499

As Cassandra ages, she becomes desperate and finds out that Sam is an artist who would be capable of aging the portrait. She blinds him to get the portrait back.
== Synopsis ==
: In the deceiving stillness of this night at Collinwood, a battle for survival is taking place. Not far away, in a small cottage by the seashore, an artist works late into the night, applying age lines to the face in a mysterious painting, while in a remote garden at Collinwood, the woman who posed for the portrait goes through the agony of knowing that she may age almost two hundred years before the next sunrise.
Cassandra, wearing a cloak and hood to cover her aging features, is in the Collinwood gazebo, calling out to Tony Peterson. At the Evans cottage, Sam Evans takes a short break from his work, and loud heartbeats sound from the portrait.
Act I
Tony arrives at the gazebo, but Cassandra tells him to keep his distance; she does not want him to see her. Tony says he likes to look people in the face when he talks to them. Cassandra suggests he light his cigarette lighter and look at her. When he lights the lighter, she tells him to look into the flame, and tell her he will do whatever he can to help her. Cassandra tells him she must find out who has the portrait and get it back. If she doesn't get it back she will die. Tony suggests it may be Sam Evans who is changing the portrait. Suddenly, Carolyn shows up and sees Cassandra and Tony together.
Act II
Cassandra quickly puts her hood back on to hide her features. Tony tells Carolyn that Cassandra called him to ask his advice on something. Carolyn says when she saw Tony drive up she thought he was coming to see her and was surprised to see him walking towards the garden. At that point, Sam starts painting again, and Cassandra screams out in pain and runs off. Carolyn tells Tony not to run after her; if he does, he will never see her again.
Act III
Tony agrees to stay with Carolyn. Tony is unable to explain to her what Cassandra wanted; it doesn't even make sense to him. Carolyn asks him if he loves Cassandra and Tony says no. Carolyn says she knows how to handle Cassandra, but Tony tells her to leave her alone. She is dangerous and seems to have some sort of power over others. Tony tells her he does not want to see Cassandra again, but he has no choice. Carolyn, upset, tells Tony goodbye.
Act IV
Cassandra arrives at the Evans cottage and tells Sam she must speak to him. She enters and looks at the portrait. When she removes her hood, Sam realizes she is the woman in the portrait, and says it isn't possible. She tells him Barnabas stole the portrait from her, and she wants it back. She will not leave without it. Sam insists she leave. Cassandra tells him she has nothing against him personally, but if he refuses to give him the portrait, she will be forced to take it from him. Sam tells her to leave at once. Cassandra says very well, but just try to finish the picture. She then leaves. Sam is about to take up his brush again, but his vision becomes blurred. Then everything starts to go dark. He realizes he is going blind. He hears the door opening and calls out, but hears nothing. Cassandra enters and takes the portrait. On the way out, she says she gave him fair warning.
== Memorable quotes ==
: Tony: A month ago I might have been worth falling in love with. Now I'm not so sure.
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: Carolyn: If there's one thing my family has in abundance, it's power.
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: Cassandra: I gave you fair warning, Mr. Evans.
== Dramatis personae ==
* David Ford as Sam Evans
* Nancy Barrett as Carolyn Stoddard
* Lara Parker as Cassandra Collins
* Jerry Lacy as Tony Peterson
== Background information and notes ==
=== Production ===
* This episode was recorded out of broadcast sequence. The previous episode to be recorded was 497.
* Nancy Barrett returns to the cast after an absence of 21 episodes. It is the final time she will appear in the same episode as David Ford.
* Sets used this episode are the Collinwood gazebo and the Evans cottage.
=== Story ===
* TIMELINE: Day 210 begins, and will end in 506. 12:05am at the start of this episode. It's been about a month since Tony began secretly meeting with Cassandra (she first placed him under her power in 477).
* Amos Parks is an artist who is an old personal friend of the family.
== Bloopers and continuity errors ==
* In the terrace scene, Jerry Lacy's head brushes up against a hanging branch. He also has to duck his head later to avoid hitting it when Tony follows Cassandra off the terrace.
* Throughout the episode, we can see that Cassandra's legs have not aged. [Perhaps it can be explained that the painting does not show her legs, so Sam's painting could not cause age to her legs. The problem with that explanation is that in the previous episode, we saw her hands had aged, and they also are not in the portrait.]
==External Links ==
Dark Shadows - Episode 499 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 499 - A Senior Moment
Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 499: Fair warning
Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 499: 5/23/68
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