Episode 68 - 9/28/66

Roger is on the phone in his office when Carolyn stops in to see him. She says she came to town to talk to Burke Devlin, and wanted to confront him about the accusations he's been making about her uncle. She tells him that Burke actually thinks Roger killed Bill Malloy. She asks if he did kill him, even accidentally. Roger denies it, and Carolyn is comforted by his denial. Carolyn asks why Burke would say all these things. Roger says testifying against Burke was the hardest thing he did. Carolyn says she'll happily provide an alibi for him if needed. She suggests that he treat Vicki nicer as well.

David hides from Vicki in the drawing room. He left the Collins history book open on the ground. She calls and he comes out. He starts talking about Augusta, and how he heard his parents argue about Burke Devlin.

The Sheriff arrives to see Roger.  He explains that Burke won't be pressing charges against Matthew. When Roger says he doesn't know what the Sheriff is talking about, the Sheriff implies that he expected Roger might. Roger explains that if he were going to hire someone to kill Burke, he would have hired someone capable of finishing the job. The Sheriff asks if he has anyone in mind, and Roger says he would likely do it himself.

Vicki says David must be mistaken. She says she doesn't want David to repeat what he said. David says Burke is his only friend. Vicki explains that Burke might not think highly of her right now. David says she's got a big mouth, and Vicki attempts to grab him. He yells at her, and throws furniture around when his father walks in. David says Vicki was trying to hurt him. David runs upstairs. Roger says he hasn't made things easy for Vicki, and it's bothering him. David sneaks back down and eavesdrops on them. Roger invites Vicki to dinner, and she accepts. She mentions David saying that he and his wife argued about Burke. Roger says it's true, but that he won't discuss his and Laura's history with her.

Vicki goes upstairs, and David asks his father about Vicki. He says he's always being blamed for things he didn't do. Roger plays along, and suggests that Vicki probably makes up lies about David to cover her own faults. David asks him to fire her, but his father says his aunt wouldn't have that.

Carolyn returns home, moping. Vicki asks her what happened. She's upset that Joe wasn't available to take her to lunch. She says Joe's a square, and she hopes she never sees him again. The phone rings and it's Joe. He invites her to dinner and she's giddy.

Roger asks David if he'd rather be rid of him or Ms. Winters.

Our thoughts

John: This episode was shot a week in advance, so yesterday's must have been scheduled around someone's availability. During the slate recording, we get to see Louis Edmonds at his desk going over his lines, and then hiding his script.

Christine: Maybe they had to reschedule taping because of casting for Mrs. Johnson. I wonder if it could also be possible something got messed up with the episode they taped that would force them to come in on the weekend to reshoot. I guess we'll never know. We get some recycled location footage of Roger out on the docks that we last saw in Episode 54.

John: Vicki wears her hair up for the first time, in full-on schoolteacher mode. Next thing you know, Roger is asking her out on a date. Of course then he talks to David about getting rid of her, so who knows what's going on.

Christine: Carolyn gave him the idea when she suggests he be nice to Miss Winters and he remarks that it may be "a good idea to charm Miss Winters." As you said in the Episode 62 post, "As long as she stays, he's at risk," and what better way to get rid of her than to encourage David to do it. Since David has a tendency towards choosing solutions that involve death or dismemberment, this is not a wise course of action. Incidentally, I think she's got her hair up to try and look more like the portrait Sam painted of Betty Hanscomb.

John: Carolyn is schizophrenic. One second she's ready to be rid of Joe the square; the next she's going to get dressed up to have dinner with him. The poor bastard doesn't stand a chance.

Christine: No, poor Joe doesn't stand a chance. Hopefully his prospects will improve soon. I'd like to recognize David Henesy's entertaining portrayal of a pychopathic brat in today's episode. It may have been overexaggerated, but he looked like he was having a lot of fun. Alexandra Moltke had good reason to appear truly frightened in those scenes. I thought she was going to be injured.

David goes on a rampage.

Kitten stands by her Uncle Roger, as expected.