1076

Daphne gives Hallie the dress; Quentin sees Daphne in a dream.
== Synopsis ==
Teaser
: The moon over the great house of Collinwood has darkened now in full eclipse, as the Earth's shadow makes fateful progress across the path of the sun. This phenomenon has struck a deep terror in the hearts of Barnabas Collins and Julia Hoffman, for this may be the night of the sun and the moon, the first sign prophesying the destruction of Collinwood. And also on this night, Hallie Stokes and David Collins make a strange discovery of their own.
As the eclipse is nearly complete, David and Hallie enter the West Wing. They hear the music of the playroom, but it suddenly stops. They decide to leave and come back in the morning, but a door mysteriously opens and the linen closet has turned into the playroom.
Act I
The two enter the playroom in amazement and Hallie immediately becomes possessed and speaks in a very formal, old-fashioned manner. The carousel music stops and Hallie regains her senses, and she then smells lilacs. Hallie panics and runs out, and David reluctantly follows suit. After they leave, Daphne appears and restarts the carousel.
Act II
The next morning, Quentin rushes downstairs and wakes Julia, who had fallen asleep in the drawing room. He excitedly reports that the children are fast asleep and everything appears to be fine. Quentin is ecstatic that the children are safe, but Julia is still skeptical. She points out that the house was still in ruins and they must still be on alert at all times.
Later that day, David goes to visit Hallie and is upset at her for running out of the playroom the previous night. Hallie doesn't care and just wants everything to end, but he brings up her strange behavior while they were in the playroom. She tells David she doesn't remember anything and decides to take the dress and put it back in the attic.
At night, Quentin is having a drink in the drawing room and joking with Julia about how he currently doesn't have a woman in his life. Julia suggests he is merely looking for a drinking partner rather than a woman, at which point Quentin puts down his drink. Julia is preparing to go into town in hopes of finding more information about Gerard. Before she leaves, Quentin compliments Julia on the perfume she is wearing, but Julia reveals she isn't actually wearing any. Julia asks him to describe the smell in the room, since she can't smell anything, but Quentin says he can't think of how to describe it. After Julia leaves, Quentin realizes it's the smell of lilacs.
Act III
Julia is walking through the graveyard and notices Quentin is there. Julia tells him there are no records in Collinsport of anyone by the name of Gerard Stiles. She shows Quentin his grave and that of Daphne's, and asks if her name means anything to him because he was very involved with her in the future and a scent of lilac followed her wherever she went. The lilac information strikes Quentin, but doesn't tell Julia he smelled lilacs in the drawing room. The two then leave and return to Collinwood.
In the Collinwood foyer, Hallie tells David she has put the dress back in the attic. She begins to hear the playroom music, but David is unable to hear it. David thinks she is making it up and leaves the house.
Hallie, who appears to be possessed again, returns to the playroom.
Act IV
Hallie enters the playroom and sees Daphne. Daphne holds up the dress that Hallie put away moments earlier, but Hallie refuses to take it. A few moments later, she nods at Daphne and accepts the dress.
Meanwhile, Quentin is in the drawing room, thinking of Daphne and the scent of lilacs. He eventually falls asleep and starts to dream. In his dream, Daphne enters the drawing room at Collinwood and places a bouquet of lilacs on the table. Quentin approaches her and smiles, but Daphne walks away. Quentin wakes up and sees the lilacs on the table. He picks them up and calls out for her.
== Memorable quotes ==
: David (to Hallie): Would you stop acting like the world's number-one weirdo?
----
: Hallie (as Carrie): Hallie? Why did you call me Hallie?
: David: I'll call you a lot worse if you don't cut it out!
----
: Julia (to Quentin): I think you're really looking for a drinking partner rather than a woman.
== Dramatis personae ==
* David Selby as Quentin Collins
* Grayson Hall as Julia Hoffman
* Kathy Cody as Hallie Stokes
* David Henesy as David Collins
* Kate Jackson as Daphne Harridge
== Background information and notes ==
=== Production ===
* This episode was recorded out of broadcast sequence. The previous episode to be recorded was 1073.
* Closing credits scene: Daphne's bouquet of lilacs.
=== Story ===
* Kathy Cody has injured her right arm. When she is picking the orange dress out of the drawer and putting it back, she is only using her left hand, and her right arm remains straight down throughout the episode. A bandage wrap can be seen on her right hand.
* The tombstone of Tom Jennings can be seen near the one for Gerard Stiles in the Eagle Hill Cemetery.
* DREAM SEQUENCE: Quentin dreams of Daphne.
* GHOSTWATCH: Daphne's ghost appears in the playroom. Later, Hallie (and only she) hears the music coming from the playroom, where she finds Daphne. Later, Quentin finds a bouquet of lilacs in the drawing room.
* INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Quentin: The secret of lilacs / Daphne Harridge.
* TIMELINE: Day 398 begins, and will end in 1077. 6am: Quentin wakes Julia. 10am: David and Hallie discuss the playroom. The eclipse of the moon was last night.
== Bloopers and continuity errors ==
* In the previous episode, Barnabas, Julia, and Quentin were looking out the drawing room window at the eclipse. In this episode, only Julia and Quentin are doing so. [Addendum: This is likely because Barnabas is not in this episode, so he wouldn't appear in the teaser.]
* In the teaser, as David says “Hallie, wait,” a boom mic shadow sweeps across the portrait of Abner Collins.
* Either David Henesy or Kathy Cody says the wrong word in Act I. He says, "Now you're acting like it's the most normal place in the world"; then she says, "Ordinary? No."
* Grayson Hall's underwear is visible underneath her skirt at the start of Act II as Quentin wakes Julia.
* In Hallie’s room in Act II, as Hallie tells David she’s going to put the dress back in the attic, the shadow of a boom mic can be seen on the door.
* The end of the scene with Hallie and David talking at the bottom of the foyer stairway is constructed very awkwardly. Hallie is being possessed by Carrie again and hears the playroom music. David doesn't. Hallie says she will join David later to go boating. The music stops (seems it should keep going), and then there's a close-up on only David's face. He doesn't say anything for several seconds, and his eyes dart back and forth. Then he says he doesn't believe Hallie hears music. This artificial pause is no doubt to allow Kathy Cody time to get over to the hallway/playroom set, which follows immediately.
* As Hallie stands outside the playroom at the end of Act III and asks “Why did I come here?”, the shadow of a boom mic can be seen in the lower portion of the darkened corner of the hallway behind her.
* As the door to the playroom appears to open “by itself”, the arm of a crew member can be seen just inside.
* After Quentin wakens from his dream in the final act, as he flings the drawing room doors open and one of them swings back half closed, an unseen crew member pulls it steadily back open.
== External links ==
Dark Shadows - Episode 1076 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Every Day - Episode 1076 - Say Yes to the Dress
The Dark Shadows Daybook - Episode 1076
== Gallery () ==
1076j.jpg|Discovering the Playroom
1076m.jpg|Feeling Strange
1076zz.jpg|Lilacs
1076