This week's Daybook entries cut a wide swath through the history of Collinsport. The week began in 1970 as, appropriately enough, Quentin and Julia discover the secrets of time travel. From there, the series begins to skip like a rock across a pond to 1795, 1968 and 1967. The tie that binds these episodes together this week is actress Grayson Hall, which should come as no surprise. With 475 episodes of DARK SHADOWS under her belt, only one other actor managed to make more appearances: Jonathan Frid.
Unlike Frid, though, Hall got to relax and let her hair down once in a while. While she played at least six characters on DARK SHADOWS (more if we count the two feature films), we only see two of them in this week's recap. Luckily, they're her best roles: Julua Hoffman and Magda Rakosi. A word of caution before you proceed: If you visit all five links to this week's write ups, don't be surprised if you wind of with the song "Pleasant Valley Sunday" stuck in your head. Don't say we didn't warn you.
Aug. 14, 1970, Episode 1085
"At the heart of what is so often the most dismissed and unpopular section of the series is a story that is the quintessence of DARK SHADOWS and, in many ways, brazenly defiant of its shopworn conventions. Perhaps more than any other storyline, this one is devoted -- with a very tight focus -- to the supernatural." LINK
Aug. 15, 1969, Episode 826"With a cast of nine, 826 is packed with both players and excitement. And yet, it has a strange intimacy; the only speaking parts are Johnny, Magada, and Szandor. Interesting to note that many of the gypsies should seem familiar." LINK
Aug. 16, 1968, Episode 565
"It’s also a good opportunity to contrast Vicki and Julia. Because of Julia’s age, angularity, and more than occasional severity, we discount her too easily for the show’s leading lady. No, the story does not revolve around her, but it is through her mortal eyes that we see much of the action unfold. Her sense of heroism is unlocked by the story. Her moral compass, realigned by it." LINK
Aug. 17, 1970, Episode 1084
"There are so many metrics for change in DARK SHADOWS (and the culture) in a four year span, and 1084 is as vivid as any of them. The 1966 show begins with sweaty businessmen, Brill-creamed and boozing, in skinny ties, holding court over missing pens in the drawing room. From there, we wind up with a darkly flirtatious Julia Hoffman, at Collinwood irrespective of Barnabas, confronting a leather tunic-wearing, long-haired astrologer about music from the future. And they’re the stars of the show right now! If there is any better argument against entropy, this is it. " LINK
Aug. 18, 1967, Episode 306
"This episode shows us Julia in one of her earliest forms. Although she doesn't stay this way for the duration of the show, it's easy to think of her almost exclusively in the mode she occupies in this episode. And why not? In her, Barnabas has both a close friend and a deadly enemy. It takes a vampire soap opera to give us a "real world" example of Inspector Clouseau and Kato in their never ending battle of loyalty and distanced disregard." LINK
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