The Dark Shadows Daybook: FEBRUARY 14

By PATRICK McCRAY

Taped on this date in 1969: Episode 694

Having failed in his exorcism, Prof. Stokes asks for time to regroup. Meanwhile, David, assaulted with psychic brutality by Quentin, retreats to the Old House, refusing to return. A skeptical Roger investigates Collinwood only to suffer a similar attack, leading him to evacuate the house with his sister, vowing to return. Quentin’s ghost, now alone, holds illimitable dominion over the great estate.

DARK SHADOWS is replete with “I can’t believe they just did that on daytime television moments,” but this one may top ‘em all. These moments aren’t shocking in a topless way.  No blood. Just… as Henrik Ibsen wrote, “people just don’t do such things.”

TV shows, but especially soaps, are vicarious homes. They are often for the lonely. The characters become family. The limited stage sets become extensions of the living room, especially now in the age of the 65” norm. And yes, we expect to see these new, beloved family members punished on a regular basis. But Roger and David have something more profoundly disturbing happen to them. They both receive Quentin’s (mostly) off-camera wrath. They both earn the badge of Thousand Yard Stare. David Henesy always sells it, and Louis Edmonds really outdoes himself as Barnabas finds him after his attack. He goes from catatonic to quietly terrified to profoundly disturbed to despondent to quaking with vengeance all in the space from the drawing room to the front door. This is a man who’s dealt with Burke Devlin’s worst. We’ve seen him jittery and agitated but never numb. Now, with Roger shell-shocked, we see just how powerful Quentin is, and we wonder how long Quentin waited to render Edward’s grandson to such a state. Either way, Quentin finally emerges as the sole heir of Grandmamamama’s fortune -- the prize that brought him back to Collinwood for the last time. Back to face Jenny and fate and the bricked up wall that was once the door to his room. It was the trip that cost him Jameson, and brought out a petulance so vulgar that he would spend the next seventy years recorporating. He was compelled reach out to his doubled descendent… and love him… and punish him… and attempt to euthanize his own great-grandson while he was at it.

Just imagine what Gregory Trask’s ghost may still have in store from the very same room.

The most shocking element of the episode is its apocalyptic nature. These sets are second homes, and to see them hopelessly abandoned by the characters? It’s a revealing moment. It brings our attachment to Collinwood to the surface, a bit like the emotion felt when seeing the Enterprise destroyed or the 4077 decommissioned. We see what Quentin has and what we’ve lost as the camera lovingly glides through Sy Tomashoff’s haunted mansion to the roaring giant on the landing. Quentin is another viewer of DARK SHADOWS in a way, but a cruel one. We want to join the Collinses. To him, they are shoddy knock-offs. It’s Quentin’s home. They were just squatting there.

This episode was broadcast on a Friday. Few weekends must have felt longer to DARK SHADOWS fans.

On this day in 1969, mafia chieftain, Vito Genovese died.  

The Dark Shadows Daybook: February 14

By PATRICK McCRAY

Taped on this date in 1968: Episode 432

Barnabas rises to find Abigail on the prowl outside his coffin. He angrily explains how wrong she has been about the source of evil in Collinwood, but she remains obstinate. When she learns the truth of Barnabas’ fate, the shock kills her. At Collinwood, Naomi and Daniel chat, speaking of the value of honesty and kindness. Trask enters and asks to speak with Daniel alone. There, he presses the boy for information regarding Victoria, finding every inadvertent reason to cite her secularism as evidence of her occult leanings. Daniel takes exception to being told he bears the Devil’s Mark and flees. Naomi and Trask eventually hear him calling for them, and find that he has stumbled upon the dead body of Abigail.

This episode is one of DARK SHADOWS’ most inflammatory… if people pay attention. They underplay it so much, however, that it somehow slips by. That could be why it’s not on the cultural radar. Maybe religious viewers were less uptight back then. Maybe there was a sense of ideological safety in greater numbers. Or maybe they were simply smart enough to separate fiction from real life and see Trask as representative of nothing more than Trask. But if someone wants to be offended, and so many do, this is a great place to start. Trask and Abigail (“Trabigail”?) were never good representatives of the religious, but it’s Trask’s lack of ranting that actually gives this episode a sense of danger. It’s most insidious when he gladhands Daniel, casually questioning him, turning each statement regarding Vicki into “obvious” evidence of her guilt. He seems so convinced and full of conviction -- seemingly on Daniel’s behalf -- that even I want to rise up and follow him. Yet the content of what he says is pure, fear-mongering evil. Does he mean it? Is he just twisting a religious ontology to suit his needs? Or is it both, with a line so ambiguous that even Trask doesn’t know where it is? And doesn’t care. That may be the most frightening possibility of all.

A bit of housekeeping. Yesterday was Terry Crawford’s birthday, and I meant to note it. So, I’m noting it now. And on this day in 1968, the very first 911 phone system was being installed in Haleyville, Alabama. It would begin service in two days.