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414 Gallery
414
Number

408

Timeline

1796

Narrator

Joan Bennett

Writer

Sam Hall

Director

John Sedwick

Broadcast

January 25, 1968
(Thursday)

Recorded

January 19, 1968
(Friday)

Video

Complete: Disc 45
Collection 6: Disc 1

414 Gallery
We have 6 images of Dark Shadows 414

Sarah gets locked in the Collins mausoleum after searching for Barnabas.

Synopsis[]

Teaser

A séance has been held in the great house at Collinwood, a séance which has suspended time and space and sent one girl on an uncertain and frightening journey into the past, back to the year 1795. There, each of the Collins ancestors resembles a present-day member of the family, but the names and relationships have changed, and Victoria Winters finds herself a stranger in a sea of familiar faces. On this dark, mysterious night, a child has run from the house, following her missing brother, who must escape her lest she find out his terrible secret.

Sarah Collins goes to the mausoleum looking for Barnabas after she sees him at the new house. The door shuts behind her and she is trapped.

Act I

Millicent Collins and Lt. Nathan Forbes enter the drawing room after viewing an eclipse. After much flirting, Nathan asks Millicent to marry him (he only wants her for her money) and she quickly accepts. They speak of their plans for the future; Nathan decides to leave the Navy. Millicent is uncertain of his plan, but happy with the engagement. Naomi Collins interrupts them to ask if they have seen Sarah. She can't be found anywhere in the house.

Act II

Naomi explains to Millicent and Nathan that Sarah is missing. Nathan volunteers to take Riggs and Ben to search for Sarah. Naomi berates herself for Sarah's disappearance as she recounts the fore-telling by Victoria Winters of Sarah's death. Sarah, trapped in the mausoleum, cries out for Barnabas to find her.

Act III

A local woman, Ruby Tate, waits on the docks for a friend. Barnabas appears from the mist and frightens her. She recognizes him and is surprised because she heard that he went to England. She becomes friendly and wants him to stay, to even go to The Eagle with her, but he declines. He wants to leave but she cajoles him to stay. As Ruby snuggles into his arms, Barnabas bares his teeth and prepares to bite her neck.

Act IV

Ruby screams and pulls away as Barnabas is biting her neck. She accuses him of attacking other women in town. As she backs away from him, she falls off of the dock and into the water. Nathan and Millicent continue to search in the woods for Sarah. Barnabas finds Sarah when he returns to the mausoleum. She is at first comforted to see him, then horrified when she sees his bloody face and runs off into the night. A rooster crows; it is dawn and Barnabas is unable to go after his sister.

Memorable quotes[]

Millicent: I had no idea your intentions were so honorable!

Millicent (to Nathan): You do have sense of humor, sir. I understand that amounts to a character defect in any serious relationship.

Millicent (to Nathan): You make me do things I should not do.

Ruby Tate (to Barnabas): Don't do things you should do. That's the way I live my life. You should try it.

Dramatis personae[]

Background information and notes[]

Production[]

Story[]

  • Chronologically, Ruby Tate becomes the first character to be attacked on-screen by Barnabas because of his desire for blood.
  • The Eagle is mentioned for the first time, which is the bar that will become the Blue Whale in later periods.
  • First appearance of Barnabas's wolf's-head cane in this time period (so also the first appearance in chronological time).
  • There was an eclipse on January 20-21, 1795 that was visible from the East Coast of North America. (Unfortunately, yesterday's episode established that this takes place in January 1796. There was a penumbral lunar eclipse on January 24, 1796, but it was invisible to the naked eye.)
  • Joshua is in Portsmouth.
  • Reverend Bland, who "looks like a duck," wrote a whole sermon about Ruby Tate.
  • INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Barnabas: Jeremiah.
  • TIMELINE: Millicent saw Barnabas "just a day or two before" he "left for England."

Bloopers and continuity errors[]

  • Joel Crothers flubs a line in Act I: "You know, I'm not promised to them [the navy] to life...for life."
  • In Act I, as Nathan and Millicent are talking about Nathan's employment after they are married, there is a good amount of off-stage noise.
  • Ruby Tate is an incredibly indiscreet prostitute. Even gentlemen who aren't vampires pretending to be in England don't generally want the world and his wife to know they've been hanging around with ladies of the night.
  • Throughout the scene on the docks, there is often a loud hissing noise, probably the fog machine.
  • When Barnabas and Ruby are talking, the camera cuts to a close-up of Ruby but focuses mistakenly on her neck, then quickly moves to her face. [One might argue the camera deliberately focused on her neck to indicate Barnabas's interest in it, but the quick and jerky camera movement suggests otherwise.]

External Links []

Dark Shadows - Episode 414 on the IMDb

Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 414 - That Thing You Do

Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 414: Walks the night

Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 414: 1/25/68

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