652/653

← 652/653 →

Number	644
Timeline	1968
Narrator	Kathryn Leigh Scott
Writer	Gordon Russell
Director	Lela Swift
Broadcast	December 24, 1968 (Tuesday)
Recorded	December 17, 1968 (Tuesday)
Video	Complete: Disc 68 Collection 11: Disc 4

We have 28 images of Dark Shadows 652/653

Elizabeth hires Maggie to be the governess to David and Amy.

Synopsis[]

A dark and sinister night at Collinwood. A sudden, strange disappearance of a young woman has led to a chain reaction of terrifying events. Found unconscious near the old family mausoleum, the mistress of Collinwood has again become the victim of an evil spell which she thought she had overcome, a spell which could end her life at any moment.

Elizabeth decides to hire Maggie as David and Amy's new governess. Joe goes to visit Maggie and they officially end their relationship, but part as friends. Barnabas talks to Amy about what she is afraid of. Amy says she is afraid of the moon, and she does not know why. Barnabas tells Joe and Maggie that Victoria has vanished. Amy sees the pentagram on Joe’s face again. Amy begs Joe not to go into town. Joe hears growling and is attacked by the werewolf in the Cottage.

Memorable quotes[]

Maggie: Joe, the past is dead. I want it to be forgotten.

Joe: Well, it's not so easy for me to forget it. I made life pretty miserable for you for a while.

Barnabas: Why are you afraid?

Amy: I don't know.

Joe: I just knew I couldn't leave unless you and I were at least good friends.

Maggie: We are, Joe. We always will be.

Maggie: What kind of danger?

Amy: I don't know. I just don't know.

Amy: I'm afraid of the moon, Barnabas, and I don't know why!

Dramatis personae[]

Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins
Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans
Joel Crothers as Joe Haskell
Denise Nickerson as Amy Jennings
Alex Stevens as Werewolf (credited as Stunt Coordinator)

Background information and notes[]

Production[]

An expected pre-emption for the Christmas Day basketball game occurred here, which was shown instead of Dark Shadows. This episode is "double numbered" with the previous one (652/653) in order to keep the production numbers balanced with the calendar, i.e. Friday episodes ending in a 5 or 0.
The Collinsport Afghan makes an appearance at the Evans cottage. It was last seen there in 616.
The Ralston Purina lamp appears next to Elizabeth's bed.
When Chris the werewolf attacks Joe, the antique globe lamp with painted roses, seen behind the couch, is dealt what must have been an unintentional, yet fatal blow. When Joel Crothers scrambles behind the couch, the lamp is knocked to the floor and it shatters. When the same scene is restaged in tomorrow’s teaser, the lamp has been replaced by a similar but more generic lamp. It too will be shattered in the scuffle.

Story[]

The time when we see the pentagram, it is on the cheek of the victim; the other times, it was located between the eyes.
SEDATIVE: Barnabas wants Julia to give Elizabeth a stronger sedative. Elizabeth refuses it and reveals she never took the previous one.
TIMELINE: Jeff/Peter went away three weeks ago. Chris is coming to see Amy tomorrow.

Bloopers and continuity errors[]

The main foyer doors to Collinwood do not completely shut.
Denise Nickerson flubs, "You're h... you're back home."
Jonathan Frid flubs a line in Act I: "I...we're going to see that nothing will happen to you."
The set for Chris’s room is placed over the part of the studio floor that was painted in faux flagstone for the closeup of Madame Findley lying dead in Ep 649. Specifically, the floor paint is visible under and around Chris’s bed, near the door, and into the hallway outside the room. A rug hides the edge of the paint, and the bare concrete studio floor is visible on the other side of it.
Joan Bennett has some trouble getting through the line in which Elizabeth says she doesn't want the children to feel alone.
At the end of the first scene in Act I, when Barnabas is about to leave Elizabeth's room to get Dr. Hoffman and call Maggie, there is an off-stage thumping noise and then a clanking noise. There is more off-stage noise in the next scene when Barnabas starts talking to Amy in the drawing room. More off-stage noise (perhaps someone coughing) occurs when Maggie wants to take Amy up to bed and Amy wants to wait until Joe returns.
When Barnabas is talking to Maggie and Joe in the drawing room, there is a long moment toward the end of the scene when no one says anything. Someone obviously was not saying their line. Finally, Maggie says, "Well....I think maybe I should speak with Mrs. Stoddard." That was most likely supposed to be Barnabas's line.