Imagine a TV show so popular, so powerful, that it just wouldn't die. A somber, captivating epic of a series about a rich, family, living in Maine, by the sea, in a gigantic, old House. Originally, Dark Shadows revolved around Victoria Winters, who landed a job with the tormented Collins family as a governess. Victoria is taken in and treated like she was one of their own. Perhaps she was. We'll never know the answer to that question. Get used to it, because the more you watch this show, the more unanswered questions there are. Sometimes intentional, but often not. Yet, inept qualities such as that just add to the mystery. And did I mention how funny it is when someone screws up their lines?. this once black and white soap was once more of a Gothic-romantic thriller than anything. Soon, ratings would prove that poor Vickie and her problems just wasn't cutting it. Things needed to be spiced up a bit. Maybe a little Horror wouldn't hurt. The most successful storyline to date, concerned Laura Collins: Immortal phoenix. Dark Shadows was finally headed in the right direction. But now that Laura is dead, now what? Enter Barnabas Collins.
Vampire with a conscience: Nobody at Collinwood really cares for Willie Loomis, but Willie is about to do that family a bigger service than they will ever know. It just doesn't start out that way. For nearly 200 years, a vampire lay, chained in his coffin, in the family mausoleum, because his father couldn't bare to stake him. Driven by greed and ignorance, Willie accidentally releases this long-dead family secret. Barnabas quickly makes Willie his slave, and heads to Collinwood to introduce himself as "a cousin from England". Chaos ensues, to say the least. We are eventually treated to a 1795 flashback of Barnaba's origin, proving he wasn't always vicious. Introducing Angelique, the witch with a broken heart that would nearly destroy the Collins' family. Barnabas' wife did this to him.
Adam & Evil: Everyone knows that if you lend out your life-force in order to bring a corpse (Adam) to life, you'll die. But if you're a vampire, the curse is drained from you. The Frankenstein ripoff, Adam, who is nothing more than an over-grown infant, only knows one thing. He hates Barnabas. But that's another story. Angelique is back, and has put a new curse into motion in order to re-vamp Barnabas. Ultimately backfiring on her in the worst way. Her boss, Warlock, Nicholas Blair has other plans, involving Adam... and world-domination.
Werewolf + Quentin's Ghost = 1897: Since Barnabas killed Angelique, things have been rather calm. Other than that werewolf that's been mauling people, Quentin Collins ghost has been wreaking havoc. Being the nice guy he is, Barnabas goes to 1897 to find out what all the fuss is about, and discover the origin of the werewolf/Quentin. Of course, Barnabas is made a vampire again. We got gypsy curses, Dorian Gray-ripoff solutions, the return of Laura Collins. And Angelique is back!
The Other Side: Barnabas stumbles upon a parallel universe. He decides to pay an extended visit to the other side, mainly to make sure he's no longer a threat to those he cares about. I guess he doesn't care about the Parllel Collins'. And why should he? Who the hell are they, anyway? After being flung from parallel time, into future real time, Barnabas discovers Collinwood demolished. A new ghost now haunts these grounds. The ghost of Gerard Stiles.
The Head: In what is known as the real finale of the show, 1840 is when Gerard Stiles lived. A friend of the original Quentin Collins. A decent guy who would become possessed by Judah Zachary. The man who will seek vengeance on the Collins family from beyond the grave. And ironically, the man who made Angelique a witch. So, Barnabas travels to 1840, with a mission; save Collinwood from destruction, without getting staked by current family. As long as Angelique doesn't complicate things, things should go smoothly. Not the longest. Truly the most epic of all the story lines, Culminating in a bittersweet reconciliation.
Parallel Lottery Ripoff: It was actually pretty good, but it never should have ended here. No Barnabas, no Angelique, no Quentin. Almost like a spin off. All is at peace with the real Collinwood. Just one loose end. It may not have gone the way I wanted it to, or ended the way I wanted, but Dark Shadows went out gracefully. All is at peace at Collinwood... For now.
And there you have it. The greatest story ever told. I love everything about this show, but my favorite character has always been Angelique. Played by the most beautiful woman in the world, Angelique was the driving force behind the show's popularity. A hopeless romantic driven to the point of unholy evil, with the occasional glimpse of compassion. Angelique's ability to make Barnabas, the villain, into a swell guy, would catapult this show into territory where no Soap Opera was ever meant to go. Anglique is the absolute worst case scenario of a woman scorned. tormenting her one true love with the vampire curse, for centuries at a time. Not letting him die (or live) because she knows deep in her soul that living without him would be worse than the flames of Hell. The Barnabas-Angelique love-hate relationship would just be one of many reasons this show flourished in the way that it did. Since the show ended in 1971, there has been 2 movies starring the original cast, a revival mini-series from the 90's, and next year, we finally get that big remake, starting it all over again. And recently, it has been brought to my attention that the original DS lives again on CD. You heard me. New episodes! The future looks bright (or dark) for a show that will clearly live forever. Only because we the fans will keep it alive. 10/10
Vampire with a conscience: Nobody at Collinwood really cares for Willie Loomis, but Willie is about to do that family a bigger service than they will ever know. It just doesn't start out that way. For nearly 200 years, a vampire lay, chained in his coffin, in the family mausoleum, because his father couldn't bare to stake him. Driven by greed and ignorance, Willie accidentally releases this long-dead family secret. Barnabas quickly makes Willie his slave, and heads to Collinwood to introduce himself as "a cousin from England". Chaos ensues, to say the least. We are eventually treated to a 1795 flashback of Barnaba's origin, proving he wasn't always vicious. Introducing Angelique, the witch with a broken heart that would nearly destroy the Collins' family. Barnabas' wife did this to him.
Adam & Evil: Everyone knows that if you lend out your life-force in order to bring a corpse (Adam) to life, you'll die. But if you're a vampire, the curse is drained from you. The Frankenstein ripoff, Adam, who is nothing more than an over-grown infant, only knows one thing. He hates Barnabas. But that's another story. Angelique is back, and has put a new curse into motion in order to re-vamp Barnabas. Ultimately backfiring on her in the worst way. Her boss, Warlock, Nicholas Blair has other plans, involving Adam... and world-domination.
Werewolf + Quentin's Ghost = 1897: Since Barnabas killed Angelique, things have been rather calm. Other than that werewolf that's been mauling people, Quentin Collins ghost has been wreaking havoc. Being the nice guy he is, Barnabas goes to 1897 to find out what all the fuss is about, and discover the origin of the werewolf/Quentin. Of course, Barnabas is made a vampire again. We got gypsy curses, Dorian Gray-ripoff solutions, the return of Laura Collins. And Angelique is back!
The Other Side: Barnabas stumbles upon a parallel universe. He decides to pay an extended visit to the other side, mainly to make sure he's no longer a threat to those he cares about. I guess he doesn't care about the Parllel Collins'. And why should he? Who the hell are they, anyway? After being flung from parallel time, into future real time, Barnabas discovers Collinwood demolished. A new ghost now haunts these grounds. The ghost of Gerard Stiles.
The Head: In what is known as the real finale of the show, 1840 is when Gerard Stiles lived. A friend of the original Quentin Collins. A decent guy who would become possessed by Judah Zachary. The man who will seek vengeance on the Collins family from beyond the grave. And ironically, the man who made Angelique a witch. So, Barnabas travels to 1840, with a mission; save Collinwood from destruction, without getting staked by current family. As long as Angelique doesn't complicate things, things should go smoothly. Not the longest. Truly the most epic of all the story lines, Culminating in a bittersweet reconciliation.
Parallel Lottery Ripoff: It was actually pretty good, but it never should have ended here. No Barnabas, no Angelique, no Quentin. Almost like a spin off. All is at peace with the real Collinwood. Just one loose end. It may not have gone the way I wanted it to, or ended the way I wanted, but Dark Shadows went out gracefully. All is at peace at Collinwood... For now.
And there you have it. The greatest story ever told. I love everything about this show, but my favorite character has always been Angelique. Played by the most beautiful woman in the world, Angelique was the driving force behind the show's popularity. A hopeless romantic driven to the point of unholy evil, with the occasional glimpse of compassion. Angelique's ability to make Barnabas, the villain, into a swell guy, would catapult this show into territory where no Soap Opera was ever meant to go. Anglique is the absolute worst case scenario of a woman scorned. tormenting her one true love with the vampire curse, for centuries at a time. Not letting him die (or live) because she knows deep in her soul that living without him would be worse than the flames of Hell. The Barnabas-Angelique love-hate relationship would just be one of many reasons this show flourished in the way that it did. Since the show ended in 1971, there has been 2 movies starring the original cast, a revival mini-series from the 90's, and next year, we finally get that big remake, starting it all over again. And recently, it has been brought to my attention that the original DS lives again on CD. You heard me. New episodes! The future looks bright (or dark) for a show that will clearly live forever. Only because we the fans will keep it alive. 10/10