500

Barnabas and Julia visit Sam, who is now blind. She believes he will never see again.
== Synopsis ==
Teaser
: At the great house of Collinwood, a portrait of a woman has caused many mysterious happenings. And one man decides to test its power to establish whether it controls a witch or a witch controls it. And he and an artist discover that as the portrait changes, so does the woman. But the artist also learns the terrible truth of the witch's power.
Maggie comes home from her date, and Sam tells her he is blind. Maggie wants to call a doctor, but Sam tells her to instead go and bring Barnabas Collins here. Puzzled, Maggie leaves to follow her father's instructions.
Act I
Barnabas goes to the basement of the Old House and finds Willie taunting Adam with some jewelry. Willie insists Adam found it himself. Barnabas doesn't believe him, and Willie threatens to quit, but Barnabas reminds him that quitting means returning to Windcliff. As Barnabas puts the jewelry back in the box, he discovers the emerald earrings are missing. Willie suggests that Adam took them and hid them. Barnabas accuses Willie of taking them. Upstairs, Maggie arrives and tells Julia Hoffman that her father needs to see Barnabas, and tells her that he also needs her as a doctor, since her father has gone blind.
Act II
Maggie brings Barnabas and Julia to Sam, and Sam demands to talk to Barnabas alone. Maggie leaves but Julia stays at Barnabas' insistence. Sam tells Barnabas all that happened, and Barnabas insists he had no idea that Sam would suffer like this. Julia gives Sam a preliminary examination, and then suggests he go see a specialist. 
Act III
In private, Julia tells Barnabas that Sam's optic nerves are damaged and he might never see again. Barnabas laments that he has once again ruined another life. 
At the Old House, Willie brings Adam some food. Willie again taunts Adam by keeping the food just out of his reach. Willie tries to teach Adam to say “I stole the earrings,” but Adam just gets upset and angry and he breaks his chain. Willie tries to escape, but Adam follows him out of the cell and up the stairs.
Act IV
In the drawing room, Adam attacks Willie. Barnabas and Julia arrive back at the Old House just in time to see this. To stop him, Barnabas beats him with his cane. Willie runs upstairs as Adam turns to attack Barnabas.
== Memorable quotes ==
: Barnabas: (to Willie) I know you're lacking only one dimension in being a truly great blackguard - intelligence.
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: Sam: What's an artist without eyes?
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: Barnabas: When will I learn not to involve others? And now I've ruined another life.
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: Julia: I won't let you be alone. You're much too depressed.
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: Sam: (to Julia) I might have known you were in on this.
== Dramatis personae ==
* Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins
* Grayson Hall as Julia Hoffman
* David Ford as Sam Evans
* John Karlen as Willie Loomis
* Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans
* Robert Rodan as Adam (uncredited)
== Background information and notes ==
=== Production ===
* This episode was recorded out of broadcast sequence. The previous episode to be recorded was 496.
* There is a tape edit as Maggie arrives at the Old House.
* The Collinsport Afghan is on the couch in the Evans cottage.
* Robert Rodan is inexplicably uncredited in the cast list even though he appears in several pivotal scenes as Adam.
* Jonathan Frid suffered a back injury during the tussle with Adam. Frid wore a back brace for several weeks afterward.
=== Story ===
* Maggie asks if they should call a Dr. Sloane.
* It appears Sam has finally quit drinking; there is no bottle or glass on the table.
* SEDATIVE: Julia offers Sam a sedative; he refuses.
== Bloopers and continuity errors ==
* In the teaser, as Maggie removes her coat, the shadow of the boom microphone is visible on the wall.
* Jonathan Frid stumbles over the line about whether Cassandra controls the portrait or the portrait controls her.
* When Sam is explaining to Barnabas what happened, he says that Cassandra said he'd never finish the painting. But she never said that in the previous episode. 
* In Act II, Barnabas and Julia question Sam Evans alone, and Julia examines him. As she stands we see the front door, hear the door opening sound effect (the door remains closed,) and Kathryn Leigh Scott walks onto the set from the left. [Addendum: This is not a blooper. The door sound effect is meant not to be the front door but a room off-stage. When Sam ordered Maggie to leave the room, we also hear the door sound effect after Maggie moves off-stage, indicating she went into another room and closed the door. This second door-opening sound is just Maggie coming out of that room.]
*The music keeps playing for a little while after Adam turns off the tape recorder in Act III.
*When Willie is opening the door to the dungeon when he’s bringing Adam the chicken, the camera pans back too far and we see the edge of the set.
*When Willie is taunting Adam with the chicken leg, the idea is that he's holding it out of reach of Adam, who cannot reach it because he is chained to the wall. But as Adam reaches outward, we see that the chain is slack, lying on the ground, so there's still plenty of room for him to move toward Willie.
* The "wall" shakes as Adam chases Willie out of his dungeon cell in the Old House cellar. The Old House door entrance and "wall" also shake. 
* When Adam is attacking Willie in the parlor of the Old House, they visibly freeze in place seconds before the camera shot changes to show Barnabas and Julia outside.
* When Barnabas and Julia arrive at the front door, it appears that the door was actually pushed outward on the right side of the screen and a section of the foyer can be seen through it. [Addendum: It could be a result of the previous scene when Willie and Adam crash into the front door from the inside and we see the wall shake.]
* Cassandra took her portrait from the easel in the Evans Cottage. A painting has been put in its place, but it's not the same painting Sam was working on when Barnabas came to see him. It would be difficult to imagine that Sam would be concerned about an empty easel since he has just been struck blind. As well, at the beginning of the scene, the camera is looking through an empty easel at Sam sitting down. This easel is in the middle of the room in front of the couch. We've never seen an easel there. When Sam touches this easel, the implication seems to be that it is the one on which Angelique's portrait sat. But if it is, it obviously has been moved since Sam was blinded and Cassandra took the portrait (and, as noted earlier, a second easel with a new painting put in place of the original location).
* If Angelique can blind anyone, why hasn't she done this to enemies in the past? (She likely had no reason to. Angelique has many ways of dealing with enemies, and in this case, she might have liked the symbolic gesture of making an artist blind.)
* When referring to Sam's blindness, Barnabas says, "If only Eric Lang were alive." Why? Would Dr. Lang steal someone's eyes to replace Sam's? [Dr. Lang had the ability to reanimate a body. It's fairly possible he would have been able to repair the optic nerves.]
* Julia uses the incorrectly; she just waves it in front of Sam's eyes. And it's not illuminated, therefore useless. It can be seen that Grayson Hall tries to turn on the light but is unable to.
== External Links ==
Dark Shadows - Episode 500 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Every Day - Episode 500 - Really Big Brother
Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 500: Ruined another life
Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 500: 5/24/68
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