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 Chris is such an unlikable villain we can't sympathize with him even when the character he is murdering is played by Roger Davis: darkshadowscommentary.com/2026/01/05/e...
Episode 919/ 920/ 921: The giver without a gift
Centenarian Charles Delaware Tate, once a famous painter, is trapped in his parlor with a man who is threatening to kill him. The man is Chris Jennings. Chris tells Tate that there will be a full m…
darkshadowscommentary.com
January 5, 2026 at 9:07 PM
In which Chris is such an unlikable villain we can't sympathize with him even when the character he is murdering is played by Roger Davis: darkshadowscommentary.com/2026/01/05/e...
In which Roger Davis sits around and shouts at everyone until his head falls off: darkshadowscommentary.com/2026/01/02/e...
Episode 918: Ways of remaining young
Mrs Acilius and I did our first watch-through of Dark Shadows on streaming starting in the spring of 2020, when there was no live theater to attend. When we got to the episodes introducing Barnabas…
darkshadowscommentary.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:39 PM
In which Roger Davis sits around and shouts at everyone until his head falls off: darkshadowscommentary.com/2026/01/02/e...
In which Stokes has to choose between believing Paul or serving the existing power structure: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/31/e...
Episode 917: People take too much medicine as it is
Professor Timothy Eliot Stokes has parked his car and is walking up to the great house of Collinwood, home to matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard and her daughter Carolyn Collins Stoddard, among o…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 31, 2025 at 9:34 PM
In which Stokes has to choose between believing Paul or serving the existing power structure: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/31/e...
In which we find out that the Leviathans are a "restricted" club: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/30/e...
Episode 916: Julia Hoffman has had her dream
Certain People Six weeks ago, old world gentleman Barnabas Collins was absorbed into a group serving supernatural beings known as the Leviathans. Also in the group is matriarch Elizabeth Collins St…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 30, 2025 at 9:05 PM
In which we find out that the Leviathans are a "restricted" club: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/30/e...
In which Barnabas is visited by three spirits, and realizes he must change his ways: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/29/e...
Episode 915: Emergency Leviathan Broadcast
In #701, old world gentleman Barnabas Collins traveled in time from 1969 to 1897. For the next eight months, ending in #884, Dark Shadows was a costume drama set in that year. On his way back to a …
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 29, 2025 at 11:09 PM
In which Barnabas is visited by three spirits, and realizes he must change his ways: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/29/e...
In which Julia and Chris are an improvement over Vicki and Frank, but Harrison Monroe is a huge step down from the Caretaker: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/26/e...
Episode 913/914: An abominable boy
Episodes 1 through 274 of Dark Shadows opened with voiceovers by Alexandra Moltke Isles, usually in character as well-meaning governess Victoria Winters. What followed was therefore in some sense a…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 27, 2025 at 1:19 AM
In which Julia and Chris are an improvement over Vicki and Frank, but Harrison Monroe is a huge step down from the Caretaker: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/26/e...
In which I try to write as if I had never seen or heard of DARK SHADOWS before I happened upon this episode: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/24/e...
Episode 912: A little water won’t hurt her
In his post about this episode on his great Dark Shadows Before I Die, Danny Horn remarks that this is one where you don’t need any background- as a first-time viewer, you tune in, see the ch…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 25, 2025 at 2:08 AM
In which I try to write as if I had never seen or heard of DARK SHADOWS before I happened upon this episode: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/24/e...
In which Quentin finds that David remembers him as the ghost who haunted Collinwood for ten months: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/23/e...
Episode 911: I might forget I’m dead
The Story So Far In December 1968, children David Collins and Amy Jennings explored the long-deserted west wing of their home, the great house on the estate of Collinwood. They stirred up the ghost…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:35 PM
In which Quentin finds that David remembers him as the ghost who haunted Collinwood for ten months: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/23/e...
In which Julia learns that the portrait beneath the landscape she bought at the antique shop depicts Amanda Harris: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/22/e...
Episode 910: Know or suspect
For eight months in 1969, Dark Shadows was a costume drama set in the year 1897. Old world gentleman Barnabas Collins and mad scientist Julia Hoffman traveled back in time from the 1960s to keep us…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:19 PM
In which Julia learns that the portrait beneath the landscape she bought at the antique shop depicts Amanda Harris: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/22/e...
In which Paul follows the Leviathan child to a new set downstage from the front door in the Collinwood foyer: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/19/e...
Episode 909: Beyond what I saw before
Paul Stoddard (Dennis Patrick) has been staying in his ex-wife’s home, the great house on the estate of Collinwood. At the end of yesterday’s episode, he found a boy known as Alexander …
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:30 PM
In which Paul follows the Leviathan child to a new set downstage from the front door in the Collinwood foyer: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/19/e...
In which Alexander visits Collinwood, and Paul acts like a crazy man: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/18/e...
Episode 908: Mollycoddle that monster
The current phase of Dark Shadows is focused on the threat to the human race posed by the Leviathans, unseen supernatural beings who have taken control of several characters on the show. Among thei…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:03 PM
In which Alexander visits Collinwood, and Paul acts like a crazy man: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/18/e...
In which Paul realizes that Liz is not going to help him fight his enemies: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/17/e...
Episode 907: Knowing the criminals but not the crime
The current storyline on Dark Shadows revolves around the evil machinations of a cult that serves mysterious supernatural beings known as the Leviathan people. We haven’t seen the Leviathans …
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:10 PM
In which Paul realizes that Liz is not going to help him fight his enemies: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/17/e...
In which Liz invites Paul to move back into Collinwood: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/16/e...
Episode 906: Like an organization
Paul Stoddard has returned to Collinsport, Maine, the town he left twenty years before when he despaired of getting his hands on his wife Liz’ money. He is being tormented by a mysterious gro…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 16, 2025 at 9:08 PM
In which Liz invites Paul to move back into Collinwood: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/16/e...
In which Quentin has amnesia, and the Leviathan boy ages up: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/15/e...
Episode 905: My darling now
Heiress Carolyn Collins Stoddard has been hung up on mysterious drifter Chris Jennings for a while. Unknown to Carolyn, Chris is her third cousin, the great-grandson of her great-great uncle Quenti…
darkshadowscommentary.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:47 PM
In which Quentin has amnesia, and the Leviathan boy ages up: darkshadowscommentary.com/2025/12/15/e...
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...