441

← 441 →
Number	435
Timeline	1796
Narrator	Joan Bennett
Writer	Gordon Russell
Director	Lela Swift
Broadcast	March 4, 1968 (day)
Recorded	February 27, 1968 (day)
Video	Complete: Disc 47 Collection 6: Disc 3
We have 7 images of Dark Shadows 441

In a dream, Abigail tells Reverend Trask that there is evil at the Old House which he must destroy.

Synopsis

Teaser

A séance has been held in the great house of Collinwood, a séance which has suspended time and space, and sent one woman on an uncertain and frightening journey into the past, back to the year 1795. There in the village of Collinsport, Victoria Winters has been unjustly condemned as a witch. The man responsible for condemning her now lives for the time she will hang. He is unaware that the time will never come, for he will soon become the victim of a fate worse than death.

Reverend Trask returns to his room, determined not to show fear to the witch. Once in his room, he sees the body of Maude Browning on his bed.

Act I

Nathan Forbes knocks at the door, wanting to speak with Trask. Trask hastily covers the body with a sheet, and tells Forbes to go away, but Nathan enters anyway. He tells Trask he has a letter that needs to be delivered to Millicent Collins first thing in the morning, and since he is not welcome at Collinwood, he needs someone to deliver it, but Trask tells Nathan he can not help him. Nathan sees a woman's arm beneath the sheet on Trask's bed. Thinking Trask is "entertaining", he goes to leave, but Trask stops him, and tells him the woman is dead. Nathan removes the sheet and sees that it is Maude, and that she has been strangled. Trask insists he had nothing to do with her death, and pleads with Nathan to help him. Nathan says he is willing to help him... if the price is right.

Act II

Trask wants Nathan to remove the body. Nathan tells him that he will do so once Trask delivers the letter to Millicent. But Trask says the body has to be moved tonight. Nathan leaves the letter with Trask while he goes to make arrangements to move the body.

At Collinwood, Millicent is dealing out the Tarot Cards in the drawing room. Naomi Collins enters, and Millicent explains to her what the cards show: that she will not rest until Nathan Forbes is dead.

Act III

There is a knock at the front door, and Naomi goes to answer it. It is Reverend Trask, wanting to speak to Millicent. Naomi insists that she be present when he speaks to Millicent. Trask says he has been asked to deliver a letter to her from Nathan Forbes. Naomi takes and tears up the letter, saying Nathan is not allowed on the estate, and neither are his letters. Millicent's face shows shock at the letter being torn up, but she says she agrees completely with Naomi that Nathan is not welcome. After Trask leaves, Naomi goes to the study, and Millicent begins to read pieces of the letter.

Act IV

Back in his room, Trask is asleep on his bed. He dreams of a woman he thinks is Abigail Collins calling him. Trask finds himself in a strange room as the voice tells him she knows the secret. The voice beckons him to a door, telling him to open it. When he does, he sees Maude Browning, and he screams. "Why didn't you let me rest?" she asks. She tells him they threw her in the water, and soon, everyone will know she was found in his room. Trask turns away and calls out to Abigail, telling her not to think the worst of him as he didn't kill the girl. Abigail appears and tells him she knows the deepest, darkest secret of the witch. The secret can only be destroyed by Trask himself, and it will take great inner strength and personal risk. Abigail tells him to go to the Old House because that is where he will learn the secret of the witch.

Dramatis personae

• Joan Bennett as Naomi Collins
• Jerry Lacy as Reverend Trask
• Joel Crothers as Nathan Forbes
• Nancy Barrett as Millicent Collins
• Clarice Blackburn as Abigail Collins
• Vala Clifton as Maude Browning

Background information and notes

Production

• Final appearance of actress Vala Clifton. The charcter of Maude Browning will be briefly seen in 512 played by Maggie Benson.
• The Petofi box is on the writing table of the Collinwood drawing room. Previously it has been in Elizabeth Stoddard's room (158) and in the hallway outside Vicki's room (2).

Story

• DREAM SEQUENCE: Reverend Trask dreams about Abigail and Maude.
• INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Reverend Trask: Frightened by the witch (reprised from the previous episode).
• TAROT CARDS: Millicent: The Tower of Destruction, The Star, The Moon, The Chariot, The Lover, The Devil, The High Priestess.
• TIMELINE: Nathan's letter must be delivered to Millicent tomorrow morning (it's the early hours of this day, so later on in this same day). 10am: Abigail talks to Reverend Trask in a dream.

Bloopers and continuity errors

• Jerry Lacy forgets his lines while talking to Nathan: "I will not allow my... my name to be..." (at this point, Lacy glances at the teleprompter) "...I will not be the subject of vicious gossip."
• The card at the top of Millicent's reading, which she indicates as The High Priestess, is in fact the Queen of Cups (Reine des Coupes).

External Links 

Dark Shadows - Episode 441 on the IMDb

Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 441 - Weekend at Maudie's