The Good: Plot progresses, even if it doesn't truly go anywhere.
The Bad: Medium issues, Acting issues, Technical issues (color goes in and out)
The Basics: A set of five episodes of Dark Shadows, “Volume 19” is more concerned with explaining what has come before than taking the show in a new direction.
As I trundle through the supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows, I find that it goes in big, awful waves. The show seems to oscillate greatly between being a cool, if poorly acted and produced, supernatural story and a tedious soap opera. With "Volume 19" of the show, the series is coming out of one of its more tiresome storylines and was getting back to being interesting to fans of the supernatural and of horror. Unfortunately, with "Volume 19," the intrigue progresses in a way that makes the show feel very much like it is once more an obvious soap opera.
The VHS of "Volume 19" of Dark Shadows is very much a story in process and it contains the ninety-first through ninety-fifth episodes of the series (since Barnabas Collins was introduced). Sadly, despite all of the technical gaffs, this is the point in the series where I am actually finding myself caring for some of the characters and eager to see what happens next. Unfortunately, that eagerness is not terribly rewarded on “Volume 19” as the show heads more toward the soap operatic again, though the subject turns to Sarah Collins and answering the questions of Maggie Evans's disappearance.
"Volume 19" picks up where "Volume 18" (reviewed here!) left off, with Sarah Collins making sporadic ghostly appearances. Meanwhile, Barnabas Collins has become increasingly jealous of Burke Devlin as Devlin moves in on Victoria Winters.
In episode three hundred, Willie convinces Barnabas that Burke Devlin would be missed if he were killed like Jason McGuire. When Burke returns Victoria to Collinwood, Elizabeth lets Burke know that she will sell the beach house to him. As Victoria talks with Elizabeth about the proposal, Burke and Barnabas verbally spar at the Blue Whale.
Episode three hundred one has Victoria Winters discussing her proposal with Burke Devlin and Barnabas and Dr. Hoffman mulling over her experimental treatment. Victoria decides to marry Burke and Barnabas finds out almost immediately, vowing when he is returned to human form to prevent the wedding by loving Victoria better than Burke.
The three hundred and second episode features Burke Devlin digging deeper into the past of Barnabas Collins. Armed with the name of the person he allegedly stayed with in England, Burke quickly discovers that Barnabas' alibi does not hold up. Discovering clues to Maggie Evans' disappearance from Dr. Woodard, Burke visits Maggie and Joe. While Maggie cannot recall anything new, the details she does provide leads Burke to suspect Barnabas more, especially when he hears Victoria's music box!
In episode three hundred three, Burke Devlin closes in on Barnabas Collins, quickly realizing that Willie is protecting him. Meanwhile, Dr. Hoffman takes David on a walk in the attempt to find Sarah Collins. While out and about, the bonnet they have to return to Sarah disappears! Burke begins to share his suspicions with Victoria and she becomes upset with him.
Episode three hundred four has Sarah Collins reappearing to David and the two go for a walk together. While Barnabas begins to become unsettled by the treatments he is receiving, Dr. Hoffman attempts to reassure him that they are going well. David follows Sarah to her favorite secret place: the Collins family crypt!
Dark Shadows is frequently plagued by technical issues and “Volume 19” is no exception. The show is problematically filmed in black and white and in color, with these five episodes being the last where two are in black and white and the last two getting the series finally into color for the rest of the run. The camerawork is frequently shaky and outside the standing sets, the production values are very low. This is accented on VHS where the episodes are very grainy and the film is washed out by the candles in shots that are lit by wax candles.
As for the characters, much of the story is in a stagnant pattern as everyone plays detective trying to figure out what happened to Maggie Evans during her abduction. Maggie herself begins to grow beyond her fear and that is nice, but characters like Dr. Hoffman are very monolithic in these episodes, concerning themselves more with the plot-necessary hypnotism and machinations involving Barnabas Collins than actually developing as character. Even though Sarah is the target of many people's quests for understanding, her character is very much a non-entity even in these episodes.
On the film side, Sharon Smyth does a fine job playing Sarah in these episodes and she easily upstaged the actor playing David Collins. Jonathan Frid does a decent job in his scenes and it seems like Anthony George is finally getting into the groove as Burke Devlin.
But it's impossible for me to recommend the VHS for these episodes. The DVDs have the show cleaned up and it's easier to skip through the constant repetition of information as characters repeat lines before and after where the commercial break would be. Fans will find these episodes good bridge works, but those not already invested will not get there through this video.
For other Dark Shadows reviews, please visit:
Dark Shadows (2012 film)
Dark Shadows Collection 1
Dark Shadows Collection 2
2/10
For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2013, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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