Eve-ill Incarnate

EPISODES 591-605

Been a while since I last visited the gloomy and campy town of Collinsport. Better get back on track! Go go go!

Experiment # 1 Failed

*The science club goes through with the experiment with Carolyn as the provider of the life source. It doesn't go well and she dies in the process (well, actually after the process). Adam goes rampant with rage and undead testosterone. But wait a second, where did Carolyn's body go??

*Nicholas has apparently revived her off-screen and she doesn't remember anything except that the experiment was a failure. It's nice, we like her, don't wanna see her go. Barnabas is happy too but he doesn't say so in so many words.. Or gestures.. I dunno, maybe he isn't happy.  Least, he doesn't have to explain why she happened to die a bit during a very strange operation to the family. Moving on..

*Adam is scared for Carolyn's life after witnessing the pain the experiment caused, so he stops being obsessed about her (and when I say stops, I mean very briefly) and lets Nicholas choose another ripe, juicy life force for the bride. Makes me wonder how long before the corpse goes all icky and decayed (but it's probably the summer talking. Seriously, how hot is it right now!!).

Danielle is vicious even as a ghost

*Because in the gloomy and campy town of Collinsport women are rare (Vicki, Maggie, Carolyn, Liz, Julia, Mrs Johnson, the sassy black nurse), Nicholas reaches out all the way to the other world via a séance to summon the spirit of a fictitious/historical character, Danielle Rogét!!!! She was this evil evil women and  logically enough, Nicholas offers her another chance to live. (Carolyn was also present at the séance, probably because it's done better with a mortal. The whole thing is eternal sunshined from her mind by Nicholas afterwards).

Danielle/Leona

*The same night, Danielle in an updated outfit arrives at the Old House as a volunteer to the experiment. She introduces herself as Leona Eltridge. Her mysterious appearance causes some major WTF among Barnabas & co., so brilliant Professor Stokes is called in to interrogate the woman. She claims to be a friend of Doctor Lang's and wants to be involved cause she's dying from a lethal disease. Her arguments were so valid that even I was about to go aww. But then she turns all murderous when alone, claiming the first thing she'll do in her new body is to kill them all. Oh, by the way she has like 24 hours to live in this corporeal form before she's transformed into the new body.

*So down to the cellar we go and the experiment starts for the 30th time. Even Julia is bored out of her mind that she pushes the buttons half heartedly (For some reason I have this image of her doing the experiment with rollers on her hair and a beauty mask but I guess that wasn't really what happened). This time, things go well and Danielle Rogét/Leona Eltridge dies... long live EVE!!! Not so subtle with the Biblical connotations, huh?

Eve is born!

*Eve wakes up dressed as a complete femme fatale. She is no whimpering simpleton like Adam was once; she even finds the irony in Adam's name, so teaching her tricks is off the list. Aside from the slight amnesia concerning her identity, she functions as a human being perfectly. She plays the fool to the others and already has Adam wrapped around her finger. On the night of her birth/rebirth, at Josette's room (where women involved in the experiment are being strategically placed to rest), the curtains begin to blow and the chandelier shake. Eve gets up and goes "I remember you.. So you've followed me here.. No I will not go back with you.. somethingfrenchfrench.. I AM ALIIVEE!" and I was thrilled by something out of the blue happening. Actually I was very anxious to find out whether it was Josette she was speaking to. Maybe they were friends in their lives? Or enemies?? Or better yet lesbian lovers!?! And Josette has been known to interfere with the evil forces' plans before. Also, hello Eve did speak French.

It's séance time in the Old House

*Meanwhile Prof. Stokes, not convinced with her answers, has been busy trying to uncover the mystery of Leona Eltridge. He figures it is hidden in the letters and Leona Eltridge is just an anagram for Danielle Rogét, the infamous uber bitch of the 18th century. Barnabas and Julia don't buy it but give the benefit of the doubt anyway. It takes a bit more to convince Adam but he too is somewhat suspicious of Eve because she didn't turn out to be what he'd expected. Eve makes clear she doesn't take shit from anyone when Barnabas and Stokes try to question her. Barnabas & Co are also visited by that chandelier-shaking presence and it leads them to the cellar where they discover Leona's dead body gone!!! After letting Adam and Eve leave the town (that was the deal), Stokes, Barnabas and Julia hold yet another séance and contact the spirit of a man named Phillippe Cordier, one of Danielle's vengeful ex-lovers. He turns out to be the mystery ghost (so much for the lesbian lovers) and possesses Barnabas to tell his tale. He wants to kill the man who loves Danielle.

Choke a little!

*Adam and Eve have not really left town and are staying at Nicholas' place. Their honeymoon is interrupted when Phillippe Cordier's spirit bursts in and chokes Adam, which Barnabas also feels due to their mutual life-force binding. Nicholas easily kicks the spirit's spirit ass, so it was a bit of an half-arsed excitement. Barnabas fears if Nicholas has control of Adam and his mate, the danger is greater than ever. And I'm still rooting for my Josette idea, in vain.

Nicholas plays mind tricks on Harry

*There's this minor but complicated thing concerning Harry Johnson, which I think they did just to give the actor something to do. If I'm not mistaken, it goes like: Carolyn asks Harry to spy on the Old House to find out what happened to Adam. He eavesdrops on Barnabas & Julia plotting Eve's murder. Then, he goes to Nicholas and attempts to sell this information. Nicholas uses some magic tricks to scare him shitless and confess whatever he knows, free of charge, then erase this memory. Harry returns to Collinwood empty handed. And I am rather indifferent.

PMS'ing already?

*Meanwhile, Adam and Eve go through a rough patch in their "marriage". Eve needs her own space and she is bothered by Adam's domineering qualities. In return, Adam is annoyed by Eve cockblocking him, so he solves this mess by locking Eve up in the cellar of Nicholas' house, where the séance to summon Danielle Rogét took place. Eve throws a good hissy fit, pointing that undead female outbursts are very similar to regular female outbursts.

*Let's not forget about Maggie. During the complex web of drama going round in the town, Maggie was locked within the Collins Mausoleum by Willie, as she was aware of what Barnabas did to her months ago. Julia tries to hypnotize her again but probably because she over-did it, it doesn't work this time. Then one day when Willie was out, David -playing at the cemetery as he's the creepily mischievous one- finds Maggie in the hidden chamber and frees her. Upon discovering this, Willie and Barnabas go insane trying to locate her.

Maggie walks in on a scary affair

*Maggie rushes to her boyfriend Joe's place, just in time to catch Angelique feasting on him. A classic soap moment. I was looking forward to a showdown with Maggie fighting for her man but she decides it's better if she, well, fainted. The vampire vanishes and Maggie says, after coming to herself, that she understands why Joe couldn't fight her influence, now that she knows about vampires and all. They agree to get on a car and drive away until the town is but a small light in the distance but a knock on the door interrupt their plans. Later, Barnabas and Willie pay a visit to Maggie's house and are shocked to see her all normal again, as are we. She seems to remember nothing. When they leave, they suspect that Nicholas has something to do with it.. and they are right. Knock on the door = Nicholas. But they can't put their finger on as to why he would do such a thing. They suspect an ulterior motive and I'd doubt their sanity if they didn't.

Nicholas lifts Angelique up like a cat

*Later, Nicholas finally and literally catches Angelique in act with Jeff Clark (It must be the "uncovering secret affairs" week) and it's a lot more exciting than Maggie & Joe's thing. First he cleans up the mess by removing his fang-wounds, as well as memories. Woo-hoo he's free. As Angelique waits for her impending punishment, Nicholas for some wicked reason, offers her something that she can neither believe nor refuse: Barnabas!

Roger's had enough of Liz's morbidity

*So what about the residents of Collinwood? Let me think. Liz is at the brink of insanity with her death-obsession. She even had a model of her dream tomb done, which frightens Vicki and angers Roger so he goes on and destroys the thing. Roger was never the type to handle things gently. Then, they find out that Liz has sneaked out as the rest of the house was busy bickering. Jeff and Roger go out to look for her and as a twist of fate, Jeff finds her lying unconscious over Peter Bradford's grave. However, Jeff doesn't have much time to evaluate how he might or might not be Peter Bradford reincarnated as he carries Liz back to Collinwood. Once there, Vicki realizes that Liz is dead!!!! (Although, Joan Bennett was visibly breathing in and out like it's nobody's business)

Dead; Alive?

*But let's not get so boo-hooey yet! Remember what Liz's worst fear was? Seeming to die and be buried alive. Well, just like she's predicted she comes to life after some time and goes "Told you so, told you so". Even Julia is amazed by her revival but then again she's known to be wrong before when it comes to pulse-checking. Liz is taken to her room without further investigation but I'd be hanging on to that model of a tomb. This curse is getting old, I want the old strong Liz back. 

*The good side of Liz's situation was, (also thanks to Nicholas getting Angelique off of Jeff) Vicki and Jeff kiss and make up. Though can't say it's a happy occasion for Barnabas for he dramatically turns around and walks away upon seeing the couple.

Mission Very Impossible

*Finally the big plot point: Barnabas, Julia and Stokes set out to destroy Eve, whom by now they all know is evil incarnate. Before the big day, Julia has a prophetic dream in which Barnabas is bitten on the neck and dies. She wakes up screaming (I had to turn the volume down because I had the earphones on and the risk of going deaf was rather high) but the next day Barnabas doesn't really pay much attention to the dream. So, Stokes visits Nicholas' house with a lame excuse and maps the structure. As the trio makes their plans, Nicholas watches them from his magic mirror. Wanting to play along, he accepts Barnabas' invitation to the Old House for a small gathering that night. Then, Barnabas makes up a reason to leave the party and sneak into Nicholas' house as Julia and Stokes keep Nicholas busy at the Old House. He goes into the room where they suspected Eve stays in. Barnabas takes out the hypodermic needle containing one of Julia's famous kill-a-man-without-a-trace mixes. He's ready to make the move but what does he see when he removes the covers? A bed stuffed with pillows! It's a trap! He should run, run now! But he turns around and comes face to face with his worst enemy: Angelique!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Angelique!

*

Notes..Notes..Notes..

*It turns out David already knew about Adam hiding in the West Wing; they were even buddies. It's sort of a cheap way out but the actor David Henesy must have had some heavy school work to deal with then, so maybe "he was already there all along" sounds like an easy way to deal with his absence. But then again, wasn't his 1795 character also retconned into the story in a similar way?

*Today I've realized that my blog is featured on the two fellow Dark Shadow websites. One is The Collinsport Historical Society which I've been following for some time and covers a wide range of Dark Shadow related material -most of which are rare and original- from the original show and feature films and up to the remake and the new Tim Burton film (which I think opens today in Istanbul btw).  The other is The Collins Foundation. I wasn't aware of this one til today but it's apparently active since April so I am not that out of the loop here. I'm yet to dig in but from what I gather so far, we're on a similar watching marathon. So, good luck! And thanks for the mentions~
There are also really fun, mostly visual Dark Shadow related tumblrs out there as well. I'm sort of avoiding them for they involve spoilers but it's great that a show has such a cult community, although I'm just a newbie myself.


Cheers//