646 — darkshadows

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Number	638
Timeline	1968
Narrator	Joan Bennett
Writer	Gordon Russell
Director	Lela Swift
Broadcast	December 16, 1968 (Monday)
Recorded	December 9, 1968 (Monday)
Video	Complete: Disc 68 Collection 11: Disc 4

We have 34 images of Dark Shadows 646

David and Amy meet the ghosts of Quentin and Beth. David and Amy attempt to kill Roger by placing a trip wire on the staircase.

Synopsis

Of all the dark and evil secrets that plague the great house at Collinwood, none has escaped detection longer than the secret behind a wall in the abandoned west wing. For over 70 years, a vengeful spirit has been imprisoned here. Now, through the curiosity of two children, it has been released and soon will bring about the final destruction of the Collins family.

David and Amy meet the ghosts of Quentin and Beth. Amy and David dress up and pretend to be Beth and Quentin. David and Amy bury the skeleton from the secret room . David strings a wire across the staircase causing Roger to fall.

Memorable quotes

Elizabeth: David gave me his word.

Roger: Yes, he's done that before as I recall.

Roger: Whatever she's [Victoria] gone through, she still has her responsibility as a governess to these two children. They need her guidance. Left on [sic] their own devices, there's no telling what they would do.

Roger: (about Amy) I just hope she's not a bad influence on David.

David: If you sound convincing enough, my father will believe whatever you tell him.

Dramatis personae

Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Louis Edmonds as Roger Collins
David Henesy as David Collins
Denise Nickerson as Amy Jennings
David Selby as Quentin Collins
Terry Crawford as Beth Chavez

Background information and notes

Production

First appearance of actors David Selby and Terry Crawford, and the characters of Quentin Collins and Beth Chavez. Quentin will be next seen in 669 but won't speak until 701, and Beth will next be seen in 673 and will speak for the first time in 678. Beth emerges from the shadows, appearing suddenly even though she wears a white dress. This is a neat trick, possibly accomplished by an unusually well done visual effect using Chroma Key. In the past, any lightness of clothing or skin has made it difficult to have, for example, Tom Jennings come out of the shadows without being noticeable beforehand. [Beth's white dress is clearly visible in the background while Amy is saying her line. It is just less noticeable due to all the junk in the background.] (Terry Crawford is simply standing in the shadowy background of the scene, then emerges gracefully at the proper moment. Due to careful placement of the actress, artfully composed lighting, and carefully cut camerawork, no Chroma Key is needed to accomplish one of the best ghostly reveals in the series’ run.)

Story

GHOSTWATCH: Quentin and Beth's ghosts appear to David and Amy.
TIMELINE: 2am: Roger goes to bed. Day 255 begins, and will end in 649. Amy will get Roger at 1am. 1am: Roger in bed.
The act of tying a wire across the stairs to make Roger fall is a reenactment of when David caused Roger to fall in 1967, only this time David is possessed.

Bloopers and continuity errors

The gray wig seen previously on the skeleton is gone.
David and Amy were able to get the cradle up the secret staircase but are apparently unable to get the toy chest down it.
When Amy and David are in Quentin's room with the music playing and Quentin standing before them, Amy asks if David likes the music. He says it's his favorite piece. Amy starts to say, "How could it be? You never heard it before last night when we..." Apparently, that is the cue for Beth's ghost to come out of the shadows and interrupt her, but Amy stops in mid-sentence and looks over to the darkness where Beth is supposed to emerge. However, there is a long pause between Amy's cut-off sentence, her looking toward the shadows, and Beth finally emerging.
Louis Edmonds flubs a line when Roger is talking to Elizabeth about Victoria: "...and get it str...settled once and for all."
David and Amy tell Roger that the chest is locked while he is looking at it and can plainly see that there is no padlock on the chest, which is the only way it could be locked, as we can see after the children bury the bones, yet David seems to think that his lie was a clever one! [Maybe Roger is just that gullible.]
When Elizabeth and Roger are discussing Victoria, Elizabeth says that she has given David and Amy only "a few lessons." However, Amy has been at Collinwood for only a couple of days. Everyone is behaving as if she's been there for quite some time. Also, originally Julia agreed to let Amy stay at Collinwood the first night she arrived, but the implication was that she would go back to Windcliff. Julia was insistent she needed to be there. But that seems to have been forgotten. There was never any follow-up discussion with Julia.
A boom microphone shadow is visible as Roger tells Elizabeth that Victoria is in a sad state.
It is morning when David and Amy go outside to bury the chest with Quentin's skeleton in it, yet the background is dark like night.
When the scene transitions from outside after David and Amy have buried Quentin's bones to the west wing storage room, someone clears his throat off-stage.
The collar of Amy's green dress is visible above her pink robe.
Denise Nickerson steps on David Henesy's lines: "You'll see..." "Well, I hope..." "...as soon as I find it." "Well, I hope you find it soon..."
The end credits roll is off kilter and tilted up on the left side.
The candle has been magically burning for about 24 hours in the secret room.
The clock in Roger's room has been set to 1 am for the final scene, even though earlier it is morning and Roger is off to work.
When Roger falls down the stairs, you can see the entire wall move. [Addendum: What moves is the hanging tapestry and its shadow, not the whole wall.]
How did David manage to string up the wire in such a way that one end is attached to the concrete wall? This would require a screw or a hook, but none is visible. And in the next episode, Roger looks for traces of the wire and there are none, yet there should be a screw or a screw hole in the wall. [Ghosts.]