Dark Shadows - David snoops at the Old House

The 240th episode of Dark Shadows finally involves Roger and his son, David, in the Maggie kidnap storyline. David was very much a frequent visitor to the Old House, always proclaiming to speak to the specter of Josette. But with Barnabas occupying the Old House, Josette's spirit seems absent. And instead Barnabas has substituted Maggie for Josette so it's no surprise that the spirit has left, particularly because the man she took a dive off Widow's Hill is now back living in her home. David sees Maggie in the living room, in the wedding dress, and believes she's Josette. Eventually David is inside the house, the front door opened seemingly on its own and his search finds him in Josette's room, Barnabas startled to locate his intrusion. Just so easy is it for Barnabas to be caught, Maggie possibly to be found, and any number of nearby folks capable of stumbling on the kidnap secret.

With David snooping about, Barnabas requests Roger keep him from intruding on his domicile. Roger and Barnabas discuss Maggie's disappearance, David's fantasies about Josette and her portrait, and the investigation into blood by Dr. Woodard. The blood certainly concerned Barnabas, but when David sneaks out of the house to go back to Old House, Roger and Victoria are shown discussing the boy's misbehaving and inability to listen to instructions or fear discipline. And Roger can't help but scold Victoria for her outward concern about Maggie, believing this anxiety is rubbing off on David. Sure enough, David goes right back despite being told not to, the kid actually seeing Maggie in her dress with shawl concealing her face.

The show had it's difficulty keeping all the Collins family, not to mention the likes of Burke and Joe, involved because the main storyline and key villain of Barnabas took a lot of the attention away. When you watch the show prior to Barnabas, the family had plenty of ongoing drama, and Burke was sort of the heavy, often devoted to going after Roger. But with McGuire and Willie arriving, Burke slid a peg or two, now a hero hoping to help Victoria and the authorities find Maggie. Roger, Carolyn, and even Elizabeth were quite focused on before Barnabas, but Creative seemed to have a hard time keeping them as relevant. So they get shoehorned into the main storyline just so we can even remember them. What was interesting about the end of this episode was Roger and Victoria walking to the Old House in order to fetch David, so with Maggie shown descending the stairs it left viewers curious to whether or not she'd finally be discovered. Barnabas so willing to keep Maggie at the Old House just seems like a recipe for disaster. There is a creepy closing shot of the bride, her face not visible, as David enthusiastically sees her, knowing he was right about Josette's spirit being there. 3/5