The Dark Shadows Daybook: JANUARY 24

By PATRICK McCRAY

Taped on this date in 1967: Episode 157

Vivid dreams and Josette’s scent of jasmine lead Victoria to the caretaker, Frank in tow. There in the cemetery archives, a book flies off the shelf and reveals that there was a Laura Murdoch Radcliffe who died in a fire 100 years prior, but 100 years after Laura Stockbridge. Is this a cycle? Returning to Collinwood, they learn that the dead Laura in Phoenix is set to be buried just like Laura Radcliffe, in an unmarked grave. Can there be two Lauras? Are they related to the ones in the past?



We are about fifty episodes away from the introduction of Barnabas Collins, and you can feel the show straining with the need for it. We are at least watching a supernatural show, now. Going back to something less exotic will take the charm of a Dennis Patrick to pull off. He and Laura have something new that they are bringing/will bring to the show. One of the problems with the first six months of the show is how sad it is. The villains are wracked with guilt, somewhat grating in their personalities, and driven by necessity. Laura changes that. Her contribution to the show is less supernatural than philosophical. She likes who she is. She likes what she’s doing. She is demented enough to see that burning David alive is just dandy. Contrast this with Roger. He just wanted to be left alone, like a quietly queeny, ineffectual Hulk. Burke? He just wanted to even the odds. I get that. But his victory would mean shutting down Collinwood, and that gives any viewer mixed feelings. As much as I like Burke, his storyline misfired because you’re left with nobody to root for. If Burke wins, the show has to end, and that’s not going to happen. For Burke to lose, justice must elude him once more, and a character we like goes away. I suppose that the show originally was so Vicki-centric that we weren’t supposed to care for either Team Burke or Team Collins compared with Team Winters. With the arrival of Laura, all of this changes. (I say this because Matthew was a loon and couldn’t take pride in his wrongdoing.) Like Burke and Roger or not, everyone is pitted against/used by the first in a series of Gloucesters employed by the series to delight viewers. I may be so-so on the Phoenix as a big bad on the show, partly because she was such an out-there villain, grounded in an unclear mythology. Nonetheless, she ushered in a sentient, supernatural threat and a new school of evil that finally gave viewers a moral compass to lead them through Collinsport.

This episode is rich in atmosphere and menace, but anything involving the mysterious Caretaker will do that. It serves up Collins history as a net that strangles generation after generation… and the place where the answers to today’s mysteries will be found. The show has always been about the past… Paul Stoddard, the car accident, Vicki’s parentage… but (Widows notwithstanding) never beyond the lifetimes of the protagonists. By having our heroes deal with ancient dangers that still long to cause harm, DARK SHADOWS truly begins.

The Dark Shadows Daybook: January 24

By PATRICK McCRAY

Taped on this date in 1968: Episode 417

After gaining Ben’s confidence that he will not attack Josette, Barnabas visits her one last time and is glimpsed by the Countess. Later, Josette admits reluctance to return home because she still awaits Barnabas to revisit her as he promised. Ben goes to the mausoleum to destroy Barnabas, but the ghost of Angelique appears and forbids him, vowing that the curse on Barnabas will last forever.

Because it focuses on the origin of the protagonist, 1795 is romance on DARK SHADOWS at its purest, and that means one thing: pain! Jonathan Frid appears in this episode with an especially delicate mix of passion, honesty, and conviction. His affection for Ben is particularly touching. Barnabas’ attitude toward social position sets him up for twentieth century life surprisingly well. Yes, there will always be class differences that are his birthright to enjoy, and yet he can look beyond those at individual merits. He’s not only freed Ben, but given him access to (some of) the family treasure and encourages him to move away. In so many ways, Barnabas is a man-of-tomorrow, ideally suited for his ultimate destinations. What I love in the show is that he’s not too much of one, though. Of course he won’t attack Josette as he did the girl on the prior night, and not just because of love. One is of noble blood and one is, well, not. Willie gets a sound caning because that’s how an aristocrat of the 1790’s did routine maintenance on home appliances. Yet Willie also earns the trust and respect of Barnabas… unthinkable for Joshua or even Edward. Barnabas Collins, for all of his willful ignorance, pride, and strange self-justifications is also a man of underrated merits. One of the smaller tragedies of the show’s cancellation and Frid’s disinterest in playing Barnabas was that we never saw him evolve further.

For me, there is a clear, final chapter in the DARK SHADOWS story that could not be told because of those limits. Because of the perception of the main story line’s final moments and the general reluctance to see DARK SHADOWS as one, large story, that final chapter never materialized. I love what BIG FINISH has done, and that is to continue the story. What is possible if it were to be to concluded. Of course, no two fans would agree on that conclusion. I would nonetheless be correct. And a statue would be made in my honor, as well it should.

In sadder news, today marks the 1984 death of Ronald Dawson, a day player who appeared twice on DARK SHADOWS, once as an art expert and once as a 1995 records clerk. A native of South Africa, he also appeared on Broadway in WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, by Agatha Christie. In the same production, you would have seen Una O’Connor, best known as the most hilariously insane of the reactionary rednecks in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. I know, I know. It’s all HAMILTON, HAMILTON, HAMILTON. Give me Una O’Connor any day.

On this day in 1968, Australia intensified its involvement in the Vietnam War and Mary Lou Retton was born. The two incidents are believed to be unrelated.