Dark Shadows Commentary
@darkshadowscomment.bsky.social
This account is to promote my blog about 1960s vampire soap opera Dark Shadows. Main is acilius.bsky.social.
In which there is a danger Liz will become relevant to the story: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/12/e...
Episode 904: To have fun, like everybody else
Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Joan Bennett) was usually a blocking figure in the first 73 weeks of Dark Shadows, and when the pace of the stories picked up sufficiently that they didn’…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:09 PM
In which there is a danger Liz will become relevant to the story: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/12/e...
In which Mr Nakamura takes the painting to be x-rayed: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/11/e...
Episode 903: Rhinoceros
For eight months, from March through November of 1969, Dark Shadows was a costume drama set in the year 1897. Among the characters we got to know during that period were Amanda Harris (Donna McKech…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:02 PM
In which Mr Nakamura takes the painting to be x-rayed: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/11/e...
In which Joan Bennett gets a chance to do some real acting: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/10/e...
Episode 902: I heard breathing
Heiress Carolyn Stoddard is working for her friends, Megan and Philip Todd, in their antique shop. She goes upstairs to tell Megan that Philip has telephoned. Carolyn hears heavy breathing coming f…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 10, 2025 at 9:10 PM
In which Joan Bennett gets a chance to do some real acting: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/10/e...
In which Carolyn has misread Paul's situation disastrously: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/09/e...
Episode 901: In Collinsport, where your only hope lies
Heiress Carolyn Collins Stoddard thinks that her recently returned father, Paul Stoddard, is mentally ill. She knows that her mother Liz and Liz’ brother Roger are deeply hostile to Paul, and…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:09 PM
In which Carolyn has misread Paul's situation disastrously: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/09/e...
In which the show tackles the question "What would an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE have been like if it were all about a guy who keeps getting picked up in a gay bar?" (Turns out it would have been pretty good!) darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/08/e...
Episode 900: Precious possession
We open with the sight of a man (Dennis Patrick) sitting nervously on a chair placed in the middle of a pentagram marked on a rug. At each point of the pentagram there is a candle. The man is Paul …
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:25 AM
In which the show tackles the question "What would an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE have been like if it were all about a guy who keeps getting picked up in a gay bar?" (Turns out it would have been pretty good!) darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/08/e...
In which David emerges as a leader of the Leviathan cult, raising the possibility that something may happen we haven't seen before: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/04/e...
Episode 898: The keeper of the book
A cult devoted to the service of supernatural beings known as “the Leviathan people” is secretly establishing itself in and around Collinsport, Maine. Antique shop owners Megan and Phil…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 5, 2025 at 1:33 AM
In which David emerges as a leader of the Leviathan cult, raising the possibility that something may happen we haven't seen before: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/04/e...
In which the action depends on four characters, none of whom is suited to the function they are serving in the story: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/03/e...
Episode 897: Restore our flesh and bones
The Trouble with David Yesterday we saw strange and troubled boy David Collins (David Henesy) go to a mysterious cairn in the woods, the ceremonial center of the cult of the Leviathan people, and a…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:24 AM
In which the action depends on four characters, none of whom is suited to the function they are serving in the story: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/03/e...
In which David joins the cult of the Leviathans, and a woman introduces herself as Olivia Corey: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/02/e...
Episode 896: Those who have been hidden shall show themselves
David and the Book Strange and troubled boy David Collins has stolen an old book from an antique shop. He didn’t want the book, but had damaged it slightly and was terrified that he would be …
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:30 PM
In which David joins the cult of the Leviathans, and a woman introduces herself as Olivia Corey: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/02/e...
In which David has the book, and Barnabas takes Philip to the cairn: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/01/e...
Episode 894/ 895: The time of the Leviathan people
Old world gentleman Barnabas Collins has become the leader of a mysterious cult. Antique shop owners Megan and Philip Todd are members of the cult, and they have a magical baby who materialized aft…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:03 PM
In which David has the book, and Barnabas takes Philip to the cairn: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/01/e...
In which Carolyn meets her father and gets a job. David is still afraid of Roger, and Amy is still doing her Creepy Little Kid thing where she looks directly into the camera. darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/28/e...
Episode 893: We serve him now
Heiress Carolyn Collins Stoddard is sitting at a table in the Blue Whale, a tavern. A man who refused to give his name when she caught him trespassing on her property invites himself to sit down wi…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:22 PM
In which Carolyn meets her father and gets a job. David is still afraid of Roger, and Amy is still doing her Creepy Little Kid thing where she looks directly into the camera. darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/28/e...
In which the writers are trying to figure out how they are going to connect the Leviathan arc to the stories and themes that have previously appeared on Dark Shadows: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/26/e...
Episode 892: The chosen room
Old world gentleman Barnabas Collins has given a present to antique shop owners Megan and Philip Todd. It is a wooden box. This box has a strange effect on the Todds, filling them with a mixture of…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:09 PM
In which the writers are trying to figure out how they are going to connect the Leviathan arc to the stories and themes that have previously appeared on Dark Shadows: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/26/e...
In which we explain how time works on Dark Shadows: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/25/e...
Episode 891: The only one there is
About Time Dark Shadows committed itself to supernatural stories in late 1966 and early 1967, when the chief villain was undead blonde fire witch Laura Murdoch Collins. Since the usual laws of natu…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:28 PM
In which we explain how time works on Dark Shadows: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/25/e...
In which Henry Kaplan does not know where to point the camera: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/21/e...
Episode 890: They will be strangers, but you will know them
Like many episodes of Dark Shadows, this one ran long and ended with credits only for the cast and for Dan Curtis Productions. The entry on the Dark Shadows wiki says that the director was Lela Swi…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
In which Henry Kaplan does not know where to point the camera: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/21/e...
In which we have questions about Dr Reeves: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/20/e...
Episode 889: Remember the night
The Departures At the end of 1968 and beginning of 1969, two supernatural menaces were growing in tandem. The malign ghost of Quentin Collins was becoming steadily more powerful until it made the e…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:51 PM
In which we have questions about Dr Reeves: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/20/e...
Reposted by Dark Shadows Commentary
Oh, yes, Satan's credited as "Diabolos" in the credits to avoid too many complaints about what they're showing on daytime TV.
November 19, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Oh, yes, Satan's credited as "Diabolos" in the credits to avoid too many complaints about what they're showing on daytime TV.
In which many who have disappeared are reappearing, though not where you might have expected them to do so: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/19/e...
Episode 888: The place that he disappeared
The Prowler Yesterday, we spent a lot of time watching an unidentifiable man wandering around the estate of Collinwood. We only saw him from the back; he was wearing a dark coat and hat, and had si…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:37 PM
In which many who have disappeared are reappearing, though not where you might have expected them to do so: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/19/e...
In which we return to 1969, where a man in a hat is wandering around looking at things: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/18/e...
Episode 887: The man in the medium-sized black hat
One evening in 1796, time traveler Barnabas Collins has stumbled into a clearing in the woods where he finds a cairn and two hooded figures. He finds himself unable to resist the figures while they…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
In which we return to 1969, where a man in a hat is wandering around looking at things: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/18/e...
In which we have been promised that we are about to see "one of the most terrifying tales ever told," and I try to find clues in the episode as to what that might be. The result is my longest post yet. darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/17/e...
Episode 886: One of the most terrifying tales ever told
In #701, broadcast at the beginning of March 1969, recovering vampire-turned-bumbling protagonist Barnabas Collins was trying to solve some problems his distant cousins were having, and inadvertent…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:26 PM
In which we have been promised that we are about to see "one of the most terrifying tales ever told," and I try to find clues in the episode as to what that might be. The result is my longest post yet. darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/17/e...
Reposted by Dark Shadows Commentary
Images of noir: The Woman in the Window (1944) #Noirvember
November 17, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Images of noir: The Woman in the Window (1944) #Noirvember
In which Barnabas and Josette find themselves back in 1796, on the night when she originally killed herself: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/14/e...
Episode 885: The girl in the portrait
We open with a reprise of yesterday’s closing scene. It is November 1897, and time traveler/ recovering vampire Barnabas Collins is about to be reunited with his lost love, Josette DuPrés, wh…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:06 PM
In which Barnabas and Josette find themselves back in 1796, on the night when she originally killed herself: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/14/e...
In which the show comes to the end of the segment set in the year 1897: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/13/e...
Episode 884: Departure date
It is November 1897, and time traveler/ recovering vampire Barnabas Collins is searching through the burned remains of a cottage recently occupied by famed artist/ criminal lowlife Charles Delaware…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:15 PM
In which the show comes to the end of the segment set in the year 1897: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/13/e...
In which Barnabas is delighted to wake up and find someone else doing his work for him: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/12/e...
Episode 883: The stone of justice
In the parts of Dark Shadows set in 1966 and 1967, the home of artist Sam Evans and his daughter Maggie, The Nicest Girl in Town, was a frequent set. Sam and Maggie were important characters in sev…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:19 PM
In which Barnabas is delighted to wake up and find someone else doing his work for him: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/12/e...
In which Pansy Faye completes the physics, metaphysics, and every other science of the universe in which she lives: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/11/e...
Episode 882: The show must go on. That’s the one and only rule there is.
Many fantastic tales dwell on a sense that dreams have a great power in the world, and so their characters are often afraid of falling asleep. Dark Shadows has several times referenced Edgar Allan …
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:05 PM
In which Pansy Faye completes the physics, metaphysics, and every other science of the universe in which she lives: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/11/e...
In which Petofi doesn't care who falls victim to Garth Blackwood, and Quentin and Pansy share a sweet moment: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/10/e...
Episode 881: Voracious for the future
The dramatic date is November 1897. We open in an abandoned mill on the old North Road in Collinsport, Maine. The late Garth Blackwood, once the keeper of Britain’s Dartmoor Prison, is about …
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:20 PM
In which Petofi doesn't care who falls victim to Garth Blackwood, and Quentin and Pansy share a sweet moment: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/10/e...
In which the mass slaughter that has become the show's customary way of ending a chapter kicks into high gear: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/07/e...
Episode 880: I like all of my stories to have endings
Collinwood: Judith, Trask, Beth, Quentin In November 1897, wronged woman Judith Collins Trask has had her husband, the odious Gregory Trask, bricked up in her brother Quentin’s bedroom. While…
darkshadowscommentary.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:09 PM
In which the mass slaughter that has become the show's customary way of ending a chapter kicks into high gear: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/11/07/e...