Tonight we get soapy with our Frankenstein feature, we visit that gothic, operatic, melodramatic place called Collinwood and a television show known as…
DARK SHADOWS.
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I’d never heard of this Adam fellow from all my days listening to fans of the old soap talk about how good it was. Now I’m certain I’d have been a fan of this soap had I been old enough to have seen it. It has all the elements I love combined with the typical elements of a soap opera that could make it an addictive viewing experience for anyone.
Adam is a handsome enough Monster, tall, dark and dense as Karloff’s character in the early days of his return from the graves.
But onto the extensive look at his story arc on the show...
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Adam was created by Dr. Lang, his body was composed of parts from corpses, assembled by Lang an an unwilling Jeff Clark. After Lang’s death, Barnabas Collins and Julia Hoffman completed the process and brought Adam to life.
Standing almost seven feet tall, Adam was at first unable to speak and behaved violently because of this inability. He took Carolyn Stoddard hostage and she was able to see the gentle spirit within the monsterous exterior. When confronted by authorities on Widow’s Hill, Adam saved Carolyn before falling.
He was able to survive the fall because of his super-human strength and was then befriended by Sam Evan and then Professor Stokes who taught him to speak, read and write. Carolyn hid Adam in Collinwood’s West Wing after Sam died accidentally at Adam’s hand.
Adam fell hopelessly in love with Carolyn for her goodness and attempted to seduce her. It is not known if this was succesful or not. Although she understood his feelings, Carolyn tried to discourage the relationship. She saw their possibilities for a future as hopeless.
Adam became convinced that his unnatural creation was the cause of Carolyn’s reluctance to be his mate and so he set out to create a mate for himself. When Barnabas refused to help, Adam abducted Victoria Winters to blackmail him into cooperating.
Eventually, Julia and Barnabas agreed to help Adam in his quest for a mate and were assisted by Willie Loomis and Jeff Clark. They created a female body and Carolyn agreed to supply the life-force for her so that they would be compatable. At this point, Barnabas understood her true feelings for Adam. Not long before this experiment, Adam had asked Carolyn to marry him and she nearly accepted. However, she was still partially under the spell of Nicholas Blair and so she wanted to try this experiment instead.
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Carolyn was unable to give her life-force and died from the procedure, but she was returned to life by Nicholas Blair. Blair then supplied the life-force of Danielle Roget to bring “Eve” to life.
Eve had little interest in Adam and wanted to pursue other things. Adam mourned his lost love for Carolyn as Eve pursued Jeff Clark, who she knew from her earlier life. Eventually Adam strangled Eve after giving up on the possibility of a romance. Later, he tried to bring her back using Maggie Evans’ life-force. The attempt failed and Eve’s body was destroyed.
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Adam went mad witht he loss of his potential mate and threatened to destroy all who lived in Collinwood. He was attempting to kidnap Victoria Winters when Craolyn discovered him. She tried to reason with him, but he struck her down and took Victoria away to the Old House.
Adam then tried to electrocute Vicky because of a need to make Barnabas feel the kind of pain he was feeling. Barnabas and Julia arrived just in time to shoot Adam and save Vicky. Adam ran from the house and sought aid from Professor Stokes.
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When last we see Adam, Stokes had arranged an operation to remove the scars from his face so that he could start a new life.
Boy are those soaps complicated!
Sam Hall, in TV Guide, predicted that Adam had become a successful businessman only to return to Collinwood yeaers later to propose to Carolyn. She felt unable to resume the relationship and they parted good friends.
For more on Adam and DARK SHADOWS:
One more thing:
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