483 - May 1, 1968

[bunniefuu]

Victoria Winters has returned to the great house of Collinwood

from a strange and haunting adventure in the past

and now, the terrible event she witnessed there

are beginning to change not only her life

but the lives of those around her.

In the old house, in 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 re-impose an evil curse upon him

and claim him as its prisoner forever.

Well, how are you today, Julia?

No different from yesterday or the day before,

I still have strong reservations about your plans.

And I intend to go through with them.

There is much to be done between now and tomorrow.

I thought Dr. Lang was fully prepared.

He is.

But there are several matters that I must attend

to before I begin my new life

and on one of them, I must ask your help.

Oh, I'll do anything for you, you know that.

Anything, Julia?

What do you mean?

Well, I know that you haven't been around

the Windcliff Sanitarium lately,

but you still make decisions regarding your patients,

don't you?

- Yes. - Good.

I want you to arrange for the release of Willie Loomis.

♪♪

[eerie theme music] ♪♪

Willie Loomis?

Oh, Barnabas, I can't get him released from Windcliff.

But you just said you could.

- Yes, of course, I can, but - but-- - But what?

Why do you want him released?

I could answer that by asking, "Why not?"

You receive periodic reports on his condition, don't you?

Yes.

And haven't you been told

that he is making rapid improvement?

Rapid improvement doesn't mean

that he's completely sane.

Well, how long ago did you receive the last report?

About a month.

Well, at the rate he's improving,

a month could be a lot.

He could be perfectly normal by now.

Or he could be a very disturbed man,

possibly even a dangerous man.

Dangerous?

Oh, my dear Julia,

that's the last thing that Willie could ever be.

You still haven't answered the first question I asked you.

And what was that?

Why do you want Willie released?

- Isn't that obvious? - No, it isn't.

Julia, the - the poor man was shot down by the police,

accused of m*rder.

He was judged to be insane

and confined to a mental institution,

all because of me.

But you had no way of knowing

that he was going to try to warn Maggie Evans about you.

Even so,

but I feel responsible for what's happened to poor Willie.

He's been very much on my conscience.

Your conscience?

Well, you say that as if you believed I didn't have one.

Well, I do,

and I want to clear it before I change my life.

Are you sure that's the only reason you want Willie released?

Now, what other reason could there be?

I don't know,

but I find it interesting that you've never had

pangs of conscience before

regarding Willie or anyone else.

Is it inconceivable to you

that I could do an act of kindness?

Everyone is capable of performing an act of kindness,

but let's be honest about it, Barnabas,

with you, it isn't, shall we say, characteristic.

You know perfectly well I've always been very fond of Willie.

You've also been very cruel to him.

Julia, are you going to grant me my request or aren't you?

- Well, I can't say, yes or no, at this moment, Barnabas. - Why not?

Because I don't know if it's practical

or possible to have him released.

It is both.

How do you know?

You haven't seen any progress reports.

You haven't even bothered going to the hospital to visit Willie,

which is why I find your conscience pangs so curious.

Julia, you are forgetting that until recently,

I was unable to function at any other time but the night.

Now, surely, I couldn't have gone to Windcliff

in the middle of the night to ask to visit

one of the patients there.

I could have arranged it. You never asked.

Julia, I've asked you a favor. I gave you my reasons.

Now, I want an answer.

All right.

I will call Windcliff and have them send the progress report.

But that will take several days.

I'm sorry. It's the best I can do.

Besides, a report won't be as effective

as our own eyes and ears will be.

What does that mean?

I suggest that we go to Windcliff today,

you and I, and talk to Willie and make our own decision.

Why today?

Well, because there is little time

before Dr. Lang's experiment

and if there's one thing I want to do,

I want to do this for Willie right now.

Now, it will only take a few hours to go out to Windcliff,

talk to Willie and drive back.

Now, is that too much to ask, Julia?

Well, is it?

All right. Let's go to Windcliff today.

♪♪

Well, where is he?

The nurse will bring him in a moment.

Now, remember, you agreed to accept my decision.

Yes, yes.

And I want you to try to behave toward him

as you would under normal circumstances.

What do you mean?

I don't want you asking any leading questions.

Julia, don't try to intimidate me.

I'm not. I just want to make it clear

that my concern is for what is best for Willie,

not what is best for you.

Ms. Jackson, you may leave.

I'll let you know when we're ready.

Willie?

Don't you remember me?

It's Barnabas.

I haven't seen you in such a long time, Barnabas.

Then you do recognize me?

Yes.

Do you remember where you lived before you came here?

The old house.

You remember, don't you?

Sometimes, I think about the old house.

Do you have pleasant thoughts about it?

Yes.

- Would you like to go back to the old house, Willie? - Barnabas.

Go back?

I keep wondering when I'll - I'll go back.

Willie.

Willie, we came here today to ask you some questions.

Questions?

Yes. Because we're concerned about you.

Well, you're concerned? Well, why?

Because you've been here now for a few months

and the doctors say you've shown remarkable progress

and there is a chance that you might be able to leave here.

Where would I go?

I would like you to come back with me, Willie.

Barnabas, please let me ask the questions.

Are any more questions necessary?

Obviously, he's quite himself again.

I will make that decision.

Now, now, Willie, I want you to tell me how much

you can remember of the time before you came here.

Well, I remember I used to work for Barnabas at the old house.

Do you remember why you were brought here?

Maggie Evans.

What about Maggie Evans?

Wait a minute. Let me think.

Yeah, it was at night, and I went to her house,

and there was a lot of men outside.

Policemen!

I wanted to tell her something.

What did you want to tell her?

I've been trying to remember that.

Willie, how would you feel about leaving here?

Leaving here?

Yes. Would you like to leave here?

Well, I'd like--

I'd like to work for Barnabas again.

You see, him and me, we were good friends,

and - and he did a lot for me.

Do you think there's a chance I can get out of here, Doctor?

I don't know, Willie. We'll have to wait and see.

Well, you see, I'm not weak anymore.

The doctors, they fixed me up real good and I'm strong,

and honestly, if I got outside,

I wouldn't cause anybody any trouble, Doctor.

Do you think you can get me out of here?

We are going to do everything we can, Willie.

Aren't we, Doctor?

I think it's time for you to go back to your room now, Willie.

You mean, I'm - I'm going to have to stay here?

Ms. Jackson!

Barnabas and I have to discuss it, Willie,

and then, I will make my decision.

Barnabas, now, you - you - you'll tell her

you want me back with you, wont' you?

Yes, Willie, I will.

You won't forget?

No, I won't forget.

Oh, you certainly made that as difficult as possible.

It should be obvious to you

that he's perfectly ready to leave this place.

It is not obvious.

Oh. You saw the way he behaved, the way he spoke,

he's exactly as he was before he came here.

A little more subdued perhaps,

a little reticent, but that's understandable.

And you must understand that surely this man

is not dangerous!

Thank you for your diagnosis, Dr. Collins.

Now, Julia, you needn't be peevish.

Peevish?

Julia, I've made up my mind.

There was something rather pathetic in his appeal to us.

I don't think I could live with myself now

if he were to stay here.

Now, I'm willing to assume full responsibility for him

after you've released him.

I have not said I would release him.

You didn't need to.

I could tell that your heart went out to him

every much as mine did.

♪♪

Now, Willie, in a few days, there are -

there are certain rules that you must obey faithfully.

Rules?

You must stay inside the house.

You can go outside only if I go with you.

But why, Barnabas?

Well, certain people will need time to adjust

to the fact that you're home.

Well, you - you don't think I'd hurt anybody, do you?

No, of course not.

Now, you should understand that,

just a few more days, as I told you.

Sure. OK.

Now, I suggest that you go to your room and rest for a while.

We can talk later.

All right, Barnabas.

Well, you see, he's a docile as ever.

A bit too docile, if you ask me.

Do you still believe that you've made a mistake, Julia?

I'm only concerned that he may have left Windcliff too soon.

He may not be psychologically able to cope

with the outside world.

Just leave him to me, Julia.

Leave him to me.

Come on in, Joe.

- Hey, now, Maggie-- - Ah! Willie Loomis!

Maggie, now, please don't - don't - don't scream.

They put you away. How did you escape?

- I didn't escape. - Stay away from me!

Now, Maggie, don't - don't - don't be afraid.

- I'm not going to hurt you. - You tried to k*ll me once!

Oh, Maggie, I didn't do that. Now, you got to believe me!

- Just don't come near me! - Listen!

When I came here this time, I wasn't going to hurt you.

You just get out of here or I'm going to call the police!

Police?

No. You can't do that.

- Barnabas, he will be mad at me. - Barnabas?

Yeah. He come to Windcliff today.

He brought me back to the old house.

He told them I wasn't sick anymore.

And I - I knew when I got back home,

I had to come and see you right away!

I don't want to see you! I just want you out of here!

But I got to tell you what happened that night!

I know why!

Now, Maggie, you shouldn't be acting so scared of me.

You know, I never would have dreamed of hurting you.

- Now, you got to believe that! - Just stay where you are, I tell you!

I just wanted to warn you about the danger you were in.

- No. - Yeah.

Don't you understand? You were in danger.

Maggie, I always liked you. I never would have hurt you!

- You know that, right? - Joe!

- Huh? - Joe, come in quick!

Joe! Joe!

Loomis.

How did he get in here?

I don't know and I don't care.

I just want you to hold me tight, Joe.

Just hold me close.

♪♪

Mr. Haskell, what can I do for you?

Where is he?

Who?

Willie Loomis.

I don't know what you're talking about.

Did you or didn't you arrange for his release today?

Very well. I did.

Mr. Collins, have you lost your mind?

The man is a maniac and you know it!

The doctors at Windcliff judged him to be normal

and I agreed to be responsible for him.

You're not doing a very good job

of looking after your responsibility.

What's happened?

Tonight, he almost finished what he started several months ago.

What do you mean?

He went to the Evans' cottage to k*ll Maggie.

-You must be mistaken. -I saw him there.

I came in just in time.

There's no telling what he might have done to her

if I hadn't gotten there.

But he promised that he wouldn't even leave the house.

Well, he broke that promise!

Now, look, I wish you would just go and get him

because I want to see him.

I think you better let me handle this.

Not on your life!

Now, do I get to see him or do I go to the police?

It would do you no good to get a hold of the police.

His release from the hospital was perfectly legal!

Now, unless he's committed some - some crime tonight

and you can prove it,

the police can do nothing to him.

Why are you so anxious to protect him, Mr. Collins?

Because he is a sick man.

Now, if you want to blame anyone tonight

for whatever might have happened, you can blame me.

I realized that I wasn't very careful in what I did.

Oh, no.

No, I'm not going to let it drop as simply or as easily as that,

not - not as long as Maggie's life is still in danger.

- Maggie's life is not in danger. - How can you guarantee that?

You can't keep tabs on Willie day and night!

I can assure you that this incident will not be repeated.

All right.

Look, Mr. Collins, you go to Willie and you tell him,

if he ever goes near Maggie again,

I'll k*ll him.

You make that clear to him, Mr. Collins.

I'll k*ll him.

[g*n clicks]

♪♪

[eerie theme music] ♪♪