Episode 10 - 7/8/66

David sneaks into the house, and when the phone rings while he's in the foyer, he hides from his aunt Elizabeth. It's Roger, looking for Vicki and Carolyn. Liz tells him he doesn't know where Carolyn is, but Vicki was in her room if he wanted to come talk to her. After hanging up, and without turning around, she tells David he's much too big to hide. She asks him about the broken teacup and he denies breaking it, claiming he saw it fall to the floor all on its own.

For the first time, we see Burke in his room in the hotel. He requests a call in 30 minutes, shuffles some papers into a briefcase, and then pulls a single letter out and leaves it on the couch. There's a knock at the door, and Burke welcomes Carolyn into his room. When she goes to sit in a chair he directs her to the sofa, next to the letter. She asks if he has any friends in Collinsport and he clarifies that he did. She then asks why her uncle Roger is afraid of him, which prompts laughter from Devlin. He says there's no reason Roger Collins should be afraid of him. Burke leaves the room to get a drink, and Carolyn notices the letter. She reads it with a smile on her face as Devlin watches her from the other room. Carolyn mentions a half-million dollar deal that will take Burke away in a few days. He plays upset about her reading his mail, and asks her to forget the letter.

Back at Collinwood, David plays with a cool walking robot. He hears his father arrive and he hides from him. Roger pours himself a drink, and Elizabeth enters to tell him he's been doing a lot of that lately. He told Liz that Victoria went into town to meet with Burke Devlin. He's convinced Burke will be using her to tear them down. He asks why she hired Vicki, and when she says to take care of David, he suggests the boy would best be institutionalized. After the trouble with Burke, Liz sent Roger away and sent him money each month with the request that he not return. Liz leaves, and David's toy robot gives his location away. Roger angrily asks what he heard, and David mentions hearing Burke Devlin's name when he and his mother argued. Liz arrives in time to spare David a beating. Before returning to his room, David declares that he hopes Burke Devlin comes to get even with his father.

Back in Devlin's room, the call he requested comes in and he fakes a conversation with someone in Venezuela. Burke plays both sides of the story and suggests maybe he did come back for revenge —that perhaps he did leave the letter on the couch for her to find, and maybe he did arrange the phone call, and tells Carolyn she can call the switchboard if she doesn't believe him. She finally tells him that she does.

Liz is asleep in a chair dreaming, talking about ghosts in her sleep. She wakes up to see David. He asks why she was talking about ghosts. She notices he's dirty and clutching something in his hand. He claims it's a seashell but runs upstairs without showing her. Liz is in the foyer when the door opens. Carolyn has returned home with a 'friend': Burke Devlin!

Our thoughts

John: I liked David's cool toy robot, and thought that was a nice way to reveal his presence in the room.  Good thing his aunt saved him from what I'm sure was a well-overdue beating. It just dawned on me—Aunt Elizabeth... another Burnt Offerings connection!

Christine: I hadn't made that connection. We'll have to keep an eye out for any creepy chauffeurs. We hear again that David is privy to the actions of poltergeists at Collinwood. Time will tell if it's an ineffective attempt to deflect blame, or if there truly are ghosts haunting the house.

John: Nice to get a little more backstory on Liz and Roger's relationship, and how after 10 years they too have been recently reunited. Looking forward to seeing where things go from here. 

Christine: Elizabeth asserts her ownership of the house and makes sure Roger knows the only reason he's at Collinwood is because of David, who is secure in knowing his Aunt Elizabeth will protect him from his father. When I first saw filthy David approaching the sleeping Liz, I had a flashback to Night of the Living Dead. I wonder what David has been up to and what he's hiding from Liz. I think we can be certain it's not a seashell.

John: That Burke is a crafty fellow, preying on Carolyn's naiveté like that. I thought the setup was so transparent it would be ridiculous if she fell for it, but they played it well, to the point that we accept her believing his story. That said, even I was surprised when he walked in the door with her at Collinwood. What a way to end week 2!

Christine: I look forward to Monday's confrontation. That handsome Devlin sure plays Carolyn like a fine fiddle. Anyone else think he looks like Dick Tracy?

John: I didn't until now.

Christine:  I just realized this is the first episode without Victoria Winters. She does the opening narration, but does not appear in the episode.

John: Doh! I didn't realize that either. One thing that's nice about this show—the episodes fly by!