The Dark Shadows Daybook: Jan. 19

Taped on this date in 1971: Episode 1198

By PATRICK McCRAY

As Barnabas embarks on a determined mission of cross-dimensional bloodlust, is he the victim of a larger trap? Barnabas Collins: Jonathan Frid. (Repeat; 30 min.)

Shot by Lamar Trask,  Angelique dies in the arms of Barnabas, not hearing him proclaim his love. Savage in his response, Barnabas chases and stabs Trask, who finds himself trapped and dying in parallel time. Emotionally decimated, Barnabas returns to the present with Julia and Stokes to find that they have successfully altered the timeline for the better. Meanwhile, Letitia Faye and Desmond catch a brief glimpse of parallel time where Julia Collins discovers Trask’s body.

1198 is a dangerous episode. As the resolution of the primary series, it trolls fans as much as it fulfills their desires. There is no eleventh hour return of Kathryn Leigh Scott. There is no tearful reunion with Josette. Instead, Barnabas discovers happiness in the arms of a one-time enemy. As the program does what it can with what it has, it shocks more than satisfies. Seen now, it also divides viewers like few other decisions made over its run. 

Do we see Barnabas discovering his authentic love for Angelique or merely convincing himself that the only game in town is what he always wanted? Is the series putting viewers in the same position? Are fans of the Barnabas/Angelique romance responding to something illuminating in the text or are they just making the best with what they have, convincing themselves it’s what they wanted all along? Are you on Team Angelique or Team Josette? It might depend on when you saw it. 

For millions of viewers over several decades, the climactic twist of Barnabas’ true, romantic direction is something they saw only once… or never saw at all. Without VHS, DVD or frequently cycled reruns, his “real” love is more of a rumor or fever dream than a fondly remembered highlight of the series. Until the mid-00’s, there was no way to review the moment, nor scour any of the series for clues. Good thing, because there were no clues. The writers were making it up as they went along, and if they had known that Barnabas’ true love was Angelique, they would have telegraphed it years before. Of course, the show might have benefited from this. But the fact that they can’t even hint at his unrealized love makes it more of a surprise. 

And it makes the whole argument irrelevant. In 2021, Dark Shadows exists as a complete entity. The details of its authorship are just those: details. This is the reality of Barnabas Collins because it’s now part of a finished work. 

The answer to the Josette vs Angelique question may not be so clear-cut as just choosing one over the other. I used to think of Angelique as the hero because of her 11th hour transformation and the tremendous sacrifices she makes along the way. But upon this viewing, I was struck by a possibility I had never considered before. As a director, something I always tell actors is that any character, at any point, may not be telling the truth. Even if the author makes it appear as if they are, they might not be. So, in terms of her grand transformation, what if Angelique is making it all up?  Or some of it up. After all, she has always been perfectly happy to use her powers to influence Barnabas’ decisions. How he came about loving her was always less relevant than the fact that he simply did. No love spells (on him). She simply mastered the fine art of influence. First off… threats to family. That’s in 1795. Then, threats to him. That’s in 1968. In 1897, maybe jealousy over Quentin? 

But at the end, none of those things worked, did they? Not like making yourself the hero against your past villainy, wiping out a larger threat, and then creating loyalty by curing your own curse. Has Barnabas been manipulated by a vast disinformation campaign? I say this because his decision is ultimately swayed by, yes, the involvement of witchcraft, years after her initial efforts. If it’s ineffective to use your occult powers, simply impress everyone by removing them. One way or the other, you’re still exploiting the occult. One way or the other, you would never be in the position you are if it were not for witchcraft. Clever. And strangely Zen. 

Take the implications to episodes that never happened. We have no evidence that she’s really given up her powers. It’s not like there’s a meter we can check. If she can suddenly cure a near-incurable curse, she can make her abilities appear and vanish at will. Faking her own death is the longest-but-strongest game possible. Had the 1971 Primary Time storyline happened, it might very well have seen Barnabas exploring the timeline in pursuit of Angelique. At last, she would be desired and sought on a level to rival Josette. 

At last he would have her right where she wants him. 

It’s just an interpretation. Just a what-if, True Believers. Yes, a bleakly cynical one of multilevel manipulation, but you have met Angelique, right? 

This episode was broadcast Jan. 27, 1971.

The Dark Shadows Daybook: January 27

By PATRICK McCRAY

Taped on this date in 1970: Episode 950

Quentin’s attempt to convince Carolyn that Jeb killed her father is thwarted when the selfsame Jeb enters and announces that Philip Todd has confessed to the murder. Barnabas arrives and, alone with Jeb, our two heroes warn him that he and the Leviathans will never emerge the victors, but Jeb slides away with menace and confidence. As Barnabas and Quentin debate strategy, Jeb continues to woo Carolyn, and it’s becoming evident that it’s for more than ceremonial reasons. As Carolyn dreams of Jeb as the gloating, murdering incarnation of his child-selves, Quentin and Barnabas steal the Naga Box. Barnabas attempts to smash it with his cane on the Leviathan altar, but a bat emerges from it and attacks him, fulfilling their threat against him.

I awaited this episode for a long time. Years. Far more years than one would think. It brings me profound joy. I’ll explain in a moment, and I’m sure you’re breathless with anticipation.

Before we pop the cork, though, let’s talk lobster.

The Leviathan storyline is like a great lobster dinner that begins with an enormous quart of terrible chowder. And you have to eat all of the chowder before they’ll bring out the lobster. At first smell, it seems okay. Smells good. We’re hungry. Looks okay. But because it’s Manhattan style, it’s a little weird. Not chowder as most humans know it. But not by definition terrible. And yet.... Barnabas is the villain. Julia’s the hero. Who are the Todds? Why do I care? But Quentin’s kinda back. That’s good. And there’s Roger Davis with a puppet-android of himself (still making public appearances, I hear). So that’s okay. Quentin wanders around Hell. And we finally get Paul Stoddard! But, um. Barnabas is the villain. Not even under his own steam. Who are the Leviathans? What the hay do they have to do with anything? Isn’t this show about the Collinses? Why do I care? Two words: Sky Rumson. And what’s up with all the kids? In the acting department, well, they’re no David Henesies, and they’re getting a lot of attention and… what on Earth am I watching?

Seriously?

And how much of this chowder do I have to eat? Because the more I get into it, the weirder it is. Like, cartoon-fish-skeleton-on-my-spoon weird. Just… well, now it’s bad. There, I said it. And I have to finish the whole quart before they’ll serve that lobster.

But, somehow, I soldier through. We’ve now eaten the chowder.

And in episode 950, the lobster is served.

Good lobster.

There’s a lot going on in 950, and most of it is on the bridge of the USS Collinwood… the Drawing Room. Because in 950, three eras of DARK SHADOWS converge. With Barnabas, restored at last to his full heroic nature, we have our first great hero, galvanized into action against the Leviathans. He faces the future of the show in the last* of their long-standing leading men, Christopher Pennock, and the first of his characters, Jeb. Between them? Quentin, the catalyst of the show at its most creative and freewheeling. His memory is restored. He’s well aware of his powers. And although his philosophy differs from Barnabas, the two are finally united in the modern era against a new villain, and one powerful enough to ostensibly demand their combined attention.

Given how fast the series would later move, I kindasorta wish they’d just started with Jeb as an adult. Once Pennock enters the scene and brings in the surly, discontented, revolutionary near-youth to counter the refined (if conflicted) ethicist, Barnabas and his cavalier, scoundrel cohort, Quentin, we see everyone in a slightly new light, and the show revitalizes in an instant.  For me, it is an all-too-rare glimpse of what I’d always imagined DARK SHADOWS would be when I was a kid and saw my first glimpses of Quentin and read the names of the Marilyn Ross books. So many of them pitted Barnabas and Quentin against appropriately ominous-sounding threats. It gave me an image of DARK SHADOWS as the story of two occult-busting monsters, teaming to show the bad guys besting the worse guys. As they openly confront Jeb and then try to steal the Naga Box, even though they bicker to minor extents, we really see a rare glimpse of that dynamic duo in action. Sadly, that energy petered out. There’s very little to throw against an immortal except for threats to his heart, and they’d just killed Amanda Harris, so yet another true love, too soon, would have slid the show into parody. Similarly, the combination of Quentin and Barnabas was too powerful a team of problem solvers to leave united. Pitting them against each other would have gotten monotonous, forcing the writers to the journey into the light made by one of the two, thus rendering huge chunks of storytelling irrelevant. We see how well a temporary return to evil did for the robustness of the series with the ‘conversion’ of Barnabas.

So, Quentin gets marginalized and David Selby recycled into reflections. These should not go too unrecognized. While there’s little encouraging to say about QC2 in PT, QC1 is a damn fine variation on the character, essentially fusing QC2 with Barnabas.

No discussion of the episode is complete without noting Chris Pennock, whose energy on the show is wholly unique. He plays Jeb’s love-driven evolution into goodness with a very deliberate pace. Do I see it coming? Of course. Carolyn could have turned the head and changed the heart of Genghis Khan. But Pennock and the writers reserve just enough unpredictability with Jeb that it’s clear that his path will be neither easy nor obvious.

At this point in 1970, the DARK SHADOWS staff was about three months away from shooting HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, which more-or-less started filming (or at least talking away major series regulars) on March 18. We are also three years to the day away from the accords that would end the Vietnam War.