Costume Drama

Episodes #271-280

Liz tells the details of the accidental murder but in a twist of events it's revealed there really wasn't a murder, when Paul's body isn't found in the basement after the police search. It turns out Jason and Paul (wounded but alive after Liz hit him on the head with a firepoker) faked the whole thing and escaped with the money Liz paid Jason for his "help". 

Given 24 hours to leave town, Jason forces Willie to steal from Barnabas' family jewels. But he pushes his luck too far when he discovers and opens Barnabas' coffin against Willie's warnings and is killed right on the spot by the vampire himself. They hide the body in the secret chamber of Collins Tomb.

Dr Woodard (against Dr. Hoffman's wishes) shows Maggie the sketch of Sarah whom Maggie recognizes but once again freaks out at the memory of the captivity.

With the intention of making Vicki the new Josette (but this time with her own will), Barnabas throws a costume party at the Old House for the Collins Family plus, resentfully, Burke. The party turns into another séance.

The definite answer to
everything basement!

Ahh well..so our dear Liz isn't a murderer but because of that badtard (it's a typo but what the heck I'll keep it:) she spent the last 18 years in that house feeling the guilt and the shame. It is also revealed it was her that made the the ghostly weeping sounds in the basement as she cried and cried. I mean I can understand the weeping but how the hell can she echo through Collinwood like that? Oh wait..the ventilation system: the answer to every unexplainable phenomenon in Collinwood. 

Mitzi the husband killer

It was also so much fun seeing a 30 year old Liz in the "murder" flashback, looking mostly the same only with fluffy clothes. She actually looked like a brothel owner named Madame Mitzi but that's my humble opinion. According to the flashback, her husband Paul was a horrible man who was about to run with the family jewels. Liz did the most logical thing one could do and pat him on the head with an iron fire poker. The rest (fraud, blackmail, wedding, Buzz) you know. Anyways, there wasn't much fuss about it as there was no murder and her relationship with Carolyn, who -because of her daddy issues- took it bad at first, got better eventually.

Jason's final close up

The deal with Jason is clear enough as he is dead and all. Before he died though, Jason heard about Barnabas' involvement in Maggie's deal and his plans for Vicki and because he's such a spiteful character, he only used it to mock Vicki obscurely. Then he died as a greedy little badtard. Good!!! However his stupid hat fell from his head in the cellar when they were carrying out the body. It seems like Jason deal won't be closed just yet.

Barnabas dumps the body in
his mother's womb tomb

Also, I have noticed but haven't paid much attention until recently to the opening of the secret chamber in the Collins Tomb. It is the wall that has the tombstone of Naomi Collins, aka Barnabas's mom, that opens up and leads to the secret room. How fitting it is then that someone (presumably his father Joshua) locked and hid Barnabas' vampiric self in there only to be "reborn" again into a new century when Willie found him by going through the same passage. It echoes the story of Uranos burying his children the Titans literally into Gaia. But then again, I might have been mistaken about who locked Barnabas there because it wasn't explained. Nonetheless, it's an undeniable metaphor for uterus. This analogy can be taken further with the current dynamics between Barnabas and Willie considered; afterall Willie is the one who 1)entered the room, 2)cut the chains, 3)released Barnabas.

On the subject of Maggie, there isn't much to say really. But I gotta say that Dr Julia is taking her time with the treatment.

We also officially learn that little ghost girl was Barnabas' sister who died at the age..well the age she appears in her ghost form. Nobody else knows that though, only Barnabas suspects it with some sadness and sweet denial. Wait til he sees her.

Cute as a button

So how to celebrate the troublesome events of the past couple of weeks: A Costume Parteeey!!~ Barnabas rightfully picks each guest's persona and supplies them from his own genuine collection. (I actually wonder how the hell he got hold of those family jewels and dresses, surely he wasn't buried with them? If not so, where have they been kept all these years?) So here's the line-up:

Barnabas as the "ancestor" Barnabas Collins aka himself

Liz as Naomi Collins (Barnabas' mother)

Roger as Joshua Collins (Barnabas' father)

Carolyn as Millicent Collins (a cousin)

Burke as Jeremiah Collins (Josette's husband, Barnabas' archenemy. Also the irony of giving someone who was intent on destroying the family just mere months ago the identity of the Collinsport founder is cute)

Vicki as of course Josette Collins (Barnabas' secret lover)

Because it's at night, David isn't invited or even mentioned. Get ready for some whining the next day!

A Period Séance

So out of nowhere, the air changes in the room. They all feel a presence. Liz, looking like a Barbie doll in her costume, gets poked by something. Roger, of all people, suggests they do a séance and he runs the whole show as if he's been doing it for years. I've been warned about this long time ago by a reader (balance776) and it was indeed funny as hell to watch. This séance was sort of like the parody of the first one, I cracked up especially when Vicki started to get trancy and moaned rather automatically. 

Barnabas is annoyed cause his secret may be exposed by a ghost. 

The episode ends.

I've decided to change format of the entries by making it less recappy and more reviewy. It seemed unnecessary when there's a site like Dark Shadows Wiki that recaps every single episode in great detail. Check it out if you wanna get the details.  And we'll see how this formatting goes~

Cya!