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| Number |
125 |
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| Narrator | |
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| Broadcast |
December 20, 1966 |
| Recorded |
December 13, 1966 |
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| We have 2 images of Dark Shadows 127 | |
Victoria tells the Collins family of her experience with the ghost of Josette.
Synopsis
Teaser
- My name is Victoria Winters. I have just lived through days of terror. I have been the captive of an insane, desperate man who wanted to kill me. I had given up hope of ever being rescued until a moment ago.
Matthew screams and is silenced; Victoria shouts and receives a reply from Burke. Roger comments on David's correctness and his own disbelief. They free Victoria, who warns them of Matthew and his axe. They find Matthew dead from fright.
Act I
Elizabeth, who was alerted by David, calls the Sheriff. She's terrified because Burke and Roger haven't returned yet. Mrs. Johnson has a bone chill like she had on the night Bill died. Victoria comes home.
Roger's furious because Victoria could have been beheaded thanks to David's interference. Victoria states that the ghost of Josette Collins saved her. Roger thinks Victoria's traumatized and imagined the ghost; Burke would be inclined to agree, but can't forget the look of terror on Matthew's face.
Act II
Off-screen, Sheriff Patterson arrives and Roger takes him to the Old House; Elizabeth orders Burke not to hurt Carolyn or Victoria, to whom she suspects he is attracted. He claims not to be. Mrs. Johnson tells Victoria of Burke's devotion and private investigation team. Burke visits Victoria in her room and she thanks him. They exchange meaningful glances.
Act III
Burke tells Victoria to flee Collinwood; she believes she's safe now that Matthew's dead. Roger comes home and tells the news that there will probably be no inquest. Matthew died of a heart attack most likely brought about by a big fright; Roger doesn't want to know what scared him so.
Act IV
Elizabeth apologizes to Victoria for all her troubles and thinks she might be better off leaving; she wonders if Victoria can ever forgive David for his actions. Victoria and Elizabeth discuss the troubled boy. Elizabeth tells Victoria that she believes she saw a ghost, but tells her not to think about it. Victoria does; she feels Josette watched over her the whole time. Victoria believes she resembles Josette, and posits that Josette could be one of her ancestors, but Elizabeth looks cryptic and says that would make Victoria a Collins, which she believes is unlikely.
Victoria thinks Josette is one of her ancestors; Elizabeth starts, then laughs it off. Victoria asks Elizabeth if she's ever seen a ghost; Elizabeth tells of her great-aunt, who, as a little girl, saw a ghost matching Josette's description. As Elizabeth's powerful sedatives kick in and as Victoria falls asleep, she mumbles, "she does exist, she does." Meanwhile, Josette's ghost appears outside the Old House and dances around the columns.
Memorable quotes
- Victoria: (about Josette) The woman I saw... she looked more like me than the portrait did.
Dramatis personae
- ← Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard →
- ← Mitchell Ryan as Burke Devlin →
- ← Louis Edmonds as Roger Collins →
- ← Clarice Blackburn as Sarah Johnson →
- ← Alexandra Moltke as Victoria Winters →
- ← Thayer David → as Matthew Morgan (uncredited)
- ← Kathryn Leigh Scott → as Josette Collins (uncredited)
Background information and notes
Production
- The character of Matthew Morgan appears only during the teaser in recycled footage, which was taped the previous day, which is why there was no credit for actor Thayer David at the closing credits.
- This is the first time the teaser comprises repeated footage from the previous episode. (The previous episode, 126, was the first episode where the teaser was a recreation of the previous episode's final scene.)
- Certain portions of this episode seem to have been lifted from a filmed Kinescope copy, probably because the master tape was damaged in places.
- The footage of Josette dancing around the Old House is reused from episode 70.
Story
- Elizabeth tells Victoria the story of her great-aunt's encounter with Josette, who saw the ghost on the beach as a little girl after wandering away from the house. It was a woman in a long white dress who appeared to her and told her not to be afraid as she was about to die from exposure, before being found by a fisherman in a non-fished area. Although unnamed at this point in the series, Elizabeth's great-aunt would later be named as Judith Collins.
- Victoria believes she and Josette share a resemblance.
- GHOSTWATCH: Josette's ghost appears outside the Old House and dances around the columns.
- SEDATIVE: Elizabeth gives Victoria "a couple of pills" to help her go to sleep. A pattern of using prescription sedatives is beginning to appear.
- They may not be prescription sedatives. "Sleeping pills" were common in the sixties and were widely available over the counter. But it's true the use of them in DS is not uncommon. The use increases when Dr. Julia Hoffman arrives on the scene.
- TIMELINE: Day 21 begins, and will end in episode 129. Burke will call Victoria in the morning. 2am: Elizabeth visits Victoria. Victoria has the day off tomorrow (i.e. the rest of Day 21).
Bloopers and continuity errors
- Alexandra Moltke resembles the portrait of Josette far more than Kathryn Leigh Scott does. Although there would be hints that there may be a connection between Victoria and Josette, nothing would come of this. The 1991 NBC revival series would have actress Joanna Going play both Victoria and Josette.
- Louis Edmonds flubs a line, saying that the ghost of Josette was "her figment of imagination", rather than a figment of her imagination.
- Elizabeth asks Burke "You're very fond of Vicki, aren't you?" and he says "Yes, why?" She then oddly asks "How fondly?"
End credits announcement
- On behalf of our sponsors, we would like to wish you a very happy holiday season.
- Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.
External Links
Dark Shadows - Episode 127 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 127: More like me than the portrait