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| Number |
692 |
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| Broadcast | |
| Recorded |
February 24, 1969 |
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| We have 5 images of Dark Shadows 701 | |
As Barnabas is transported to the year 1897, Quentin returns home to Collinwood, where his grandmother and the mistress of Collinwood, Edith Collins, is dying.
Synopsis[]
Teaser
- A dark, dark night on the great estate of Collinwood. The main house deserted, ruled by two evil spirits who refuse to show themselves to any but the possessed children. And in the basement room of the Old House, one man contemplates a terrifying chance to achieve the meeting with Quentin that he knows must take place.
Barnabas Collins, Professor Stokes, and Julia Hoffman are in the Old House basement discussing I-Ching when Barnabas informs Professor Stokes that he intends to use it to make contact with Quentin in order to save the life of David. Professor Stokes advises against it, but Barnabas is adamant about using I-Ching. Begrudgingly, Professor Stokes assists Barnabas in using the I-Ching wands. Stokes then informs Barnabas and Julia that the hexagram that appeared is called “the hexagram of change.” Barnabas closes his eyes and concentrates on a door with the hexagram painted on it. When he does this, Barnabas envisions the door opening and himself walking through it. Behind the door, Barnabas sees his own chained coffin.
Act I
Suddenly, Barnabas is aware that he is actually inside the coffin. It is the year 1897, and two gypsies are seen in the parlour of The Old House, the man, Sandor Rakosi, is throwing knives and the woman, Magda Rakosi is laughing at him for missing. The man and woman reminisce on the time when they had an act together. The woman begins to tell the man about the Collins family jewels and how the old woman at Collinwood was wearing some of them. She instructs him to go to the drawing room to steal the jewels, where she believes they are hidden. He is frightened, but she insists.
Quentin Collins is seen knocking on the main doors to Collinwood when a female servant answers the door. The man remarks that Beth, the servant who answered the door, is still very beautiful and questions why she is still working here, rather than leaving with her mistress, Jenny Collins. Beth says he should not have returned, but he says he is there for his grandmama's death. He orders Beth to take his bags upstairs, but she refuses, reminding him that he is not the master of the house.
Act II
Quentin tells Beth he would like to see Jamison, but she tells him Jamison is asleep and he will have to wait. He then tells Beth he will have to see Grandmama. Beth tells him she will not be happy he has returned, but Quentin tells Beth he plans on getting back into her good graces at least long enough for her to make out a new will. Outside, Sandor hears this last part as he comes into the drawing room through the outside window.
Edith Collins is seen, playing cards in her bed, when Quentin opens the door and enters. The two talk lightly and joke, before Quentin informs his grandmother that she should leave everything to him. Edith accuses Quentin of using Jamison to get back in her good graces and Quentin jokingly agrees with her. Edith then informs Quentin that she must tell Edward Collins the family secret before she dies, because he is the oldest of her grandchildren. She says that everyone will "get what they deserve", but only Edward can be told the secret. Quentin attempts to get his grandmother to tell him the secret, but he fails as she pretends to have fallen asleep.
Quentin enters the drawing room as Sandor Rakosi is searching for the family jewels. It is obvious they know each other.
Act III
Barnabas, still trapped in his coffin, is trying desperately to escape. He is unsure of the year, but decides he must “will” somebody to find him. Sandor returns and tells Magda the jewels are not in the place she thought they were. Then, Magda, looks into her crystal ball, where she sees the door to the secret crypt in the Collins family mausoleum open and decides that must be where the jewels are. They prepare to leave to get the jewels when Beth arrives, telling Magda that the old woman wants to see her. Magda tells her she needs to get some cards which are older than the Tarot, then pulls Sandor aside and tells him to go to the mausoleum without her.
Sandor enters the mausoleum and opens the door to the secret crypt, where he finds the chained coffin, not aware that the coffin belongs to Barnabas Collins. Sandor opens the coffin, deciding the jewels are hidden inside, and the hand of Barnabas Collins reaches out and grabs his throat.
Memorable quotes[]
- Quentin: You're quite right, Grandmama; seeing Edward is reason enough to die.
- Magda: What does she want? To be told she will live until Edward comes. That's all she ever wants to hear, isn't it?
- Quentin (to Beth): You don't really understand how close we Collins really are.
Quentin (to Beth): Question for question.
- Sandor: Sandor’s Egyptian Elixir! A sure cure for coughs! Colds! Asthma! Skin diseases! Nervous conditions!
Dramatis personae[]
- ← Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins →
- ← Grayson Hall as Magda Rakosi →
- ← Thayer David as Sandor Rakosi →
- ← David Selby as Quentin Collins →
- ← Terry Crawford as Beth Chavez →
- Isabella Hoopes as Edith Collins →
Background information and notes[]
Production[]
- The recap is unusual in that it ends before the previous episode did, omitting the section where Stokes and Hoffman communicated with Barnabas in his trance.
- There are no crew credits in this episode.
- Grayson Hall and Thayer David are only credited as Magda and Sandor, not for their roles as Julia and Professor Stokes in the teaser.
- This is the first episode of the '1897' storyline.
- 1897 was the year Bram Stoker's novel Dracula was first published.
- First appearance of the character Sandor Rakosi. This was the fourth role played by actor Thayer David in the original series.
- First appearance of the character Magda Rakosi. This was the third role played by actress Grayson Hall in the original series.
- First appearance of Edith Collins.
- This is the first time in the series that we hear the voice of David Selby, and it's the first appearance of Quentin Collins as a living being, having previously appeared as a ghost.
- This is the first appearance of Beth Chavez as a living being, having previously appeared as a ghost.
- There is a black section at the bottom of the screen that begins with Magda and Sandor's first scene and continues for a few scenes after that.
- Edith Collins is seen wearing a certain large, red, hexagonal cut “ruby” ring, which, after the death of the character, would be repurposed, and would feature prominently on the disembodied hand of Count Petofi. (Is Edith’s “ruby” meant to be the one Magda claims to have seen that’s “ the size of a guinea hen’s egg”?)
Story[]
- Barnabas throws the I-Ching wands to show the 49th hexagram (White, Black, Black, Black, White, Black). He sees a vision of a chained coffin, and his consciousness is sent back through time to the year 1897 when he was still a vampire (reprise from previous episode).
- The crystal ball that Magda peers into to see the Collins mausoleum is likely to be the same one Burke Devlin gives to David Collins in 48.
- Sandor and Magda are already aware of the secret room in the Collins mausoleum.
- Edward is the oldest and threw Quentin out a year ago. Sandor says he left by ship.
- Magda implies that Beth is a gypsy. Spoiler:actually, I think Magda is referring to Jenny Collins, as Beth had been her maid; Magda is referring to the fact that Beth is haughty to Magda and Sandor but, although unbeknownst to her, she used to be maid to a gypsy.
- The climax to this episode, with Barnabas' hand reaching out from the coffin to strangle Sandor, parallels that of 210. [Addendum: Another parallel is that Sandor is looking for the Collins jewels, just as Willie was/will be.]
- INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Barnabas: Willing someone to release me; Sandor: The chained coffin.
- TAROT CARDS: Edith: The Tower of Destruction. Later, Magda promises to bring some old gypsy cards to show Edith that are older than the Tarot.
Bloopers and continuity errors[]
- Beth's hair is extremely elaborate for a servant. Even with a lady's maid, it would take a long time to get hair styled in that way. Most servants at that time had much simpler hair.
- Although the storyline states that Edith is sometimes confused, it appears that Isabella Hoopes begins to misspeak but quickly corrects herself, as she says, "Edward...uh... Quentin, dear, you are this card."
- As Quentin walks away, Edith moves her hand onto the cards, even though she is supposedly "sleeping."
- At the end of the episode when Sandor goes to pull the ring to open the secret room, the camera shows both Joshua Collins' and Naomi Collins' coffins. The plaques on the back wall are blank. However, both Joshua and Naomi are dead by this time, so they should still be there in 1897 since they were there in the present day. The camera doesn't show the plaque for Sarah Collins, but it is presumably missing also. They are also missing in the next episode. They will appear in place, as normal, in 733.
- The sound of the secret door unlocking in the Collins mausoleum plays before Thayer David pulls the opening mechanism.
- The chains on Barnabas's coffin seem to fall off awfully easy. They could certainly not be cut by Sandor's long knife, and if he's prying the chains off, they could not have been put onto the coffin very tightly.
External Links []
Dark Shadows - Episode 701 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Every Day - Episode 701 - The Most Important Thing About Quentin