User Reviews

Episode 213 is one of those catch-up ones following a few episodes in the presence of Barnabas. Here, Jason and Elizabeth, as well as Joe, Burke and Carolyn, are all back and involved in more human drama and melodrama on occasion. The interplay between Burke and Carolyn is the highlight here.

One full episode in, and Jonathan Frid has the day off. He's too new to take over as a front burner character, and it creates more intrigue to have the story developed slowly. We still have Jason's blackmail of Elizabeth to deal with so that's what this episode focuses on as he tells Elizabeth that Willie's belongings have disappeared. Roger too has disappeared, not having been seen since he first met Willie, and he never left town. It's just a vacation for actor Louis Edmunds after the exhaustion of wrapping up the Burke Devlin story, just as Elizabeth was absent while Joan Bennett was on vacation as the Laura Collins story culminated.

Joe Haskell makes a return after being absent a bit, and he runs into Burke and Carolyn at the Blue Whale. Carolyn's cool to the men who pretty much dumped her so it will take some damaged control to find out what's on her mind. I like when Nancy Barrett gets front burner work because she reminds me of a fragile heroine from one of those American International Edgar Allan Poe horror film starring Vincent Price, or even from a Hammer film.

Try to tune out the record in the background at the Blue Whale. on sleepless nights after watching a marathon of these, I can't get it out of my head. This episode is more traditional soap opera than the gothic melodrama we've seen with ghosts and phoenixes and whatever Barnabas turns out to be. you can't have young characters on a soap opera without that, so it's a lull but not one without a point.

This episode of "Dark Shadows" has Carolyn as its central focus. She overhears Elizabeth and Jason fighting not once but twice. Elizabeth does what she can to do what she does best: avoid admitting the truth about her past. What happened when Carolyn was but a child, 18 years ago, involving Jason helping Elizabeth get rid of something that would cause her great trouble. Jason waits until Elizabeth evades Carolyn's questions about their arguing, retreating upstairs because she "has a headache"...Jason warns Carolyn to leave well enough alone if she doesn't want to cause her mother harm. Jason has remained a great nuisance in Elizabeth's life, a constant reminder of her past. Writing about each episode, it does seem like I'm repeating myself over and over but with soap operas these story arcs are dragged out to great length as conversations between the likes of Jason and Elizabeth continue episode to episode. Any soap opera fan understands this has always been a formula incorporated during the era of the serial on radio. Stretch and stretch ongoing stories until every single bit of moisture has dried out of them, and so the ongoing blackmail of Jason (and Willie prior to his absence after opening Barnabas' coffin) against Elizabeth, using their former association as the means to exploit her wealth to his advantage, will be such an example. Elizabeth's family and Victoria will continue to wonder why she allows Jason to hang around, and she'll continue to be elusive because it would be revealing to them her ties to an event long-time hidden. Included in the episode is Carolyn's retreat to The Blue Whale to contemplate her life as it exists, hurt by Burke Devlin for using her to get at her family and approached by him after some nudging from Joe to try and apologize. Carolyn admits she was (and still is) in love with Burke while he is sorry and wants to be friends. Joe talks with Carolyn about trying to give Burke a chance, as the two are now friends. The episode goes a long way to emphasize that the history between Joe and Carolyn still rests on their minds, even as both have moved on...Joe talks about meeting Maggie and Carolyn recognizes that he was a catch while she mentions being in love with Burke while lamenting that he isn't with her and Joe understands that all too well.

This episode won't be for Barnabas fans. It steps back a bit from his story to focus on the other characters, returning to Carolyn who was absent when Barnabas was introduced. I can see those who appreciate the Barnabas arc, never much a fan of the prior 200 episodes before him, resisting or rejecting this particular episode, but there is nothing wrong with having multiple character subplots besides just his. While I might prefer Barnabas' story myself, I realize that this is a show with a cast, and Burke appears to be taking the backseat now, considering he was the chief antagonist during the 200 pre-Barnabas era of "Dark Shadows". So giving some love to Carolyn, Joe, and Burke makes sense. Still, I am intrigued by how Barnabas is situated close to Elizabeth's association with Jason, the two arcs separate yet somewhat bound due to Willie.