341

Julia hesitates as Barnabas orders her to kill Dr. Woodard.
== Synopsis ==
Teaser
: Some merciful cloud has covered the stars over Collinwood, concealing the land below, creating the needed darkness for the deed about to be done in the town nearby. Like the layers of overhanging cloud, new crimes must be committed to conceal the old. And the distance into dark becomes at last so great that a journey back to light is no longer possible.
A showdown is taking place in the office of Dr. Dave Woodard. Dr. Julia Hoffman has confronted her colleague over the theft of her notebook, which details the truth about Barnabas Collins. Woodard watches, astounded, as a bat appears outside the window... and then Barnabas materializes inside the room. 
Julia begs the vampire to give her another chance to change Woodard's mind about reporting his findings to the police. But Woodard refuses to be persuaded. He is shocked to learn Barnabas plans to leave his death in Julia's hands.
Act I
Woodard prefers death to being changed into something as loathsome, evil, and inhuman as Barnabas is. His only regret will be not living to see the undead figure before him destroyed. Barnabas grabs hold of Woodard, and Julia tries one last time to convince her friend to help with the experiment. However, her pleading is in vain. Barnabas orders her to proceed. 
Julia hesitates as she reaches for the prepared hypodermic she brought with her in her purse. She cannot bring herself to kill Woodard. Barnabas takes the hypodermic from her, but when he starts to inject Woodard, the other man cries out Sarah Collins' name. This distracts Barnabas long enough for Woodard to try to escape. But the enraged vampire catches him, demands assurance that Sarah had not appeared, and injects him with the hypodermic in the scapula area of the back left shoulder through a coat and suit and shirt. Woodard drops dead in an instant. Julia breaks down in tears. 
Act II
Barnabas has moved Woodard's body into a seated position behind the desk. Julia, beyond distraught, is anxious to leave. But Barnabas wants her assurance that it will appear as if Woodard died of a heart attack. It will indeed, she tells him. Barnabas instructs her to retrieve the hypodermic and the notebook, which Julia, in her distress, has forgotten about. They are startled as the telephone begins to ring. Sheriff George Patterson is attempting to return Woodard's earlier call.
As Barnabas and Julia make haste to leave, Julia hears Woodard's voice and proclaims her former friend is not dead. But Barnabas, who has heard nothing, urges the emotionally shattered woman to leave.
Act III
Some time later, at the Blue Whale, Sam Evans is enjoying a drink at the bar when Sheriff Patterson comes in searching for Dr. Woodard. Sam learns that Woodard was urgently searching for the Sheriff, but never contacted him again. He relates Woodard's excitement when he saw him two hours ago, as if the doctor was on the verge of discovering something important. 
A woman's scream outside the Blue Whale draws everyone outside. But the woman had only been startled by a bat. Sam and Patterson decide to go to Woodard's office, and as the two men start to leave they see a bat outside the window. Rattled, the pair hurry on their way.
Act IV
At Woodard's office, Sam breaks down the locked door and he and the Sheriff find their friend's dead body inside. Both Sam and Patterson believe Woodard has been murdered. The Sheriff calls the coroner.
At the Old House, Julia stares at the hypodermic before throwing it into the fireplace. When Barnabas enters the room, she cannot bear to look at him and begs to be left alone. He assures her the burden of their shared guilt in Woodard's murder will lessen in time. Julia, overcome with grief and guilt, moves to toss her notebook into the fire. Barnabas stops her. He reminds her that retrieving the notebook cost Woodard his life. Julia decides to leave Collinsport, and give up trying to cure Barnabas' vampirism. But that, as Barnabas points out, is impossible. With Woodard gone, he is the only friend Julia has.
== Memorable quotes ==
: Barnabas: We want a minimum of clutter. I don't want the room strewn with broken objects.
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: Barnabas (to Julia): You no longer have friends.
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: Barnabas: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but a lot of knowledge is even more dangerous!
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: Barnabas: (after having killed Dr. Woodard) Loathsome I am and evil. You can mock me for that, but leave my pain alone.
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: Barnabas: The good doctor had a fatal curiosity. Now he doesn't have it anymore.
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: Barnabas: Really, Doctor, you're not your thorough, professional self! I would have thought you'd be used to death by now.
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: Dr. Woodard: You no longer have friends, Julia!
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:Barnabas: You'll soon accept yourself in your new...identity.
:Julia: What...new...identity?
:Barnabas: Murderer.
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:Barnabas (to Julia): We need each other...now more than ever. Now that Woodard's gone, I'm really the only friend you have.
== Dramatis personae ==
* Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins
* Grayson Hall as Julia Hoffman
* David Ford as Sam Evans
* Peter Turgeon as Dave Woodard
* Angus Cairns as George Patterson
* Bob O'Connell as Bob Rooney (uncredited)
* Peter Murphy as Blue Whale Customer (uncredited)
* Katherine Quint as Blue Whale Customer (uncredited)
== Background information and notes ==
=== Production ===
* Joe Caldwell returns to the writing team with this episode for a run of six episodes, temporarily filling the position vacated by Malcolm Marmorstein.
* The color videotape master of this episode is lost. However, a poor quality monochrome kinescope copy does exist.
* This is the last episode to be recorded whilst the NABET/AFRTRA strike against ABC was ongoing.
=== Story ===
* Dr. Woodard alludes to the word vampire: "something undead..."
* INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Julia: Recalling Dr. Woodard's words.
* TIMELINE: It was two hours ago when Sam last saw Dr. Woodard.
== Bloopers and continuity errors ==
* A boom microphone shadow sweeps over Peter Turgeon several times during the episode's teaser. Then the boom microphone itself hovers into view in Act I and, again, later in Act IV.
* Do vampires leave fingerprints? Barnabas rests his fingers on Woodard’s desk while speaking to Julia just after the murder. 
*After the scream outside the Blue Whale, a customer rushes to go outside, but his hand slips off the doorknob when he tries to the open the door. When he does open the door, the wall and door frame shake.
*When Sam and the sheriff arrive at Dr. Woodard's office, there's little reason why it should be locked (and they don't even check to see if it's locked or not). Barnabas and Julia didn't seem to lock the door in any way when they left after killing Woodard. One might argue that the door locks on its own when the door is closed, but in previous episodes, people enter Woodard's office freely. In fact, in the previous episode (340), Julia walks into Woodard's office freely without even knocking, which is really the beginning of the murder scene. No one locked the door between that point and Julia and Barnabas leaving.
* As Sam moves to break in the door of Dr. Woodard's office, the entire wall shakes. (In episodes that characters have to "break" a door down, the same routine is always used. It's two pretend shoves with the shoulder followed by a real shove on the third try that opens the door. Burke did this to Maggie's door in a previous episode. It's the theory of threes. Two alike, one unexpected "coffee, tea or me?")
*The destruction of the murder weapon was taken more lightly in this scene than it would have been in real life. The heat from a normal fireplace would not be hot enough to melt glass. The metal needle would have been blackened, and if someone looked through the ashes thoroughly, it would have been discovered. Had the syringe been discovered, Woodard's death would have been ruled a homicide. [Not necessarily. There would be no reason for anyone to look in the fireplace of the Old House, but even if someone did and discovered the syringe, there is no reason for anyone to suspect there was any connection with Woodard's death.]
==External Links ==
Dark Shadows - Episode 341 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 341 - The Night of the Doctor
Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 341: A fatal curiosity
Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 341: 10/16/67
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