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367 Gallery
367
Number

363

Timeline

1795

Narrator

Joan Bennett

Writer

Ron Sproat

Director

Lela Swift

Broadcast

November 21, 1967
(Tuesday)

Recorded

November 15, 1967
(Wednesday)

Video

Complete: Disc 40
Collection 4: Disc 4

367 Gallery
We have 5 images of Dark Shadows 367

Abigail accuses Victoria of being possessed by the devil.

Synopsis[]

Teaser

Time stands still at Collinwood, for one girl has mysteriously disappeared. She has embarked on a strange and dangerous journey, a journey that transcends time and space. And inexplicably, she has found herself trapped in the past.

Having fainted from the shock of finding herself in the year 1795, Victoria Winters wakes in the servant's quarters to find that her 20th century clothing has been changed into an eighteenth-century dress and that a fussy, puritanical woman identical to Mrs. Johnson is watching over her. The woman clears up Victoria's confusion toward her identity; she is Abigail Collins.

Act I

Victoria's confusion only fuels Abigail's suspicion of the younger woman. Abigail hurls questions at her, but Victoria's answers do not satisfy her. Victoria truthfully explains that she has no idea how she got here. Abigail accuses her of being possessed by the Devil. Victoria vehemently denies this. Abigail claims to be attuned to good and evil vibrations, and she fears the Devil is always near. More accusations rail at Victoria, and Abigail refuses to believe anything the governess has to say. The older woman seizes Victoria's twentieth-century clothes with the intention of burning them. Leaving, Abigail locks Victoria in the room. But Victoria escapes through a window.

Act II

Running to Collinwood, Victoria finds that the Great House is still under construction. Having heard someone inside, a man who resembles Burke Devlin enters. Victoria, overjoyed, rushes into his arms. She soon realizes the man is not her lost fiancé, but is, in fact, Jeremiah Collins. Jeremiah attempts to comfort her as she dissolves into tears. He tells Victoria that, although she has mystified the family, Naomi Collins and Sarah Collins are already fond of her. Victoria relates her encounter with Abigail, and how the spinster accused her of being a witch. Jeremiah, however, laughs it off as no one ever listens to Abigail's obsession with witches. Victoria, having no place to go, refuses to return to the Old House. But Jeremiah promises to protect her. Victoria reluctantly agrees to go back with him.

Act III

Back in her room, Victoria waits for word from Jeremiah. He enters, having rescued her clothing. Advising her to keep them hidden, Jeremiah tries to learn where Victoria really came from. Her explanation will not satisfy Joshua Collins, and Jeremiah agrees to help her by devising a suitable story for who she is and why she is here and not Phyllis Wick.

Downstairs in the parlor, Abigail suggests to Joshua and Naomi that they should turn Victoria over to the authorities. Naomi protests, proclaiming Abigail's accusations as twisted and cruel. She refuses to watch as the malicious Abigail harms Victoria as she has harmed others in the past. The two women engage in a frosty spat, which forces Joshua to put an end to it. Jeremiah enters and lends his voice in support of Naomi's: both they and Sarah want Victoria to stay. Jeremiah explains that Victoria lost her memory in the carriage accident, and that her odd behavior was caused because she was understandably confused and frightened. Abigail accuses Jeremiah of being bewitched by Victoria's beauty. He fires back and tells her that said beauty has made her envious. Joshua silences Abigail, much to her surprise. He tells them all that he alone will decide whether or not Victoria will remain.

Act IV

Shortly afterward, Victoria meets Joshua and is taken aback by his resemblance to Roger Collins. He questions her credentials and skills, and her answers impress him. Joshua decides to hire Victoria as Sarah's governess on a trial basis, with her wages being $4 per month. He dismisses her, and Victoria returns to her room as Naomi returns to speak with her husband. Abigail also appears, and Joshua angrily accuses them both of eavesdropping. Abigail continues to believe that Victoria is evil, proclaiming that evil must be crushed.

Memorable quotes[]

Abigail (to Victoria): The clothing you were wearing when you arrived was shockingly immodest, to say the least.

Abigail: You are possessed by the devil. You needn't deny it. I can see it in your eyes!...I am attuned to good and evil vibrations. I can tell when the devil is with us.

Jeremiah: Witches don't cry over men they love.

Abigail: Obviously this girl's beauty has bewitched you.
Jeremiah: Obviously it's made you envious.

Dramatis personae[]

Background information and notes[]

Production[]

Story[]

  • TIMELINE: It was this afternoon when Victoria arrived in 1795.
  • Victoria's wages as governess are to be $4 per month. This $48 a year salary was pretty low for an educated governess in New England in 1790 considering that the average pay for an illiterate day laborer was $65 a year plus food and board. Joshua Collins must have been an exceptionally cheap man.

Bloopers and continuity errors[]

  • The boom microphone is in view during the opening scene. A boom mic shadow can be seen on the wall when Joshua is talking to Victoria about hiring her as governess on a trial basis near the end of the episode.
  • As in the previous episode with Joel Crothers, Louis Edmonds' male member can be seen several times outlined under his tight clothing.
  • As Victoria comes downstairs and enters the drawing room to meet with Joshua, the camera angle reveals the top corner of the foyer set and shows this view several times, including during the closing credits. [Addendum: I believe what is being seen here is a part of the chandelier in the foyer.]

External Links []

Dark Shadows - Episode 367 on the IMDb

Dark Shadows Every Day - Episode 367 - Making History

The Dark Shadows Daybook - Episode 367

Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 367: Good and evil vibrations

Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 367: 11/21/67

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