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884
Number

873

Timeline

1897

Narrator

Joan Bennett

Writer

Violet Welles

Director

Henry Kaplan

Broadcast

November 13, 1969
(Thursday)

Recorded

October 27, 1969
(Monday)

Video

Complete: Disc 91
Collection 17: Disc 3

884 Gallery
We have 65 images of Dark Shadows 884

Kitty fades away into the portrait of Josette.

Synopsis

Collinwood at the turn of the century. A young woman blessed, or cursed, with second sight has seen a fire raging in a studio that Count Petofi and the demon Garth Blackwood are locked in a death struggle. And in the same inferno, she has seen the portrait of Quentin Collins. And now the flames have died, and Barnabas Collins searches among the ashes to find which lives have ended and which have changed forever.

Barnabas goes to Tate's Studio and searches though the ruins for the portrait. He finds Petofi's glasses, and believes that they are proof that Petofi and the jailer are dead. Charles blames Barnabas and everyone connected to him and Quentin for the destruction of his studio and his paintings. Barnabas begs him to continue painting portraits, in particular another portrait of Quentin.

Trask is still locked in Quentin's old room in the West Wing as the last candle begins to die out. He remembers how he used to lock the children of his school in a dark closet as a punishment and believes he will go mad. Judith calls on the telephone and tells Trask she will not be the one to kill him. She tells him of a surprise she left for him behind the drapes. It is the portrait of Amanda Harris.

Quentin arrives at the Hotel in New York and finds Amanda Harris , who is intent to pick up where their relationship left off. Quentin despondantly tells her they cannot be together unless he finds his portrait because of what he is.

Kitty tells Judith she plans to break her engagement with Edward and leave Collinwood forever. Judith tells her that she wishes they could be sisters, but Kitty is insistent that she must leave to escape all she has endured and remain Kitty Soames. Barnabas arrives and she tells him she plans to leave, but Josette takes over and professes her love. Barnabas asks her to marry him tonight, and she agrees.

Trask begs Minerva to come to him or let him come to her as Judith had taken away all ways of his escape, including death. Judith phones Trask again and tells him something very valuable is in the desk. He finds a gun.

Barnabas tells Judith that he and Kitty are to marry. Judith protests, but he is insistent that they will leave Collinwood forever, together. Josette waits for Barnabas.

At the Studio, Barnabas finds a note from Charles telling of his new life away from Collinsport. He expresses his regrets, but he and the portrait of Quentin are gone.

Judith phones Trask one last time and gets no answer. In the room we see Trask laying in the chair dead. It is not Quentin's skeleton found in the sealed off room in 1969, but that of the Reverend Gregory Trask.

At Josette's room in the Old House , Kitty struggles against Josette to remain in control. Josette calls out to Barnabas and he rushes to her. She puts on Josette's wedding dress and fades into the portrait .

Memorable quotes

Judith (to Kitty): I'm sorry we won't be sisters. I admire people who can face the truth and do something about it.

Trask: Judith, you must let me out!
Judith: How familiar that sounds! I used to say it every day at the sanitarium...but they wouldn't listen to me. You arranged that. So now I don't have to listen to you, do I, Gregory?

Dramatis personae

Background information and notes

Production

Story

  • Mrs. Curry's death is mentioned (she was also mentioned in 879).
  • Judith goes to the Carriage House.
  • Gregory destroys/wrecks the portrait of Amanda Harris. In 910 and 912 it is shown to be very much intact. However, it has been established in 820 that Charles painted multiple pictures of Amanda. In 912, Julia confirms that there were indeed multiple Tate portraits of Amanda. The two completed portraits of Amanda that appear are exactly alike, so apparently Charles was not inspired to show her in different poses or with different expressions.
  • GHOSTWATCH: Josette's spirit speaks to Kitty.
  • INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Barnabas: This was Petofi's; Gregory: Everlasting darkness; Kitty: I'm not her.
  • TIMELINE: Charles arranges to begin painting another portrait of Quentin tonight at 10pm. 4:30am: Judith writes a note. Judith instructs Tim to remove the bricks and board up the entrance to Quentin's room tomorrow. Barnabas and Kitty are to marry this evening. Kitty's luggage has been in the Collinwood foyer for hours.

Bloopers and continuity errors

  • Quentin's gramophone is now in the room with Gregory despite it being in the drawing room in 880 after the room was bricked up. [Addendum: For continuity's sake, the gramophone needs to be there to show back up in 1969 (even though the dead body is no longer Quentin). That still does not resolve the continuity error of its being in the drawing room in 880, however.] [Maybe there are 2 of them.]
  • One camera has a permanent red dot that hovers on the far left side of the screen 1/3 of the way down from the top.
  • In the teaser, the camera in the cottage pulls back too far and you can see a studio light.
  • While Barnabas and Charles talk about Quentin's portrait in the wreckage of the studio, there are loud shuffling and banging noises offstage.
  • When Barnabas confronts Kitty in Josette's bedroom in the Old House, he says, "That's why your bags were packed, weren't they? You were running away." But Kitty's bags are at Collinwood, and Barnabas was not there to see them.
  • Jonathan Frid flubs his line when Kitty insists he let her go: "To go among strangers...well, no one will love you nor you or Kitty or Josette."

External Links 

Dark Shadows - Episode 884 on the IMDb

Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 884 - Widow's Hell

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