Diaries of the Dark

Well, Roger is scared. He discovers that Victoria met Burke Devlin and so Roger is going to question her..perhaps, interrogate is a more apt term. Elizabeth is fed up with Roger. You can tell, she just has been full to the belly with his attitude and ill mood swings. Now, you have the paranoia of Devlin's return and Roger just has to know what his intentions are. So Victoria gets the third degree and is not too fond of all the accusations, because eventually Roger unveils his belief that she is in cahoots with him, which is preposterous, of course. Roger loves the brandy, and is always taking shots probably to deaden the pain he feels. Carolyn just momentarily mentions under her breath Roger's wife and it's like bait to not only Victoria, but us, because I am the first to tell you that this has been on my mind. Roger's hard to tolerate, Elizabeth is an example of this, and the missing wife, his inability to get Burke off his mind, and a boy that is mentioned but never s...

Episode 3 really focuses on Burke and how his reappearance in Collins Port has ruffled the feathers of Roger and his family's shipping fleet captain, Mallory. Burke Devlin is also topic of conversation between Victoria and Carolyn, who have a meet-and-greet, taking a tour of the Collinwood mansion for which they reside. Again, Vicky is told to leave by Carolyn who believes this is the last place someone from the outside should wind up living. Someone is following Victoria, opening a door that was shut and leaving a letter on her bed. Carolyn doesn't know Burke, but does give Vicky some family history because members of the Collins have portraits on the walls. Roger goes to the house of Maggie Evans' artist father, insisting they talk, stomping on the front door, heated and angered, the reason involving Burke. Burke, meanwhile, wants Joe Haskell (offering him over $2000) to get him information on the Collins since the young fisherman (who is saving up to start his own fish...

I think essentially this is the "Carolyn Introduction" episode as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard's daughter, Carolyn, is introduced to the Dark Shadows audience and is immediately established as a teenager wanting to have fun anytime she can once away from the gloomy environs of Collinwood. Dancing to 60s beats from the jukebox of the Blue Whale, bip-bopping and jiggling those hips, with the local boys, smiling and wanting to get some action, all clamoring to groove with her, Carolyn draws your attention. Carolyn, when you first see her, seems to be the hot blonde with rebellious tendencies,  but ultimately she just wants to be free for just a little while before having to return to the mansion on Widow's Hill. Elizabeth has sort of fixed up Carolyn with a fisherman named Joe Haskell, a more mature but also boring to the young babe, who becomes bothered at how the other barflies are anxious to hone in on his girl, eventually a fight ignites. In the previous review I d...

With all our ghosts, we sure don’t need no strangers in the house. So, how to start from the beginning. Well, an orphan raised in a home in New York is contacted by Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, who owns practically the whole fishing village of Collins Port, Maine, a sleepy, moody, dark place the train barely stops for because no one wishes to visit it. A sweet, but haunted, adult now, Victoria Winters takes the position and rides by train to Collins Port, hoping to understand why Stoddard contacted her, of all people, for the job. This job draws the ire of Stoddard's disgruntled, boozing brother, Roger, who has a troubled son, David, that will be the reason for Victoria's governess duties. Roger, quite a louse, temperamental and antagonistic, questions Stoddard, as so much as calling her a fool for doing so. Meanwhile, several key characters who remain vital to the pre-Barnabas period forewarn Victoria of having anything to do with the Collins family. Returning home af...

Strangely enough, I started with the first episode to actually show a part of Barnabas and really address his character. Willie Loomis, who had been eyeing a portrait of Barnabas   because of the jewels he wears, decides to rob his grave for priceless items he might could turn a profit, instead opening a vault that was secretly holding the vampire’s casket (three chains, bolted with locks ought to have told Willie something was amiss, but greed can blind some people from the obvious). Willie, this creep that had been giving Victoria Winters, Elizabeth Stoddard, and Carolyn Stoddard the willies (yep, pun intended), is responsible for the release of vampire Barnabas. Willie, of course, pays a heavy price for this, becoming a servant to Barnabas, a weakling who isn’t strong (or brave) enough to tell others of what he has unleashed on Collinsport. This episode establishes Willie as someone not wanted around Collinsport; he's part of a black-mailing scheme which includes Jason, an...

Excitedly, I have decided to write reviews for the show as I revisit it. IMDB doesn't have an episode listing so in order to keep up with my writings for the show, I just felt a blog might just be the thing I needed to publish my thoughts and feelings, opinions and ideas as I journey through the gothic soap, Dark Shadows . This will be a thrill to watch the episodes before Barnabas Collins, to see how the show was when the tormented vampire's presence remained absent. Seeing an outsider, Victoria, entering this gloomy world, certain to find a family with buried secrets and other mysteries surrounding them.

I rented the very first episodes of Dark Shadows today after watching a couple of episodes from the newly released Best of Barnabas Collins disc, featuring popular episodes, hosted by Lara Parker. What I came to realize is that so much of what occurs before and after this chosen episodes had me envying a revisit to storylines briefly covered in a thirty minute show. So I have begun my journey through the series and plan to review each episode, some will inspire me more than others. Words can barely express how excited I am about this project and maybe the blog will elaborate such feelings. I won't always be so kind, I admit, but I look forward to this with anticipation.