Dark Shadows 1991: 1.3

Okay, a few days late, but better late than never. Continuing the Revival series with episode 3: 
Dark Shadows 1991, Episode 1.3

“My name is Victoria Winters. Night has fallen on the Old House, a night of promise and forboding. For a being older than time, a tortured creature, may soon free himself of his torment, if only he can conquer the evil that drives him.”

Julia arrives at the Old House. Barnabas says she was late, and she apologizes. She had to wait until the other were asleep. She asks if he can fight it. If he couldn’t, he replies, you wouldn’t be alive to ask that question. She warns him about the serum and its toxicity. Nothing could be worse than this, he said. She injects him with the serum. He feels its heat in his veins, his blood boiling. He passes out from the pain. When he gains consciousness, he says the pain is gone.

Julia is back at her office and taking notes on her experiment. Dawn. Julia looks at a vial of blood that begins boiling. The vial bursts. She touches the blood with a gloved hand.

Night. Vikki and Barnabas stand at Widow’s Cliff. He tells her the story of the Widows who would wait for their husbands’ ships to come in, many of them throwing themselves off the cliff to join them. Vikki asks if this is where Josette died. Yes. He holds her close.

David hears a door open at Collinwood. He asks whose in the room. Carolyn comes down the hallway. He asks what’s wrong with her, asks her to say something. She’s a vampire! David runs up the stairs to his room, where Daphne is waiting for him. He runs to Vicki’s room—she, too, is a vampire. He screams. Vicki runs into his bedroom and wakes him from his dream. He tells her about his dream.

In the morning, David goes outside. He ends up outside the family cemetery and walks up to the mausoleum. He goes inside. Sarah comes up behind him. She is a young girl in old-fashioned dress. She tells him not to worry about Daphne, she is gone for good. “Daphne is ashes, Daphne is dust.” There is someone who needs his help, but Sarah can’t tell him anything but that it’s someone he knows, someone he’s close to. She leads him back upstairs and disappears.

Julia continues her experiment with exploding blood. The blood has become more resistant to daylight each day. Two months have passed since they began the experiment, and Barnabas’ desire to feed lessens each day. She injects Barnabas with the serum, but they no longer cause him the pain they once did. She thinks it’s time for an experiment. Willie pulls a cloth of a mirror. Barnabas looks in the mirror. He sees his reflection. Barnabas goes to Josette’s room and tells her soon they will be together again.

Joe sits outside on the verandah. He looks rough. Carolyn brings him some lunch. He tells her he needs to get out of there, too many memories everywhere he looked.

Michael cooked dinner for Julia. He asks about her work. She says it’s going well. He asks her what’s left to do now that Daphne’s gone. She says she’s still taking care of Joe, but Michael doesn’t buy it. He knows she still believes it’s a vampire and is waiting for it to strike again. It didn’t just vanish into thin air, and the sheriff has three unsolved murders. The likely suspect is Barnabas Collins. He fits all the prerequisites: new to town and doesn’t appear at night.

At the Old House, Barnabas is reading poetry to Vicki in the dead girl’s room. The poem was written by his “namesake” for Josette. They kiss. A lot. Barnabas moves his way down her neck and the need to feed overcomes him. He looks at her pale, silky neck… and pushes away. She asks him what’s wrong, if he’s all right. He asks her to leave.

Julia comes to Barnabas. “It’s now Julia, we can’t wait any longer. I’m losing control.” He tells her about the desire to feed. Julia says it’s a risk to up the dosage. Barnabas tells her it’s now or never. He wants to see morning. She injects him twice.

Dawn. Barnabas is still up, and Julia sets a vial of blood by the window. Willie and Julia watch as the sun rises. Barnabas feels “stinging points of heat” on his skin, his blood warming. He sees the sun for the first time in two hundred years. The blood in the vial begins to boil. Julia tells Willie to pull the drapes. Barnabas tells him no. He collapses on the floor, and Willie pulls the drapes. There is a knock on the front door. Julia and Willie put Barnabas to bed. Willie answers the door to Roger, Michael, and the sheriff. He says that Barnabas is still asleep. The men are suspicious, wanting to see him before he leaves for Boston, Portland, or wherever.

Julia arrives at the door. Michael asks what she’s doing there, and Julia says that Barnabas is very ill. Michael asks if he has the plague. The sheriff says he needs to speak to Barnabas about Daphne and the others this morning. In the daylight. The sheriff pulls out a search warrant. Barnabas, looking ill, pulls himself down the stairs. They see that he is ill. Roger apologizes for the intrusion, but Michael is still suspicious. He says Barnabas is looking very pale. Barnabas walks down the stairs into a patch of sunlight. Julia makes them leave and Barnabas returns to bed. The gentlemen leave. Michael is still suspicious and makes Julia aware of that fact. Michael is still insistent about his theory, but the sheriff and Roger dismiss it.

Willie watches over Barnabas. There is another knock at the door. Willie runs to open it and sees Mrs. Johnson. He’s actually glad to see her, which surprises her. He lets her in, and Aunt Sarah is amazed by how much they’ve fixed the Old House. She brought him a nut loaf (nut loaf for a nut), which he proceeds to eat. Willie seems nervous, and she asks him what’s wrong. He brushes off her concern and rushes her out of the house.

Michael Woodard shows up at Collinwood. He accepts responsibility for the incident that happened that morning. He asks after Julia, who is by the lily pond, reading. Michael goes off to search for her, but ends up in Julia’s office. He opens the refrigerator and finds the vials of blood. He pulls the case out and holds it up to the sunlight—it bursts in his hand. He also finds in her desk her journal. He takes pictures of them with a min-camera. He leaves Collinwood and tells Elizabeth on the way out that he found her.

Julia returns inside. Elizabeth stops her and mentions Michael’s visit to apologize. Julia had no idea about his visit. Julia rushes upstairs where she finds the broken vial on the floor and the desk drawer ajar.

Julia tells Barnabas about Michael finding her journal. Barnabas leaves. There is business to attend to. They argue; Julia doesn’t want anything to happen to Michael. Barnabas insists Willie escort her back to Collinwood. At Michael’s house, the electricity and telephone go out due to the storm. He hears an upstairs window breaking and attempts to close the shutters. He hears more noises and goes to investigate. A hand reaches out of the darkness and grabs his throat. Barnabas warns Woodard that he has made a serious mistake and now he is a part of Barnabas's universe.