Dark Shadows: The Beginning: Collection 3 (1966)

After 70 episodes and a semi rocky start Dark Shadows has finally hit it's stride with 35 episodes that begin to delve into the strangeness at Collinwood, while there's still no sign of the famed vampire Barnabas Collins, Dark Shadows: The Beginning: Collection 3 leaves behind the lengthy repetitious conversations of the past and begins it's roller coaster ride into the bizarre.

What sets The Beginning: Collection 3 apart from the first two collections is mainly flow and speed. The Beginning: Collection 3 manages to throw something new into almost every episode, keeping the viewer guessing, keeping the series fresh, and keeping the storyline moving. In these episodes we see Victoria Winters resuming her search for answers into her past. It's a journey that leads her to the city of Bangor, where she discovers a clue that rekindles the mystery of the death of Bill Malloy, and turns Victoria Winters into a target that someone wants to keep quiet. Meanwhile Burke Devlin continues to plot his takeover of the Collins family by helping to plant Malloy's former housekeeper, Mrs. Johnson, at Collinwood in hopes of gaining inside information that might be useful to him. And Roger Collins attempts to keep the truth about his whereabouts on the night Bill Malloy died a secret, but certain clues have a way of not staying buried very long.

Once again the supernatural aspects of the series are hinted at with yet a little more detail. New locations are introduced, most notably the closed off section of Collinwood where David Collins ends up trapping Victoria Winters for numerous episodes. This collection is the bridge between the somewhat normal atmosphere of the first two collections and the truly supernatural of The Beginning: Collection 4. If your still watching the series and haven't been sucked into the drama yet The Beginning: Collection 3 ought to really get you addicted to the strangeness of Dark Shadows.

8/10