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789 |
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| Broadcast | |
| Recorded |
July 9, 1969 |
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| We have 15 images of Dark Shadows 798 | |
Magda tells Quentin that he had a son, who is now dead because of Julianka's curse.
Synopsis
- The great estate of Collinwood. The year is 1897, a time of horror and despair, for on this night, a body has been found in the woods, a body of the one person who could have cured Quentin Collins. And in the Old House, a seance has been held to reach the murdered woman. And her ghost, filled with hatred and a desire for revenge, placed a curse on Magda, a curse which promises that everyone Magda loves will die. And so she waits for the three knocks that tells her the curse is starting.
The three knocks foretold by Julianka's spirit sound, and Magda realizes that her fate is sealed. Barnabas comforts her when it turns out to have been Sandor knocking on the door. Magda berates him for staying away so long. He speaks distractedly, saying that he saw Julianka, but then falls down at her feet, dead. Barnabas, discovering a knife in his back, realizes that Sandor has been dead for a long time.
Victor phones Aristede. When Victor enters the drawing room and finds Quentin he comments that from the music, he would have thought a love struck young lady were in here! Victor also thinks that people don't become disillusioned until the age of thirty-five. He also avoided feeling sorry for himself. He tells Quentin not to trust gypsies, he hates them, and they are always looking for revenge. A gypsy told him once that he had three years and no future after that. Magda reads palms.
Magda blames Barnabas for Sandor's death and feels she should kill him one day or morning when he is in his coffin.
Quentin gets a gun and goes to the gazebo. The name Julianka is whispered over the night breeze. Quentin surreptitiously observes a conversation between Victor and Aristede, in which a humbled Aristede is pressured to overcome his fear of retribution by Quentin and to attempt to get the Hand back. Victor appeals to Aristede's vanity, promising him sumptuous clothing tailored in London. Victor is revealed to have killed Julianka.
Magda and Barnabas have buried Sandor. Magda says she cannot live without love. Barnabas knows exactly how she feels. They both realize that Magda loves Jenny’s son. She tells Barnabas it is possible to love someone without seeing them. She has to go to Mrs. Filmore to try to save the boy.
Aristede tells Victor he just wants to get out of here alive. They talk of silk and partners. After Aristede goes, Quentin grabs Victor. He seldom sleeps so he came for a walk. 4:55. Quentin hears his story and then goes to tell Barnabas about it.
Magda thinks the girl is safe because gypsies do not prize girls. Barnabas believes the girl is safe because Chris Jennings is born in the future. Quentin leaves and Barnabas has to return to his coffin. Alone, Magda raises an axe over the Hand declaring it will cause no more trouble...
Memorable quotes
- Quentin: Watching the moon is one of my hobbies, Mr. Fenn-Gibbon--one that I hate.
- Magda: Bite me! Bite me now! Let me be your slave too! At least — I will know then. I will know how Sandor felt those last months!
- Barnabas: No, Magda, you will not kill me, and I will not harm you. We will grieve together.
- Victor: My friends tell me I talk too much.
- Victor (hearing Quentin's song playing and coming into the drawing room): Mr. Collins!
- Quentin: Surprised?
- Victor: The music! I was convinced I should find a lovesick lady.
- Quentin: Far preferable to a disillusioned man.
- Victor: Disillusioned? That's a very sad state for one of your years. I managed to keep all my illusions until I was thirty-five at least. But I avoided feeling sorry for myself.
- Aristede: Victor, I can't talk to Quentin Collins. He'll kill me!
- Victor: Perhaps that's what I have in mind.
Dramatis personae
- Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins
- Grayson Hall as Magda
- Thayer David as Sandor
- Thayer David as Victor Fenn-Gibbon
- David Selby as Quentin Collins
- Michael Stroka as Aristede
Background information and notes
Production
- Thayer David plays two real parts (not ghosts or dreams) in the same timeline in the same episode.
- By the time this episode aired on the afternoon of July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 had lifted off and was on the way to the moon. It would take three days for the craft to reach the moon and enter lunar orbit.
Story
- Victor managed to live with his illusions until he was 35 and managed to avoid feeling sorry for himself.
- This episode offers a subtle clue that Victor is indeed Count Petofi. When he closes the Collinwood drawing room doors, he does so one-handed; most would do so two-handed. And indeed Victor uses his left hand (the Hand of Count Petofi is a right hand).
- INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Quentin: Have I the courage?
- TIMELINE: Sandor was under Barnabas' control for the last months of his life. Magda wants to see Mrs. Fillmore, but Barnabas attempts to dissuade her due to the hour of night. 4:55am: Barnabas and Quentin discuss Victor. 5am: Quentin leaves the Old House. Almost dawn.
Bloopers and continuity errors
- There is a noticeable gap in the "wall" as Quentin goes to look out the window of the drawing room.
- David Selby gets Victor Fenn-Gibbon's last name correct ("Gibbon") in one scene and then wrong in another ("Gibbons").
- At Sandor's grave, Magda says to Barnabas, "One night when you are in your coffin," when she should have said, "One day when you are in your coffin".
- At the beginning of the scene with Magda at Sandor's grave, there is a lot of studio noise while Magda kneels silently.
- Quentin says that Magda told him he had no future three years ago, but he should have said three months ago.
- The sound effect of Victor's slap on Aristede's face (supposedly heard from a distance) occurs too early, while Quentin's prerecorded interior monologue is still playing.
- When Quentin observes Victor and Aristede form a distance, Aristede starts moving his lips silently even though we had just heard both him and Victor clearly and loudly. In fact, Victor says a line over Aristede at full volume while Aristede is mouthing his words. Aristede's gestures and his mouth movements also suggest that he is talking loudly to Victor. This happens more than once throughout the scene. Clearly, the silent mouthing and full volume speaking are not always coordinated with the close-ups and the shots that are further away.
- The silent mouthing mentioned above is clearly meant to indicate that Quentin cannot hear what Aristede and Victor are saying, as is the fact that Victor tells Quentin a number of lies that Quentin does not simply challenge by saying, "I heard what you said." However, Quentin was only a few feet away from Aristede and Victor and would have certainly heard something from the distance portrayed.
- When Quentin is holding the gun to Victor's face, David Selby flubs pronouncing "obliousy" instead of "obviously."
- When Magda says she will "fix them good" and Quentin replies, "No more fixing, Magda," there is some loud off-stage noise.
- Barnabas' belief that Quentin's daughter will survive because Chris Jennings will be born with the curse makes two unproven assumptions: first, that the future is still intact after Barnabas' presence has changed the past (which he has doubted many times) and, second, that there is lineage from Quentin's daughter to Chris when Chris' father could simply have been cursed by someone else.
- There had never been anything hanging inside the door to the basement of the Old House before now. Now there is a conveniently placed axe. Why would anyone hang an axe there?
External Links
Dark Shadows - Episode 798 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 798 - Everyone You Love Must Die
Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 798: A gift from the unicorn