694 — darkshadows

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Number	685
Timeline	1969
Narrator	Joan Bennett
Writer	Sam Hall
Director	Lela Swift
Broadcast	February 20, 1969 (Thursday)
Recorded	February 14, 1969 (Friday)
Video	Complete: Disc 72 Collection 12: Disc 4

We have 33 images of Dark Shadows 694

Quentin's ghost chases everyone out of Collinwood and into the Old House.

Synopsis

A violent night on the great estate of Collinwood, for one man has dared battle the evil spirits who seek to rule the great house. And so the ancient chant of exorcism has been heard again, a chant exhorting the ghost to leave. All who live here think the reign of terror over, but the man who worked this evening miracle waits in a room, determined to make sure the miracle is true.

Professor Stokes is in his room where the drapes are afire and the door is locked. He takes a candlestick to the mirror, and everything reverts back to normal, with the drapes unburned. Roger hammers on the door to see if things are okay, having heard laughter and a crash. He refuses to believe Stokes that there is a ghost in the house, and bars Stokes from leaving his room unless he promises to stop talking about it.

David speaks with Elizabeth who assures him the ghost is gone for good... until the Quentin creepy music starts playing again. When she walks out of the room to get Stokes, the door slams behind her, and David turns to see Quentin in the room. Quentin takes away David's voice, and David runs out of the house.

David is sitting in Barnabas' house and says that Quentin can't get him there. Roger comes in blaming Barnabas and Stokes for everything (because nothing supernatural ever happened to Roger) and grudgingly gives David permission to stay there overnight after David begs him.

Elizabeth suggests that if Barnabas finds it an imposition on himself that they all stay at the Old House , they can go to theCollinsport Inn . He doesn't. Roger still insists on nothing supernatural... until the end of this episode when he should be changed forever by seeing the ghost of Quentin. David wants to stay at the Old House forever. He sees Quentin through the windows there. Elizabeth and Roger take one car to the Old House; Stokes takes another. Stokes mentions that tomorrow they will make an expedition to get Roger's things. He doesn't want Elizabeth to stay another moment in the house and mentions that if the family stays there will be more deaths.

They leave, with Roger yelling that they'll be back. Mocking laughter echoes throughout the empty house, while the creepy music plays again. Ultimately we see the top of the staircase, where Quentin stands, laughing.

Memorable quotes

David: Aunt Elizabeth, I don't like secrets.

Barnabas (to Roger): One question at a time would be enough.

Roger (to Professor Stokes, sarcastically): Should we burn the house when we go?

Elizabeth: I never thought I would leave this house.

Roger: How quiet it is now.

Roger: We'll be back. Have no doubt about that! (Mocking laughter echoes around the house, and the old-fashioned music plays after he closes the door)

Professor Stokes: If I were a ghost, as I assume someday I shall be, I would not let mere words drive me away from my home, even the words of the exorcism.

Dramatis personae

← Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard →
← Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins →
← Louis Edmonds as Roger Collins →
← Thayer David as Timothy Eliot Stokes →
← David Selby as Quentin Collins →
← David Henesy as David Collins →

Background information and notes

Production

The burning drapes appear to be real flames and smoke, not a special effect. After Professor Stokes smashes the mirror with the candlestick, the burning drapes revert back to their original state. Maybe it was shot with another camera and then transposed onto the drape area, or there was another set of burning drapes elsewhere in the studio. (It is obviously a scale-model of the drapes and window that was set on fire, and not the full-size curtains in Stokes' room]

Story

The opening narration says Collinwood is in the grip of evil spirits, plural meaning Beth also, as opposed to referring only to Quentin's ghost as evil as in 692.
At the end of the episode, there is a tour of Collinwood in which most of the rooms of the house are seen.
GHOSTWATCH: Quentin's ghost appears to Professor Stokes (reprised from previous episode). Later, he appears to David, then appears to Roger.
INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Roger: Why do I have this feeling?
TIMELINE: 2am: Roger, Elizabeth and Professor Stokes leave Collinwood.

Bloopers and continuity errors

In the reprise, Joan Bennett says, "the man who worked this evening miracle." It's not clear if "evening" is a flub--that it should be "evening's"--or if perhaps "evening" as an adjective is correct and stated as scripted.
During the reprise, we can hear the foyer grandfather clock chiming, although it could not be heard in the closing of the previous episode.
After Stokes smashes the mirror, the blue screen used to project Quentin's image can still be seen in the shattered glass.
The Collinsport Fly briefly buzzes around David Henesy.
A boom microphone shadow can be seen on the right after the drawing room doors slam shut on David.
A boom microphone can be seen as David flees from Collinwood and above Roger as Elizabeth turns off the final lamp in the drawing room.
There appears to be a small crack between the drawing room doors when they close, locking Roger in.
When Roger confronts David at the Old House, Jonathan Frid seems to forget his lines and then flubs what he says: “Now, Roger… now, David, tell him.” Louis Edmonds follow up with a flubbed line as well: “He’s frightened! And you have made him responsible, you and the professor.”
Towards the end of the episode, we are given a showcase of most of the rooms in Collinwood. There is a table with a tea set on it in the drawing room, though nobody had tea and the table was not in the episode at all. This was probably stock footage of the drawing room. During the closing credits, we see the drawing room as it was during the episode, without the table and tea set.
When the family leaves the house at the end of the episode, they left the fireplace lit.