(MY) Best of Angelique

On August 18th, MPI will release two more "Best of..." DVDs to accompany the 2012 release of "The Best of DARK SHADOWS" and "The Best of Barnabas."  This round includes 9 episodes focused on Quentin and 9 on Angelique.  As Angelique is my favorite character, you can understand how thrilled I was to read about her featured collection (despite the fact that I own the fabled coffin containing the complete series; I'm a sucker for new iterations of the things in which I'm interested).  I was disappointed when I read about the choice of episodes, many of which have already been used (see "The Vampire Curse"), even as far back as MPI's video run in the early 90s (see "The 1840 Flashback" , "The Best of Dark Shadows", "The Scariest Moments from Dark Shadows", and the final volume of the original run, which contained the "Cassandra ages" episode).  How, I asked myself, could they skip Angelique's emergence from the fireplace in 1897, her first appearance of Cassandra, or any of her rare appearances during Leviathan?  I'm never sure who is in charge of compiling these things; if it were me, here's what I would do:

  Episode 405:  Finally aware that Angelique is the witch who has been plaguing the Collins family, Barnabas tries to escape her clutches.  She threatens to kill Josette, but Barnabas has already sent her away, and with no knowledge of her whereabouts, Angelique is unable to harm her.  When Angelique begins to stick pins into Sarah's doll, Barnabas shoots her.  She believes she is dying and curses him to an eternity of life without love; furthermore, whoever loves him must die.  Angelique collapses, and a bat appears and bites Barnabas on the throat.

  Episode 546:  Nicholas Blair punishes Cassandra for trying to kill Adam by turning her back into a human, without any of her supernatural powers.  Her marriage to Roger begins to crumble, and she runs to the Old House to confront Barnabas.  She admits her true identity as Angelique, reveals to him that she is dying, then turns the tables by pulling a gun on him.

  Episode 556:  Nicholas releases Angelique from her coffin, revealing that he has punished her by cursing her to become a vampire so that she may understand Barnabas' suffering.  She is also his slave; after she nearly attacks a policeman, he threatens to destroy her if she ever disobeys him again.  He sends her to Victoria Winters in her 18th century garb to secure her engagement ring.

  Episode 664:  Barnabas has returned to 1796 to save Victoria Winters from hanging; he soon discovers that Angelique has followed him from 1968.  She strikes a bargain with him:  she will save Vicki if Barnabas agrees to remain in the past and live with her as husband and wife.  But Vicki is hanged, and after Barnabas leaves the body alone, Angelique appears, swearing that she will never release Vicki from her spell ... and that she will never allow Barnabas to have the woman he loves.

  Episode 710:  In 1897, Evan Hanley and Quentin Collins seek to summon a spirit from hell to deal with Barnabas, but it is Angelique who responds to their incantation.  She immediately asserts control over Evan and Quentin, spits her hatred at the portrait of Josette, and hovers outside of Collinwood, where she witnesses Barnabas' budding relationship with Josette look-alike Rachel.  Jealous, Angelique begins to strangle a doll; at Collinwood, Rachel collapses.

  Episode 793:  After Barnabas' secret is revealed, Angelique attempts to re-ingratiate herself with Edward Collins to secure herself a place at Collinwood; in order to regain his sympathy, she spins an elaborate story about how she became Barnabas' victim.  Later, she meets Count Petofi (in his guise as Victor Fenn-Gibbon), who observes that she holds the Hand.  She forces Quentin to agree to marry her if she can use the Hand to end his werewolf curse.  She begins an invocation to the Devil ... and the Hand leaps away from her, turning Quentin unexpectedly into the werewolf.

  Episode 955:  After Angelique's twentieth century husband, Sky Rumson, attempts to burn her with a torch, she flees to the Old House, where Quentin offers her sanctuary.  She tries to rekindle her relationship with Barnabas, but he leaves her to warn Maggie about the return of Nicholas Blair.  Jealous once again, Angelique calls upon the Powers of Darkness to cause Quentin and Maggie to fall in love.

  Episode 1025:  In Parallel Time, after Maggie's disastrous descent down the staircase in the dress of Quentin's dead wife, Angelique, posing as her dead twin sister Alexis, continues her campaign to drive Maggie away by appearing in her own portrait, urging Maggie to throw herself from her bedroom window.

  Episode 1197:  In 1840, after Gerard Stiles' takes away Angelique's powers, she reveals to the court the head of Judah Zachery, clearing Quentin and Desmond Collins of their witchcraft charges.  Now that Barnabas knows she is capable of unselfish actions, he goes to confess his love to her.  But as they meet in the drawing room, Lamar Trask appears with a pistol, determined to avenge his father by killing the witch.