Dark Shadows: 212

"My name is Victoria Winters. Night is drawing nearer and nearer to Collinwood, and the man who has disappeared into another night, has not been found. But out of the falling dusk, another man has come – a stranger who is not a stranger. A man with a face long familiar to those that live at Collinwood. A man who has come a great distance, but who still bears deep within him a soul shaped by the far country from which he came."

- Victoria Winters

Synopsis
Elizabeth meets her new cousin, Barnabas Collins. She has never heard of this long-lost relative and is amazed by how much he resembles the Barnabas Collins whose portrait hangs in the foyer at Collinwood. The living Barnabas even wears the same black, signet ring and carries the same wolf’s-head cane that the man in the portrait does. Barnabas tells Elizabeth that he is a direct descendent of the Barnabas Collins who lived in the 18th century. His family moved to England several generations ago, and as it stands, he is the last of the British branch of the family. He has come to Collinsport to find his roots.

Elizabeth is incredibly excited by all of this and is even further amazed when Barnabas demonstrates an uncanny knowledge of the Collins family history. He tells her that he grew up hearing stories about the Collins family history and had intimate knowledge of every detail of his ancestry.

Victoria Winters enters the room and Elizabeth introduces her to Barnabas. Barnabas is instantly enamored with Vicki and begins flirting with her. After talking for a short bit, Barnabas excuses himself and says that he is off to explore the town.

He arrives later at the Old House – the original family mansion. However, the house has not been used in almost a century and is in shambles. As he enters, he finds young David Collins playing on the staircase. When David first notices Barnabas, he thinks that he is seeing a ghost, but is disappointed to discover that his ghost is really just his new cousin from England. Barnabas and David speak for a little while, and David shows Barnabas the portrait of Josette Collins, an 18th century ancestor, hanging above the mantle in the living room. Barnabas sends David back to Collinwood while he remains behind in the Old House. He begins speaking to the portrait of Josette. It becomes obvious that Barnabas knew this woman very intimately at some point in his past. Shouting to an empty room, Barnabas boldly proclaims himself the new master of the Old House.

Notes & Trivia

 * This episode is featured on the VHS Dark Shadows Collector's Series (Volume 42) and the DVD Dark Shadows Collection (Volume 1), disk 1.


 * Although it is fairly obvious, it should be noted that Barnabas is lying to Elizabeth about his personal history in this episode. He is not a descendent of the original Barnabas Collins. He, in fact, is the original Barnabas Collins. There is no extended family living abroad in England, and Barnabas' knowledge of the Collins family history comes from personal experience – not from studying family journals as he claims.


 * When comparing the similarities of himself and his ancestor, Barnabas remarks, "The Collins blood always had a certain persistent strength". This is certainly true, as many members of the family down through the ages carry with them similar physical characteristics. Outside the continuity of the show, the reason behind this is because many of the actors from Dark Shadows portray their own ancestors during various flashback periods.


 * Even though he proclaims ownership of the Old House in this episode, Barnabas won't officially move into the home until episode 220.

Bloopers and Changes

 * Continuity: In episode 210, Barnabas’ black, signet ring is seen on his left hand. In this episode, it is now on his right hand, and will remain so fairly consistently throughout the remainder of the series. The portrait of Barnabas Collins shows the ring displayed on his right hand.


 * Continuity: Barnabas appears to show great fondness for Collinwood, as if he lived there for a very long time. In retrospect, Barnabas had only a scant familiarity with Collinwood. As later episodes will show, the main house of Collinwood had just been built at the time that Barnabas first became a vampire.


 * Continuity: When speaking of Josette Collins, Barnabas refers to her as "our ancestor from over a hundred years ago". Josette Collins died in 1796, making her relative age closer to 200 years ago, than 100. In the original continuity, Josette lived until well into the 1800's, but this fact is retroactively altered in later episodes.


 * Dialogue: David Henesy stammers over his lines quite a bit in his initial conversation with Barnabas Collins.

Quotes
"The Collins blood always had a certain persistent strength."

- Barnabas Collins

"I've always loved Collinwood. It's just as I remember it."

- Barnabas Collins

"And I wouldn't be a Collins if I didn't recognize in my blood... in my soul... My roots are here... and perhaps my destiny."

- Barnabas Collins

"The name Victoria is so beautiful I couldn't possibly surrender a syllable of it."

- Barnabas Collins