Dark Shadows has arrived!

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Even when you consider that there's a companion in the making, Adam's story arc has reached a soapy impasse.
And it looks like that next "New Person" storyline is going to be brutally hijacked by Nicholas and Angelique therefore I'm not sure if Adam is getting any out of it.
Which makes it quite remarkable that he's still the most fascinating character to watch, and I think that has a lot to do with Robert Rodan, the actor who plays him.
It's no longer about "friend!" "food!" and "hurt!", no, Adam plays chess and gives Carolyn advice based on his findings in Freud.
But there are lots of nuances that makes us remember that he used to be the traditional Frankenstein creature, and it often looks better than necessary for Dark Shadows.

And to prove - once again - that Dynasty is connected with everything: Adam created by Barnabas/Blake, rejected by Barnabas/Blake, the transformation from primitive/hicksville to educated/sophisticated, obsessed with Carolyn/Kirby (there's a rather insinuating conversation about Carolyn's scarf: "I kept it, and sometimes I look at it") and if Dark Shadows didn't already have a lawyer (Tony) then I'm sure Adam would become one.
Although he did attack Tony so maybe he was after his job.
Btw, Robert Rodan doesn't hold back when he has to shove another Dark Shadows actor.

Forum member Alexis once said, Jeff is a**hole, well, Dark Shadows' Jeff C. really has become an a**hole. He was a great guy as Vicky's jailer Peter Bradford but now he's constantly shrill and agitated, and particularly vicious towards Adam.
But this is good because he also brings out the worst in other characters. Nevertheless, it's a surprising journey.

Elizabeth Stoddard Collins is still suffering from Angelique's spell, and she's worried to death about worrying about death. Meanwhile, Barnabas has already been buried alive twice (and trice, if you count the beginning) and he looks healthier than ever.
This storyline doesn't kick ass, imo.

There's a new character who kinda looks like Nicolas Cage, he acts as the meals on wheels for Adam now that Willie Loomis is doing....something else.

In the Soapy Shadows, through the Dark Windows.

 

[darkshadows38]

that would be Robert Rodan as Adam he's not really that bad of a character at all but what makes me laugh is when he does leave the show he's never spoken about again go figure

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

when he does leave the show he's never spoken about again go figure

Did anyone ever ask him about his time on Dark Shadows?

 

[darkshadows38]

yes he did speak about it and used to go to the cons in the last years of his life if my memory is right. if my memory is right he had nothing but good things to say about it i'm sure you can find some on maybe you tube? he looks so weird since he ended up going bald compared when you are used to seeing him with hair when he was on DS.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

It's kinda peculiar that the main story arc in this vampire soap is to make sure that nobody finds out that there is a vampire.
I'm usually not too thrilled about the resurgence of storylines that have already been played out exhaustively, but the fact that Maggie starts to remember things about vampire Barnabas comes as a real surprise.
How very typical of Willie Loomis to trap her in the mausoleum to make sure that wouldn't suffer from Barnabas and Julia's experiment only to make her remember that Barnabas is (or was) even worse than that.
But even if Maggie manages to escape, it looks like Barnabas is going to upstage her plan to expose him. I have yet to see what happens next but it wouldn't surprise me at all if no one believes him or Maggie.
Yes, after all the things that have happened to Vicky and the Collins family they'd still think that a vampire in the family is too outlandish and far-fetched.

Another surprise is something that actually makes sense (!).
The easiest way to deal with angry Adam is to kill him, but then Julia points out that the lives of Barnabas and Adam are connected (as per Dr. Lang's scientific instructions).
The intrigue that hasn't progressed very much is Nicholas' interest in Maggie, I wonder what that is all about, but I don't like the idea that Joe Haskell is going to get hurt in the process.

In other words: there are lots of things to worry about.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Oh no! Something HORRIBLE has happened!
At the end of episode 603 there's an interview with Maggie Evans and she talks about the usual stuff ("Dark Shadows was this and that and such and so") and then, in just one short sentence, she tells me how the series is going to end. I...I...I...just can't believe it actually happened!
Of course Maggie Evans never has to worry about any spoilers because her memory is getting erased repeatedly.

Meanwhile, the experiment has been completed and Adam got his wife, but it looks like the honeymoon's already over. All she does is bitch and nag so I guess that explains Nicholas Blair's masterplan: a world of unhappy couples. If he had been patient for another ten years he could watch all of that in DALLAS.
Incidentally, I discovered the connection between Dark Shadows and the Texan supersoap.
Barnabas Collins is Ewing Oil. Even without the fangs he's trouble, but the kind of unsavoury presence that needs to be protected at all costs.

Angelique is pure DYNASTY, bedding all the hunks in Collinsport in the most carnivorous way possible, but still longing for the one man she can't have.

I wonder if they're going to pit her against Eve, Dark Shadows' new superbitch.
More interesting than Eve is the character who supplies the lifeforce, Leona Eltridge (aka Danielle Roget) played by Erica Fitz. She's got a Jaclyn Smith voice and everything she says sounds cool. I hope she she comes back.
Yes, she died on the operation experimentation table but that also happened to Carolyn and she's alive and well now without any explanation.

This Danielle Roget is about a French-American doomed love story from the past, basically "Barnabas & Josette - The Sequel".
Jonathan Frid gives us a taste of DARQUES SHADAUX when the spirit of Phillippe Something speaks through him during yet another séance.

Attendre, attendre! Je viens, mon amour! I will defend your honneur!

Like, move over Serge Gainsbourg.

But wait a minute, there was something that upset me...what was it?

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Episode 604-607 is absolutely brilliant, Knotsian soap. It's the way the story connects all the characters, but in very different ways.
Instead of monsters and histrionics we see the Collinsport bunch plotting to get and suffering from love, jealousy, loyalty, betrayal and at this point nobody really knows who's got the upperhand.

Eve is the centre in all of this although she herself isn't important (yet).
The E.VE. experiment has caused a rift between Vicky and Jeff, and while things didn't turn out the way Barnabas intended it to be, it was actually meant to destroy poor Jeff. Barnabas wanted Vicky and the only way to get her was to possess Jeff's body.
But now it is Jeff who has sort of rescued Elizabeth Stoddard, and Vicky is part of her storyline. This creates a moment for the two ex-lovers to reconcile and even have a romantic embrace.
This moment is quite unexpectedly witnessed by Barnabas and his reaction is very telling.

Meanwhile, Barnabas, Julia and professor Stokes have decided that Eve needs to be destroyed because of the evil of Danielle Roget inside her.
Nicholas Blair has anticipated their move (or his magic mirror told him, and I don't remember exactly) and allows Barnabas to trespass his house - only to have him surprised by Angelique who still has a major axe to grind.
Angelique bites Barnabas and turns him into her love slave, just like she did with Joe and Jeff ("and Lord knows how many others", would Blake Carrington say).
However, Nicholas Blair informs Angelique that he will be in charge of this new relationship, and this gives him the power to control Barnabas.

"Control" in Dark Shadows has no concrete meaning. This situation is the more convoluted version but sometimes it doesn't take more than telling a person (in person or from a distance) what to do, "and you won't be able to resist my power". Needless to say, the deceitful version is much more fun to watch.

Angelique, who's terrific as the vampire femme fatale, immediately disobey Nicholas' orders and indulges herself on another snack of Barnabas.
But! courtesy of the very underrated Dr. Lang the bloodsucking starts to affect the other half of Barnabas, Adam, who is very important to Nicholas (the details of his plan have yet to be revealed).
It's all a metaphor for drugs and addiction. Nicholas is addicted to power, Angelique is addicted to Barnabas and Joe is addicted to vampire sex.
The scene between Barnabas and Angelique made me think of how it all started, and the way Angelique was portrayed as a villainess from the very beginning.
But let's not forget that upper-class Barnabas had had an affair with servant Angelique, and while it may be true that he stopped loving her or never loved her that much to begin with, it is very likely that he was meant to marry another upper-class woman anyway, if not Josette than someone from another rich or powerful family.
Especially in those days.
In other words, Angelique was f*cked from the very beginning, literally and figuratively. It's no excuse for all the horror she's caused but it does put things into perspective, imho.
And it is especially in these episodes, now that she no longer calls the shots, that she comes off as a tragic and pathetic person.

If we'd consider Dark Shadows characters at their very best, then badly behaving David Collins from the first stories is my #1 favourite.
But Joe Haskell is one of the few characters who's consistently good - and so shockingly good as the villain in the witch trial story - and he's currently wasting away in his no-man's-land caused by Angelique (losing the sympathy points I just gave her).

And that's another Dark Shadows couple on the rocks. And just like Jeff he can't her the truth about his behaviour. Soap opera isn't about problems or mistakes, it's about the difficulty to communicate in a TV format that is all about bla-bla communication.
When he visits Angelique, his dealer, she brutally cuts him off. Now that she's regained control of Barnabas, all her hunky victims can go suck themselves.
Joe can't take it anymore, hates the creature he's become, and when he fails to stabs Angelique he stabs himself to death.
Take note, Barnabas, that's real sacrifice.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Tam-tam-taaaaa!
(that was the sound of me logging in dramatically)

These Dark Shadows episodes continue to be intricately soapy. It's less about pop-up ghosts and screams from the basement or mausoleum, and more about backstabbing and personal agendas. I guess you could say that the Dallas DNA has taken over from Dynasty - but for how long?

For someone who is as fundamentally evil as you are, it should be easy.

Nicholas, I want your final decision tomorrow!

I want you to kill Joe Haskell and live with the guilt for eternity.

All these lines could have been spoken in JR's office at Ewing Oil but now it's happening in Collinsport.

Two villains want Joe Haskell dead, for different reasons and they're unaware of the murderous competition. This creates an Agatha Christie-esque scenario filled with confusion and unexpected outcomes.
Not unimportantly, Dark Shadows starts showing some skin.

Jonathan and Grayson are seriously struggling with the script here, possibly a defective teleprompter, or maybe they didn't know how to respond to the new beefcake regime.

And there's something about Eve that looks decidedly sexually-aggressive. She may be American but everything about her appearance screams Hammer Horror vixen.
She also strongly disagrees with the status quo in Collinsport and has no intention whatsoever to hide her impressions.
This leads to an entertainingly awkward tête-à-tête with Miss Carolyn Stoddard.

With more featuring actors than usual it's been very busy days on the set of Dark Shadows, and what this soap does so well is to mix characters in the most unexpected ways.
Eve is now connected with Jeff Clarke because the "Danielle" in her recognises him as Peter Bradford, and her desire to leave Collinsport and do whatever the hell she wants has changed because Danielle and Peter were lovers, I assume before Vicky showed up.

Naturally, at this point in the story it was not an option for her and Adam to walk out on the series, but this new development gives it a creative twist.

There is also a short confrontation between Eve and Liz and this repeats the story of Adam who "should not been seen by anyone".
If Eve is determined to get Jeff/Peter then it won't be long before she's going to clash with Vicky, and now that Eve has received her first bitch-slap from Nicholas I am realistically optimistic about a catfight in the Collinwood fountain.

The disc ends with the cliffhanger of Barnabas being attacked by Joe Haskell. I know Barnabas isn't going to die, but imagine the horror on Angelique's face if Joe succeeded. It would be the perfect comeuppance.
Incidentally, Barnabas is trying to hide his "relationship" with Angelique from Julia, but she starts to realise that some things don't make sense. To be continued....

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

With so many villains wanting to kill each other, these last ten or twelve episodes felt like one big Mexican standoff.
Angelique wanted Joe dead because he'd become too clingy.
Nicholas wanted Joe dead because he jeopardised Nicholas' relationship with Maggie.
Joe wanted Barnabas dead, and quite understandably so.

For the umpteenth time: LEAVE JOE HASKELL ALONE!

Where was I...oh yes, Nicholas wanted Vicky dead because she tried to interfere with his plans for Maggie.
Barnabas wants Eve dead.
Adam wants Vicky dead to punish Barnabas.
Angelique wants Nicholas dead.
Angelique wants Barnabas dead but only to turn him into the undead vampire again.

It's always a sign that Dark Shadows is working towards the end of a chapter when there's a lot of story progress in relatively few episodes, and none of these episodes can be missed.
I was surprised to see how quickly Eve's story arc ended and even Nicholas' departure seemed a little abrupt.
For better or worse it is Angelique who saves the day when she decides to file a complaint with Nicholas' employer, The Master.
The masked man at the front desk of Hell speaks with a loud and boring voice, I suspect it was Jerry Lacy.

I must say that some of the scenes in these episodes are pretty intense for daytime TV, almost as scary as the Laura Collins story.
Either way, there's an embrace to celebrate the relief now that Nicholas has gone.

Three seconds later there is yet another emergency.
Adam had killed Eve in a moment of domestic disagreement and then Barnabas killed Eve again during her resurrection operation.
Adam is furious and decides to destroy everyone at Collinwood, starting with Vicky.
It's not exactly the massacre it could have been (in a Dynasty season 5 cliffhanger fashion) but nevertheless Barnabas is forced to shoot Adam.
He's currently hiding out at professor Stokes place, physically and mentally wounded, and I'm not sure if there's any story left for him.
Stokes even suggest plastic surgery (ha!) and the idea of a clinic has "Switzerland" written all over it. In other words, thank you and goodbye.

He's been absolutely terrific, and while Adam progressed to a more developed human character, Robert Rodan maintained the monster's physical awkwardness as much as possible.
In the meantime, Victoria Winters has been recast and according to the interview on the DVD Alexandra Isles is not coming back.

I had never seen Tom Jennings but he's temporarily brought back only to be killed again. But wait! His brother Chris has arrived in Collinsport. He's not a vampire but that's where the good news ends.
As for Maggie, she's...."I'm not sure" and "I feel so strange" and "where am I?"
I'm not being sarcastic when I say that Kathryn Leigh Scott had the most challenging role in Dark Shadows: the iconic nitwit.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Alexandra Isles is not coming back.

Kathryn Leigh Scott had the most challenging role in Dark Shadows: the iconic nitwit

So...Vicky has to pass the proverbial baton to Maggie. The Queen is Dead; Long live the Queen.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Poor Vicky II.
As if the recast isn't problematic enough she's immediately saddled with Vicky's worst storyline so far: hysterically shouting at rooms because the ghost of Jeff may or may not be in there.
Too bad Alexandra didn't stay for a few more episodes and allow the first Vicky and Jeff ride off into the sunset. The whole plot of Jeff being summoned back to history is shaky, to say the least.
But in the world of live daytime soap quick decisions have to be made, and it's inevitable that some of those decisions will prove to be unsatisfactory.

The themes in Dark Shadows' next chapter is The Curse Of The Werewolf and The Turn Of The Screw. I haven't watched enough to guess if these storylines are going to intertwine, but I hope it's going to be a good one for Carolyn.
As the werewolf, Chris Jennings has to perform various vanishing acts accompanied by the obligatory soap dialogue "I can't explain why!" or "you wouldn't understand".

Chris and Carolyn are having a nice chat in the Blue Whale (Yes! The Blue Whale and its tacky soundtrack are back!) but for reasons stated above Chris brusquely ends the conversation.
Now I'm sure that more extreme examples will occur in the next episodes, but it is precisely that little and obscure moment of normality that made me feel very sorry for Carolyn.

Some interesting titbits from previous episodes:
**Adam overhears Carolyn telling Vicky that she's going away to find the man she used to love a long time ago. That's not going to happen but I wondered who that man was supposed to be? Could it be Buzz?
**Eve and Jeff Clarke's connection is all about recognition (from Eve's part anyway) but when Eve travels back in time to find physical proof that he is Peter Bradford, Peter Bradford himself accepts Eve's appearance as "Danielle Roget" even though she's a completely different woman.
Not that it matters because Eve/Danielle's story arc was mercilessly dropped in the wrap-up of the Adam and Nicholas chapters.
It's a pity because Eve showed traits of a delightful loose cannon.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Reboots (a criminally misused word in modern speech) are common in soap opera and perhaps even more so in Dark Shadows as it would be absolutely impossible to live with the memories of the previous storylines.
The most significant DS reboot I've seen so far is happening right now.

Elizabeth Stoddard, no longer complaining about Cassandra's death spell, says there's something strange about the atmosphere in the house.
My reaction was: you're saying that now ?
It is the kind of the storyline that you would expect to see at the very beginning of the series, something that introduces the evil and mystery that will haunt the characters at Collinwood, and by extension, every poor unfortunate soul in Collinsport.
I guess it's the use of the house itself combined with the terrific child actors that makes it all genuinely creepy, as opposed to the more exploitative monster-horror from the previous storylines.
A hidden room only accessible via a small opening, a disconnected telephone that rings and a psychic who discovers more than she's bargained for - which leads to the second staircase moment in 5 episodes. Background screaming provided by Grayson Hall.

David Selby has made his first appearance, and it's the ghost of Quentin Collins that turns the kids into homicidal maniacs. Brilliant stuff!

For the umpteenth time: LEAVE JOE HASKELL ALONE!

He's got a death sign edited over his face. That does it. I'm going to write an angry-fan letter to Dan Curtis Productions.
Joe visits cousin Chris Jennings who lives in a crappy little room, and I think there's something homo-erotic about putting these two characters in such a small space.

To be spookily continued

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Oh my, Dark Shadows really struck gold with the casting of the child actress playing Amy (and I just found out she's chewing gum-addict Violet in my all-time favourite movie!).
Even though the manipulative ghosts of Quentin and Beth are temporarily silenced in these episodes (well, let's hope it's only temporarily) there is still something very ambiguous about every chirpy sound that comes out of Amy's little mouth. I'm not talking about the Rhoda Penmark kind of ambiguity because that was self-explanatory from the script.
It's more subtle, and perhaps the kind of subtlety that a person of this age shouldn't possess. Needless to say, she's totally playing Jonathan "learning my lines? what is that?" Frid off the screen.

Every non-Collins character is summoned to Collinwood on a whim. Somebody cries, it's an emergency. And an emergency usually requires a check-up by Dr. Julia Hoffman who is sort of running a General Hospital all by herself.
In these episodes we see Joe Haskell being all over the place, most notably his various confrontations with cuzzin Chris in all shapes and sizes.
However, now that he knows the situation becomes increasingly dramatic. There's a lot of genuine gloom and desperation in the scene in which he tries to kidnap Amy in order to protect her from Chris.

Speaking of Chris, yes

This scene is the ultimate proof that he and Joe are a perfect match (which I knew from the very beginning, but some other fans might be a bit slow).
Now if only there was someone who could cure his werewolf-affliction. Besides, it's a storyline that doesn't show much longevity but of course I could be wrong.

I hope David and Amy will return to the creepy room very soon. It looks like a great storyline in the making.
Cassandra's spell and even Cassandra herself have creeped back into the saga - nobody asked me - but I will concentrate on the consequences, and there is at least one interesting development. Maggie has become the new governess.
This is, perhaps somewhat unintentionally, killing two birds with one stone. There was nothing more for her to do in the Evans house, and The Turn Of The Screw story needs a governess.
Vicky has vanished into thin air (literally) and we'll never talk about it again. It was all so very pointless.

And now the big question is: what new set will they use for the obsolete Evans house? Or will it become someone else's residence? A villain, perhaps?

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

This is a message sent from stupid phone, can,t type with 10 fingers on this thing therefore short update. And there is so much to talk about, everything is AWESOME and i made screenshots and stuff. Someone recently said that a soap can't be a masterpiece, well wrong because that's what dark shadows is. And the whole world must know it! Hope to be back soon on the real internet. Au revoir mes amis

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

I love Liz's new hairdo, it makes her look younger and very glamorous. Like Vicky in the early days, Maggie is in the middle of a power struggle with David although he no longer yells "I hope you die and then I won't come to your funeral". I've always found that "funeral" part childishly funny .

Ghosts Quentin and Beth are the first ghosts who don't speak, they're more about posing, like Dynasty opening credits.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

A little real-life mystery has crept into my dark shadows watch. I noticed that David Henesy is wearing a ring on both hands and i wonder why. He,s no longer a little child so perhaps he's becoming aware of fashionable stuff, or maybe he's joint a cult that preys on young superstars (i guess Boy Wonder was his main competition at that time).

With all the seen and unseen ghosts at Collinwood, it's interesting to watch Maggie almost bumping into a on-set technician while the scene is all about being spookily alone during a STORMY night
But it doesn't take away any of the atmosphere, if anything, she looks like an actress who's trapped inside a supernatural story, kinda like David Lynch's "Inland Empire".

So much fun to watch this on a cold november night and enjoy the scent of a Midsummers Night Yankee candle. The Catholic in me objects to the black wax but it's such a delicious smell and i think the Collinwood drawing room smerls exactly like it

Where is everybody, is @Alexis still watching or has he already finished DS?

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Quentin has won, the Collinses and Stoddatds have left Collinwood. The camera lingers on the various sets and it gives the impression of a big season finale cliffhanger "We'll be back!" shouts Roger Collins.

Every now and then a storyline meets a dead end. Chris the werewolf - just like Barnabas the vampire so many episodes ago - does not longer work solely on its secrecy. The introduction of Ned and Sabrina seems unfortunately timed because we can already guess what has happened, and we don't give a sh+t about these new characters. It is therefore not surprising that Chris decides to leave Collinsport (as if). Something needs to be done to rejuvenate the storyline although that seems hilariously juxtaposed by the actual Horror that's been conveniently glossed over All i'm saying is that someone from Bangor is not missed by anyone

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

I just love it when Dark Shadows teases us with potential story progress and then comes up with something that only conplicates the situation
Not that every decision is properly followed through, but it does make for unpredictable viewing
Professor Stokes may have found the answer to Quentin's power, but when Barnabas tries to use the same power in order to save David it leads him to the series' main Achillesheel: he used to be a 200 y/o vampire

Barnabas and Julia got their hands full with the two current dramas, trying to figure out the fate of the respective victims.
Ned and Sabrina haven't won me over yet but at least it's played with verve and energy Ned Stewart is kinda creepy, actually, and that's a funny thing to say about a non-supetnatural DS character

Sometimes it looks as if Quentin and Chris' storyline s are going to intertwine and then something else happens that seperates them again.

Funny how something goes from "can't remember" or "don't wanna talk about it" to a very lengthy and detailed report. And yet I'm still none the wiser Oh my god!

 

[Daniel Avery]

Sometimes it looks as if Quentin and Chris' storyline s are going to intertwine and then something else happens that seperates them again.

Letting you go un-spoiled when you make remarks like this is slowly but surely driving me to Wyncliff. But on the bright side, Julia will share some goodies from her giant Bag of Sedatives and all will be well (at least as far as I can tell).

I can say with some confidence that this story arc gives me the feeling that someone sat down with a pad of paper and actually wrote an outline. Too often, the show felt as if they were making it up as they went along. There is still going to be a lot of that, but so many of the events in this period (some you've seen, some you are yet to see) could only have been planned well in advance. I know we take it for granted that soaps work off a "Bible," or a general plot outline that plans events months into the future, but it was rare to see things occur on DS that unfolded over weeks, let alone months with lots of plot points set up long before.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Yes there is something remarkably fluent about this part of DS, and rather than the typical daytime-soap stalling it is filled with lots of unexpected events They even made good use of Liz's. buried alive storyline (if only because it was the end of it, and there was the untypical moment of a Dark Shadows character remembering the details of how it came about in the first place).

Every new supernatural storyline is introduced with a mild attempt at realism, meaning that there's always someone who claims that "but that's impossible!" even if that character is in the middle of his/her own impossible story arc.

Looking back at what I've seen so far, the Barnabas & Josette storyline is my least favourite. It went on forever and unlike the viewers back in the day I wasn't very impressed by the vampire character. Maybe because I had already watched too many vampire films (and the series True Blood), it just isn't fun anymore.

Greetings from the cottage (yes, it's back!)