The 1897 Flashback - A Helping Hand (August-November 1969)
The woman Magda went to see refused to help her, so Magda returns to Collinsport with a powerful gypsy talisman, the Hand of Count Petofi. Having been taken from the powerful warlock in exchange for curing him of the werewolf curse, Magda is determined to use it to cure Quentin. But the Hand is impossible to control, and it disfigures Quentin's face. Evan, trying to steal the Hand, falls victim to the same fate. Even Angelique is unable to control it, and gladly turns it over to Barnabas on the condition that he not interfere with her plans for Quentin. Having given up on Barnabas, she is going to get Quentin to marry her.
Gregory Trask has married Judith. After she changes her will to leave him everything, Gregory and Evan conjure the spirit of Minerva to torment her. Encountering the ghost drives Judith over the edge, and she agrees to commit herself to a sanitarium. Now Gregory is in charge of Collinwood. Ever suspicious of Barnabas, and discovering his own daughter Charity is a victim of the vampire, Gregory lays a trap. But the Hand mysteriously removes the marks from Charity's neck, foiling the trap before Barnabas gets caught.
Gypsy woman Julianka arrives to get the Hand back for her tribe. She agrees to cure Quentin in exchange for it, but is killed before she can. Her spirit blames Magda for her death, and curses her that everyone she loves will die. Sandor is the first to fall victim to the curse, followed by Jenny's infant son. The daughter Lenore is only saved by the intervention of Jenny's ghost, cured of her madness in death. The psychotic Aristede also wants the Hand for his master, Victor Fenn-Gibbons. He enlists the aid of Timothy Shaw, who acquires the Hand and promptly disappears. Apparently using the Hand to become rich, Tim returns and leaves the Hand with Nora for safe keeping. But Victor is desperate for the Hand, as Quentin and Magda find out, because he is Count Petofi. Possessing Jamison, he discovers Nora has the Hand and takes it from her. Reunited with its body, the Hand reattaches itself, and Petofi is whole again. Worried about Edward's interference, Petofi makes him believe he is a servant. He offers to restore Edward and Jamison of Barnabas will reveal the secret of time travel. He refuses, and incurs Petofi's wrath.
King Johnny Romano has found out about Julianka's death and come to persecute Magda for it. Under a spell, she is unable to warn him of the real threat - Count Petofi. They come close to killing her, but she escapes. Johnny finds out about Petofi, and goes to take the Hand back from him. But he is no match for Petofi's full power, he the Count kills him.
Trask has figured out that Quentin is the werewolf, and locks him in a cage to await the transformation. Angelique, not wanting him exposed, tries to kill Trask, but Petofi stops her. The full moon rises, but Quentin doesn't change. Much to his own surprise, he is cured. The secret is in his portrait, painted by Charles Delaware Tate. Thanks to Petofi, Tate has power in his painting. Now the portrait changes instead of Quentin. Seeing Amanda Harris, Tate also realizes his portraits can come to life. She is his fantasy woman. But she has fallen for Quentin, and they plan to run off together. Tate steals Quentin's portrait to delay them. Then Angelique, with an article of Amanda's given to her by Petofi, threatens her life with voodoo, forcing Quentin to return to Collinwood with her.
Barnabas is fully exposed as a vampire because of Petofi. Edward captures him, but finds himself unable to destroy him, and Quentin is able to release him. Julia Hoffman, having gotten information vital to saving Quentin, arrives in the past. She agrees to stay and start her treatments to cure Barnabas. Lady Hampshire Kitty Soames, a recent widow, arrives from England to visit Edward. Barnabas recognizes her as yet another Josette, but something is different this time. Unfortunately he doesn't have time to find out what. Charity Trask, possessed by the spirit of Pansy Faye, perhaps remembering her death from a vampire, or perhaps Charity remembers her enslavement to Barnabas, tracks down the vampire's coffin and stakes him.
Julia is captured by Petofi in an attempt to learn the secret of time travel. He experiments with the I Ching wands, but when he is forced to shoot Julia, he learns she is insubstantial. Without a body to inhabit in this time, she is unstable and is soon drawn back to the present. Petofi, realizing that he needs a body to inhabit in the future, exchanges bodies with Quentin. Angelique is fooled for a while, but warned by Charity, she figures it out. He traps her in a ring of fire, but she tricks Aristede into freeing her. Thinking he is home free, Petofi tries to go to the future, but is stopped - by Barnabas! Angelique created a doppelganger of him which was staked in his place. Cured by Julia's treatments, which were continued by Angelique, he foils Petofi's plot. Quentin finds a way to reverse the body switch, and orders Aristede, who assumes he is still Petofi, to stab Petofi's body, who he thinks is Quentin. Petofi convinces Aristede he is really Petofi, but they have another problem. Garth Blackwood, a prison guard Aristede killed, is restless. His spirit returns, killing Evan, Aristede, and possibly Petofi.
Judith is released from the sanitarium and returns to Collinwood, aware of Gregory's plans to take over Collinwood. With Tim Shaw's help, she bricks him into Quentin's room, tormenting him over the phone until he commits suicide. Angelique has let Quentin go to find Amanda, but fearing that his portrait was destroyed and he is a werewolf again, he gives her up, leaving Collinsport for good.
Kitty has been having strange dreams about living in Martinique. Wheedling her way into Edward's life, she accepts his marriage proposal. But later she comes to Barnabas, claiming to be Josette. When realizes she truly is the reincarnation of Josette DuPres, she is afraid of losing herself. But Barnabas convinces her to marry him. Wearing Josette's dress, Kitty fades into Josette's portrait. Barnabas follows her, and finds himself in 1795, before Josette jumped from Widow's Hill. Determined to change history, he stops Josette with Natalie's help. Though she can't remember her life as Kitty, he convinces her to meet him later at the Old House. But on his way there, Barnabas is kidnapped by mysterious figures who return him to the present. Josette, feeling Barnabas has deserted her, takes poison and dies. Again.
The second half of the 1897 flashback brought a whole new cast of characters to Collinsport. Thayer David, stabbed in the back as Sandor, returns as the villainous Count Petofi. Roger Davis, staked as Dirk the vampire, becomes the simpering artist Charles Delaware Tate. Grayson Hall, with Magda's usefulness ending, shows up as the time traveling Julia Hoffman, just to remind us of the present. Michael Stroka as Aristede and Donna McKechnie as Amanda Harris join the cast. Nancy Barrett changes from demur Charity Trask to bawdy cockney showgirl when she is permenantly possessed by Pansy Faye. And Kathryn Leigh Scott got her wish in the form of Kitty Soames. Even though she was the true reincarnation of Josette, they couldn't have been more different. Kitty was a scheming, conniving gold-digger who preferred to marry for money and title rather than love. A far cry from the imperiled Maggie, ladylike Josette or weak Rachel. Though she would never play as strong as character again, at least she would stay around - for a while at least.
The subplots also came fast and furious. Copying characters such as Count St. Germaine and Dorian Gray, plus their own twist on Poe's "The Cask of Amontiado", the DS writers created the most intelligent and intricate storyline yet. Few people even noticed that the original plot of stopping Quentin from terrorizing the future practically got lost. But by far the most sensational subplot was when it appeared Barnabas got staked. At the time, it almost caused a riot. The switchboards at ABC were swamped with calls from outraged viewers. And while the writers teased the audience with clues and red herrings, Dark Shadows got its highest ratings ever.
So what next? Dark Shadows was at the top of the ratings, two of the hottest sex symbols in America were part of the cast, and they had just finished a well-paced, creative, popular story. How could they top that? The answer is: they couldn't. What came next would be the beginning of the end for Dark Shadows.
Credits and characters of Story 10
Portrait Gallery for Story 10
