483

Barnabas persuades Julia to release Willie from Windcliff Sanitarium.
== Synopsis ==
Teaser
: Victoria Winters has returned to the great house at Collinwood from the strange and haunting adventure in the past, and now the terrible events she witnessed there are beginning to change not only her life but the lives of those around her. In the Old House on the Collins estate, one man, Barnabas Collins, wages a desperate battle against time. For him, the past is an old and deadly enemy, one that threatens to reimpose an evil curse upon him and claim him as its prisoner forever.
Barnabas asks Julia Hoffman to arrange for the release of Willie Loomis.
Act I
Julia is not sure if Willie is well enough yet to be released. Barnabas suggests the two of them go to Windcliff to talk to Willie and verify if he is well enough to be released.
Act II
At Windcliff, Barnabas questions Willie about whether he wants to go back to the Old House with him. Julia asks Willie if he remembers why he is in Windcliff, and he only vaguely remembers. But he is anxious to be released.
Act III
Barnabas and Julia bring Willie back to the Old House, where Barnabas sets a few rules, among them that Willie can not leave the house to give "certain people" time to adjust to his return. But at the first chance, Willie sneaks out of the house, and heads to Collinsport and the Evans cottage. When Maggie answers the knock at the door, Willie forces his way in. Maggie, scared, says she will call the police, but Willie says he must tell her what happened that night, that he never would have dreamed of hurting her, that he just wanted to warn her she was in danger. Joe Haskell enters the house and scares Willie, who runs off.
Act IV
Willie is outside the Old House with a rifle when Joe comes to talk to Barnabas. Joe tells him that Willie went to the Evans cottage to kill Maggie. Barnabas promises he will take care of Willie, and he will not again approach Maggie. Joe says that if Willie ever does go near Maggie again, he will kill him. As Joe is walking away from the Old House, Willie aims the rifle at Joe's back and giggles insanely.
== Memorable quotes ==
: Barnabas: Is it inconceivable to you that I could do an act of kindness?
: Julia: Everyone’s capable of performing an act of kindness. But let’s be honest about it, Barnabas. With you, it isn’t — shall we say — characteristic.
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: Julia (to Barnabas): Thank you for your diagnosis...DOCTOR Collins.
== Dramatis personae ==
* Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins
* Grayson Hall as Julia Hoffman
* Joel Crothers as Joe Haskell
* Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans
* John Karlen as Willie Loomis
* Ann Davies as Nurse Jackson (uncredited)
== Background information and notes==
=== Production ===
* John Karlen returns to the cast after an absence of 151 episodes.
=== Story ===
* Windcliff Sanitarium is a few hours away from Collinsport. [Addendum: What Barnabas actually says in the episode is that it would take only a few hours to go to Windcliff, see Willie, and then return to Collinsport, not that Windcliff is "a few hours" away from Collinsport. Earlier the distance to Windcliff was established as about 100 miles, so it is more reasonable to say it is about two hours from Collinsport.]
* TIMELINE: Day 200 begins, and will end in 484. The experiment to cure Barnabas is planned for tomorrow. Julia last received a report on Willie's progress about a month ago; he has been at Windcliff for a "few months" (he was sent there in 330; considering that no time passes in the present between 365 and 461, it would mean that he has been at Windcliff for no more than two months).
== Bloopers and continuity errors ==
* In the teaser, as Barnabas enters the Old House parlor, a boom mic shadow passes across him.
* Jonathan Frid flubs a line: "I could tell that your heart went out to him every much as mine did."
* How is it that Julia has sole jurisdiction for Willie Loomis' release? Isn't he believed to be the Collinsport Strangler? Wouldn't a D.A. or judge (some legal authority) refuse his release? However, if he was declared not guilty due to insanity, she might have final judgment. The verdict of guilty but insane exists in only a few states. Most states if a person is found insane, they are technically not guilty and, once pronounced sane, are free.
*The return of Willie Loomis raises many questions. If Carolyn and Vicki (and assuming Maggie as well) have been released from Barnabas' hold upon his cure, we must believe Willie has been too. If so, why didn't Willie tell the cops what really happened? Why did he want to return to work for Barnabas where he said he had "good" memories? Good memories!? Barnabas beat him and constantly threatened to kill him. Why didn't he revert back to his bullying ways since the others returned to their normal selves? Point noted that Willie wanting to shoot Joe and bullying Adam could make that case. But why is Willie even back with Barnabas if he's no longer under the curse of the bite? [Addendum: Willie's behavior in this episode once he's released seems to make it quite clear that he was putting on a docility act to get released from Windcliff. One could reasonably conclude that Willie saw going with Barnabas was his ticket out of the sanitarium.] [Willie was kept prisoner by Barnabas as one of his victims, shot in the back 5 times, then spent several months in an asylum, where, as none of the staff actually knew what Willie had been through, he would have been unable to get appropriate treatment. It's clear that these experiences have seriously affected both his sanity and his memory. In his confused state, he seems to have developed Stockholm syndrome regarding Barnabas: Barnabas was very technically the first person to put Willie on the straight-and-narrow, and for people who have lived a life of delinquency, an authority figure giving such direction can be an extremely powerful influence. Willie's psyche appears to have clung onto this aspect of their relationship, even if the details of Barnabas' cruelty have become hazy during his time in Windcliff, where he'll almost certainly have been on strong medication. Furthermore, the staff at Windcliff were under the impression that Barnabas Collins had selflessly put his trust in Willie and taken him in, despite Willie's history. In therapy sessions, it would be probable that his doctors made mention of this when discussing Willie's life before becoming an inmate; so, on top of everything else, he has also very likely been brainwashed by the staff at Windcliff to have a sense of gratitude towards Barnabas. This would entirely explain Willie's "good memories" and desire to return to Barnabas' care (as well as having a perfectly understandable desperation to leave Windcliff, as already mentioned by a previous editor).]
==External Links ==
Dark Shadows - Episode 483 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 483 - Free Willie
Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 483: The three faces of Willie
Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 483: 5/1/68
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