Quentin and Magda find the urn that keeps Laura alive.

Synopsis

Collinwood before the turn of the century, a time of bizarre and frightening events. The two Collins children, Nora and Jamison, have been sent away to school against the wishes of their mother, a strange, mysterious woman only recently returned to Collinwood. Angered by the separation from her children, she has vowed that they will not spend another night in the school. Only moments after her vow was made, the school mysteriously caught fire.

Timothy Shaw rescues Nora from the flames and notes that Trask and Rachel got everyone else out of the Hall. Jamison and the other children, all of whom seem to come from families that do not want them, are sent to Rockport. But Nora comes home with Laura. Quentin offers Laura a brandy and she refuses. He has one. Laura has hidden the urn (with her flame) in the post at the gazebo. The post has a celestial sphere with an arrow through the sphere. She drops her snake twisting bracelet near it. Putting dirt on the flame in the urn makes Laura weak and can eventually kill her.

Memorable quotes

Quentin: It's too fantastic.

Dramatis personae

• Grayson Hall as Magda
• Don Briscoe as Timothy Shaw
• David Selby as Quentin Collins
• Diana Millay as Laura Collins
• Denise Nickerson as Nora Collins

Background information and notes

Production

Story

• Unlike with the previous Phoenix storyline, Laura was not in the fire herself as she was when she tried to take David in early 1967. [Addendum: It doesn't appear that Laura is intending to burn the children in this fire. She is merely trying to get Nora and Jamison back to Collinwood.]
• Judging by its external appearance, Worthington Hall is the same building as the one that was/will be occupied by Eric Lang in the present day. It is later stated in 737 that the fire gutted the building, which would account for its differring internal layout when occupied by Lang.
• Quentin is fascinated by the fact that fire has played an important part in Laura's life for the past year.
• TIMELINE: Edward went into Collinsport about an hour ago.

Bloopers and continuity errors

• The last line of Don Briscoe's opening narration overlaps with Denise Nickerson saying her first line.
• In the teaser, when we see an almost full shot of Nora, you can see a camera set up in the fireplace (to take shots of the fire through the fireplace).
• The fire at Worthington Hall is not one of the most successful special effects. The blue screen shows the house to be a cutout, a cardboard model, with fake flames behind it.
• In the second shot of Tim rescuing Nora from the fire, as he is supposedly walking back through the fire to escape the room, he is grimacing and walking haltingly as if he is walking through flames, but no flames were actually added to this shot.
• When Tim, Laura, and Nora return to Collinwood from Worthington Hall, smoke follows them as they open the doors and enter the foyer, leftover smoke effects from the fire. [I don't think it is smoke we are seeing, as it is only seen from one camera. When a different camera shows the foyer from a different angle, there is no smoke at all. I believe we are just seeing a fault in one camera and not smoke]
• The boom microphone shadow can clearly be seen as Laura, Nora, and Tim rush into Collinwood. Later, it can again be clearly seen when Magda closes the door after spotting Nora returning to Collinwood.
• Although having recently survived a devastating fire, Laura, Nora, and Tim appear as though they are returning from attending church, perfectly dressed and coifed.
• A red-tinted light bulb can be seen inside the masonry to the right of the fireplace both times that Laura approaches it.
• A wire attached to the top of the door can be seen as Magda closes the front door of Collinwood.
• Although it is mid-April, still early spring, the flowers and foliage in the garden appear to be experiencing August-like conditions, a rare phenomenon for Maine.
• Two separate stage lights can be seen as Quentin slowly creeps out from the drawing room after Magda has found out from Nora that Laura was at the garden.
• There are several significant plot holes in this episode. 1) Although it's clear that David Henesy was not cast in this episode, the excuses for Jamison's not being brought back to Collinwood are weak. Tim says he was rescued by the Trasks, who took the other children to Rockport for the night. It doesn't really make sense that Laura would not insist on bringing him to Collinwood along with Nora. [Addendum: It's clear that Trask has already left for Rockport once Laura and Tim are out of the burning building. Laura does tell Tim to ask Trask to call her in the morning, clearly intending to have Jamison delivered to Collinwood.] 2) Magda's idea about not following Laura and Nora outside--that is, to wait to see if Nora returns and then find out where Laura is--doesn't make much sense. If she and Quentin really wanted to see where she went (which seemed incredibly important to Quentin), they would have just followed her. 3) It's not clear how or why Laura's bracelet would have fallen off. It appears there's no clasp on it (and even if there was, it was still clasped). 4) When Quentin was talking to Magda about finding the urn, Magda insists that she doesn't want him to hurt Laura. (Quentin promises not to "touch a hair on her head.") However, once they discover the urn and Quentin explains to Magda that the fire in it keeps Laura alive, Quentin proceeds to douse the flame with sand and admits he is killing her. Magda does nothing.

External Links 

Dark Shadows - Episode 736 on the IMDb

Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 736 - All About That Vase

Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 736: Quentin and Magda find Laura's urn

Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 736: 4/21/69