In a seemingly deserted room in the east wing, Barnabas Collins has stumbled across an incredible discovery. For in that room he has seen and heard a Julia and an Elizabeth who are strangers to him, living lives that are completely separate and different from the lives of Julia and Elizabeth he has just seen downstairs. For in this room, Barnabas Collins seems to be able to see a world that exists in Parallel Time. See, but not enter.
In Parallel Time, Julia and Elizabeth are arguing about whether or not a portrait should be hanging up. Julia gets her way, and unveils the portrait of Angelique for everyone to see. Elizabeth closes the door, preventing Barnabas from seeing more.
Act I
Moments later, the doors re-open and Barnabas finds the room empty. He wonders if there is a way to cross into Parallel Time. After examining the room, Barnabas hears footsteps from the hallway. It's Roger, clearly in a dazed state. Barnabas decides to wait a few moments, and then begins to follow Roger. He finds the room where Megan is hiding her coffin and witnesses Megan again biting Roger. As Barnabas hides, Megan orders Roger to guard her coffin during the day.
Downstairs, Julia and Elizabeth are still talking about the East Wing. Elizabeth mentions that there aren't any legends associated with that part of the house as there were for the others. She thanks Julia for getting her mind off other things that have been happening lately and heads upstairs to bed. Barnabas enters shortly thereafter and informs Julia he saw the room change again, and that she and Elizabeth were arguing about a portrait of Angelique. He also informs her he knows where Megan's coffin is, and that Roger is guarding her. Barnabas hears a rooster in the distance and decides he must get back to his coffin.
In the East Wing, Roger assures Megan that no one saw him coming as she was summoning him, but Megan feels that someone knows of her location. She tells Roger that at dusk, she will move her coffin elsewhere.
At the Old House, Willie and Julia are going over their plans to destroy Megan. Willie is still upset with the prospect of what he has to do, but Julia assures him he will be doing everyone a favour and she hands him the stake and hammer.
Act II
Julia gives Willie the final instructions and tells him to meet her at Collinwood later in the afternoon. Willie becomes more paranoid about keeping secrets from his fiancée.
Back at Collinwood, Elizabeth and Julia discuss Megan. Elizabeth has noticed she has been nowhere to be found ever since Philip died. Willie soon arrives with a briefcase, claiming he's there to pick up some books for Barnabas. Julia takes him upstairs and they are soon in the East Wing. Willie is extremely upset about having to stab Megan, but Julia tells him not to think of her as human, but as a creature. As they approach the coffin Roger awakens. He attacks Julia and Willie defends her. They begin fighting and Willie knocks Roger unconscious. Willie sends Julia out to tend to Roger and quickly plunges the stake into Megan. She screams in pain and dies.
Act III
Roger awakens in the hallway, with Julia kneeling over him. He's confused over why he's in the East Wing, but she insists that he must have had a good reason and the blow to the head made him forget. She takes him downstairs, with Roger having no idea what has just happened.
At the Old House that night, Willie tells Barnabas that it is all over and Megan has been destroyed. They plan to bury Megan in an unmarked grave and dispose all of her possessions. Julia agrees to tell Elizabeth that Megan decided to leave Collinsport forever. She worries over whether or not Elizabeth will believe her, but Barnabas reminds her that it isn't far from the truth. After Willie leaves, Barnabas admits to Julia he is still drawn to the Parallel Time room. Julia tells Barnabas he needs to be careful and warns him of the dangers Parallel Time could bring.
Barnabas returns to the East Wing and opens the door. He sees Willie, wearing dress clothes and looking at the portrait of Angelique. Willie begins searching the room and Julia finds him. She scolds him for looking through Angelique's possessions, but Willie doesn't care because she is dead. Julia orders Willie to leave, but he won't leave before finding a book that belongs to him. He finally finds the book and Julia takes it from him. She tosses the book out of the room, past where Barnabas is standing, and orders Willie to leave. Barnabas goes to retrieve the book, and once he heads back towards the room, it is once again abandoned. He examines the book and is shocked to see it is entitled The Life and Death of Barnabas Collins by William Hollingshed Loomis.
Memorable quotes[]
Willie: Oh, the way I feel, the things I think about! It's gettin' harder and harder to keep Roxanne from guessin'. There's more to my life than she knows about.
Willie: I done it, Barnabas. But I don't think I could ever forget her face. No sir, not if I live to be a hundred.
Elizabeth: There's no record of anything strange ever having happened in the east wing. But that's not conclusive proof, is it?
Julia: What do you mean?
Elizabeth: Our whole family have a habit of forgetting things they find unattractive. In this case I find nothing to forget or hide. The east wing is remarkably free of secrets.
Will Loomis's middle name, Hollingshead, seems to be a bit of a joke. Raphael Holinshed was a Renaissance chronicler, author of the Holinshed Chronicles, which was the source material for many of Shakespeare's plays. Of course, Will Loomis is a writer and the chronicler of "The Life and Death of Barnabas Collins."
The set design for the east wing room where Megan keeps her coffin was first used for Angelique's room at the Old House of 1795 (370).
This is believed to be the last sighting of the original Barnabas Collins portrait. A reproduction will show up in episode 1003. It can be seen as Elizabeth leaves the Drawing Room and enters the Foyer.
Story[]
This is the first time the Parallel Time room is seen to change in camera and without the door being shut.
When Elizabeth is talking to Julia about the east wing, she seems quite expert about it, saying there was never anything unusual about it. However, in the previous episode, she told Julia she knew little about the east wing and suggested Julia ask Roger, who knew more about the house.
When Barnabas rushes to hide behind the door of the Parallel Time room when he hears Roger walking down the hallways, Jonathan Frid slips on something and grabs the door to steady himself.
In the first scene, Marie Wallace has difficulty speaking her lines whilst the fangs are in her mouth.
After Megan bites Roger, there is no blood coming from Roger's neck. A moment later people in the studio can be heard speaking.
At the end of Act I in the close-up on Julia's hand, she is holding the stake closest to her and the hammer further from her. When Act II begins, which presumably is supposed to be immediately following, the positions of the stake and hammer are reversed.
Julia instructs Willie to come to Collinwood, where they will kill Megan, after Barnabas arises. But that makes no sense because that is also when Megan will arise. They had planned to stake her during the day as she slept. Grayson Hall must have been supposed to say when Barnabas goes into his coffin.
As Julia and Willie enter the room where a sleeping Roger is supposed to be guarding Megan's coffin, a crew member can be seen in the background through the doorway in the hall outside the room; wearing a short sleeve shirt, he steps forward and to the left of the screen, disappearing behind a wall and out of camera range.
After Willie breaks something over Roger's head and Roger falls to the floor, John Karlen looks up off stage two or three times before he goes back into the room where Megan's coffin is. Perhaps he is waiting for his cue as Marie Wallace is positioning herself in the coffin in the other room.
Actress Marie Wallace has said in interviews that the coffin used in this episode was much too small for her and extremely uncomfortable. As Willie prepares to stake Megan, Wallace's legs can be seen curled up in order to fit in the coffin.
When Barnabas reads the title of Will Loomis's books, he holds it very awkwardly as if he's reading the spine. Obviously this is so the cover can be seen by the camera, but it seems odd since a more typical reaction of a person would be to read the cover rather than the spine.
In the closing credits, the "Fashions courtesy of" name is misspelled as "Orhbachs" instead of "Ohrbachs".
