1225

The ghost of Brutus Collins appears to James Forsythe.
== Synopsis ==
Teaser
: The great house at Collinwood in the world of Parallel Time. For over a century and a half, this has been a house of dark and terrifying secrets. But during the past forty-eight hours, the wall of secrecy has begun to crack. Not enough is known yet about the strange curse that has haunted the family all these years, but certain facts are coming to light. Facts which may either end the curse or the family itself.
After Morgan finds the skeleton of Sarah Forsythe, he calls out for Brutus.
Act I
The ghost of Brutus appears to Morgan. Still possessed by James, he knows that Brutus killed his own wife, Amanda, Sarah and James himself as part of his schemes against James. He vows to right all of the wrongs Brutus did back in 1680, starting by giving Sarah a proper burial. Brutus warns him to return to his grave before it’s too late, and approaches him.
At Collinwood, Julia returns after another unsuccessful search for Morgan, and finds Melanie in the drawing room. Julia admits she is deeply worried about Carrie, and warns Melanie to be careful when around her (because she is not aware of the curse at Collinwood). Just then, Carrie rushes into the house, explaining that Morgan had locked her up, forcing her to escape through a window. Julia agrees to take Carrie back to the cottage just as Kendrick shows up to see Melanie, much to Julia’s annoyance. Kendrick asks her to go for a walk with him so no one can overhear them.
Julia and Carrie enter the basement of the cottage and find Morgan lying on the floor.
Act II
Julia finds that Morgan is still alive, but Carrie feels an evil presence in the room. The two then see Sarah’s skeleton. Julia sends Carrie back to Collinwood to get Quentin.
Melanie and Kendrick walk to the gazebo. Kendrick admits that he’s been in Boston the past three days, and found no record of her at the orphanage she says she was adopted from.
Act III
Kendrick tells Melanie he wants to ease her pain regarding her past. She wonders why Justin would have lied to her when he was alive, and believes that Julia knows who her real parents are.
Julia is in the drawing room with Morgan, where he revives, but is still possessed by James. He offers no thanks, and only says he has more work to do. Growing frustrated, Julia tries to reason with him, thinking they might be on the same side, but Morgan is hesitant to cooperate with a Collins family member. She begs him not to go back to the cottage, and promises to help him with the skeleton. When she asks whose skeleton it is, Morgan says her name was Sarah Forsythe, and she was his (James’) sister.
Act IV
Julia asks how Sarah’s skeleton came to be buried in the cottage, but Morgan has had enough of Julia’s questions and leaves the room.
Later that night, Melanie and Kendrick return to Collinwood. They kiss each other goodnight, and Julia requests that Kendrick join her in the drawing room. Julia again chastises him about “interfering” with the family’s protection of Melanie by putting “ridiculous thoughts” into her mind. Kendrick reveals to Julia that he went to the orphanage and found no record of her. The revelation completely silences Julia, but she collects herself and orders him to leave the house. As she opens the drawing room doors, she sees Melanie, slowly walking down the stairs in her “mad” state. Julia quickly closes the doors again in hopes of stalling so Melanie will return to her normal self, but Kendrick opens the doors and finds the deranged Melanie. She angrily asks him who he is, before telling him that everyone in the house is destined to die. Kendrick demands Julia tells him what is wrong with Melanie.
== Memorable quotes ==
: Melanie: Julia's whole life has been one of protecting secrets.
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: Melanie: Death is the only answer, until no one is left, until the curse has been appeased.... Everyone in this house is destined to die.
: _______________________________________________________________________
: Morgan/John Forsythe: Don't you ever smile, Miss Collins?
: Julia: There's nothing in this house to smile much about.
: Morgan/Forsythe: It's always been thus.
: _____________________________________________________________________
: Morgan/Forsythe: Dealing with a Collins is never to anyone's advantage.
: _____________________________________________________________________
: Julia: I will come right to the point.
: Kendrick: You usually do, Miss Collins.
== Dramatis personae ==
* Keith Prentice as Morgan Collins / James Forsythe
* John Karlen as Kendrick Young
* Louis Edmonds as Brutus Collins
* Kathy Cody as Carrie Stokes (PT)
* Nancy Barrett as Melanie Collins
* Grayson Hall as Julia Collins
== Background information and notes ==
=== Production ===
* Louis Edmonds returns to the cast after an absence of 32 episodes. First appearance of character Brutus Collins. [Addendum: His ghost does physically appear at the end of the previous episode.] This was the eighth and final character played by actor Louis Edmonds in the original series.
* Closing credits scene: Cottage basement.
=== Story ===
* There is no record of Melanie's time at the Concord orphanage.
* Sarah Forsythe was James' sister. Brutus Collins killed Sarah and James, along with Brutus' wife, Amanda Collins.
* GHOSTWATCH: Brutus' ghost appears to James.
* TIMELINE: It was the "other day" when Carrie sensed the evil spirit at Collinwood. Melanie hasn't seen Kendrick for three days. 9:45pm: Melanie returns to Collinwood.
== Bloopers and continuity errors ==
* In Act I when Carrie rushes into Collinwood, she mistakenly calls Julia "Mrs. Collins." She wouldn't be "Mrs." since she isn't married. (Carrie does call her "Miss Collins" in the later scene in the cottage basement.)
* In Act I Grayson Hall flubs a line: "in tase [instead of 'case'] Quentin comes back."
*John Karlen flubs a line: "I want to ask you again just how Collins family came to adopt you" (he drops the "the" before "Collins").
*Nancy Barrett flubs a line. When she's telling Kendrick about Justin Collins's letter she saw about her adoption, at one point she says "written by my real mother" instead of "to my real mother" (she states it correctly a couple of lines later).
* The "Dan Curtis Productions" logo at the end credits is not centered as it usually is.
==External Links==
Dark Shadows - Episode 1225 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Every Day - Episode 1225 - Strong to the FInish
1225