarah Collins, his sister, who died at the age of nine with her doll - repaired by her brother the day before - in her arms. Again, Willie is surprised to see a human side to Barnabas, and again the vampire hastily changes the subject. After the pair leave the Mausoleum, Sarah, cradling her doll, appears inside it and sits on her coffin.

Memorable quotes[]

Barnabas: (on Willie's reluctance to handle Jason's body) You really are appallingly sentimental.

Willie: (furious) You wouldn't understand!

Barnabas: Why? Because I never had a friend who died?

Willie: Did you?

Barnabas: Yes. Once. Long ago.

Willie: Was it Josette?

Barnabas: No, she lived long before I knew Josette. She died when she was very young, and very innocent. She was very dear to me; I mourned her death for a long time.

Willie: Never heard you talk this way before; you sound almost...

Barnabas: Almost human?

Barnabas: Goodbye, McGuire. You might have lived, but your greed destroyed you.

Barnabas: (referring to the Mausoleum) This was to have been our final resting place, but I never found rest... or peace.

Barnabas: (about his father) He could have brought me peace, but he didn't. He thought he was being merciful; what he did was no act of mercy.

Willie: (to Barnabas) Strange thinking about you caring 'bout someone.

Dramatis personae[]

← Alfred Dillay as ← Barnabas Collins → (reprise only)
← Dennis Patrick → as ←Jason McGuire (reprise only)
← Jonathan Frid as ← Barnabas Collins →
← John Karlen as Willie Loomis →
← Grayson Hall as Julia Hoffman →
← Robert Gerringer as Dave Woodard →
← Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans →
← Sharon Smyth as Sarah Collins →
← Alice Drummond as Nurse Jackson → (uncredited)

Background information and notes[]

Production[]

First episode narrated by Kathryn Leigh Scott.
Dennis Patrick appears only in recycled footage of the previous episode's cliffhanger reprise; an uncredited extra plays Jason's corpse, whose face is never seen. Alfred Dillay also appears in the recycled footage with Jonathan Frid then playing Barnabas for the rest of the episode. [Addendum: I wouldn't definitively say that the body is not Dennis Patrick. We do see the face a bit, and although it's from a distance and partially obscured, it could be Dennis Patrick. And Patrick is credited at the end (yes, could have been for the reprise), which suggests he was likely paid for that day, so why not use him as the body? There seems to be no documentation elsewhere that Jason's body is a stand-in.]

Story[]

Barnabas states that Sarah died before he ever knew Josette. This would ultimately be retroactively contradicted in later episodes, most notably during the '1795' storyline.
It has been established that Barnabas has superhuman strength, yet he requires Willie's help to carry Jason's body out of the basement.
At the end of this episode, Sarah is rocking her doll, but she gave her doll to Maggie, who had it when she was found and also had it with her in the Collinsport Hospital and at Windcliff Sanitarium.
Sarah's memorial plaque in the Collins Mausoleum reads: Born 1786, Died 1796.
GHOSTWATCH: Sarah's ghost appears in the Old House basement. Later, Sarah's ghost appears in the Collins Mausoleum.
SEDATIVE: Julia instructs Nurse Jackson to give Maggie a sedative.

Bloopers and continuity errors[]

In the reprise, Kathryn Leigh Scott briefly trips over her line at "desperate plot ."
Jonathan Frid's double Alfred Dillay is wearing Barnabas's signature ring on his left index finger when, in the reused footage from Episode 275, Jason opens the coffin. Later, Frid himself is wearing the ring on his right hand as usual.
In Act I when Barnabas asks Willie what Jason was doing in the basement, the camera shakes.
Maggie tells D r. Woodard and Dr. Hoffman that the little girl's name is Sarah, but Sarah actually never told Maggie her name. She told it only to Sam and David.
The door to the secret room of the Collins Mausoleum does not close completely when Willie pulls the ring.
The steps leading into the secret room are just plain wooden steps with spaces in between rather than the usual stone steps.
When Barnabas and Willie are talking with each other about Sarah in the mausoleum at the end of the episode, the light illuminating them goes out or is obscured briefly.