Episode 198 - 3/29/67

Roger descends into the basement of Collinwood and begins working at the padlock on the door. Liz interrupts him, and he refuses to stop unless she opens the door. She tells him if he puts his hand on the door, he can leave Collinwood for good. He says she can't be serious. He implores her to check for the paintings. He says he told Sam Evans he could use them in a showing. Liz says that he wouldn't go to such trouble for Sam. She says she hope he has no reason to have to do a favor for Sam Evans. He denies keeping something from her, and he asks if she's keeping something from him. She says the room has old things of Paul's that she doesn't want disturbed.

Sam is sure Roger won't be able to find his paintings. Maggie asks who has them, not knowing it's Roger her pop is referring to. He says it's just somebody he sold them to. He barks at her and she leaves for work, saying she's used to it. He says he'll make it all up to her once the paintings are found.

Wearing what appears to be a new suit, Jason is on the phone with Willie, telling him how wonderful and generous Mrs. Stoddard will be. Liz enters and he tells her how much he enjoys living at Collinwood. He says he has a request of her. He'd like to live in a manner consistent with living in a house like Collinwood. She says she won't give him money. He says he hopes she'll consider it, as all he's got to lose is an allowance, while she has a lot more to lose.

Roger tells Sam he can't find the paintings. Sam tells him to search again, and not to come back until he has results. Roger tells him that he won't go to Burke, because he'd be implicated, too. Sam says that the satisfaction of seeing Roger get what he deserves may overcompensate for that. Roger storms out, and Sam tells him he's going to see Burke. Roger reminds him that his daughter will suffer. He tells Sam that he wouldn't even get the paintings now if he did find them and slams the door. Sam throws his glass at the door.

Jason offers Roger some of his own Brandy. Jason apologizes, saying he thought Collinwood and everything in it belonged to Liz. Jason says that Liz told him that while he lived at Collinwood, he should consider himself like a member of the family. Roger says that doesn't sound like his sister. He asks if Jason plans to be a member of 'the family' for a very long time. He says he plans to stay for a short while. Roger asks for a more precise timeline, and Jason says that will be up to Liz, "like everything else around here."

Maggie returns home to find Sam drunk and sitting on the floor. He complains that he could have had recognition. He whines that the chance of a lifetime is gone. He tells her that he stood right in the room and told him the paintings couldn't be found. He said he told him that he searched Collinwood and couldn't find them. Maggie realizes that he's talking about Roger Collins. She says those were the paintings he sold for $15,000. She says that's more than they were worth, and Roger wouldn't be interested in his work. Maggie sees through Sam's lies. She asks if the $15,000 was for something other than the paintings. He asks if she wants to know what it was for, and she guesses it's so he wouldn't testify against Burke. She asks why he did it.

Our thoughts

John: Wow! Liz wastes no time in laying down the law with Roger. And he seems to realize that she may not be kidding about kicking him out of Collinwood for good. He didn't even have a chance to counter with a threat of taking David with him.

Christine: Jason is feeling pretty confident about getting anything he wants from Liz. I wonder why she doesn't call his bluff. It seems that if he spills the beans on her, then he's also going to be implicated.

John: Interesting pickle between Roger and Liz. She pretty much knows he's lying about Sam, and he's quite confident she's lying about the basement room. Of course Liz didn't help her case by saying, "Yeah—that's it, it's all Paul's stuff..."

Christine: That was classic! What a wonderful scene. Interesting that they're essentially experiencing the same problem of having some criminal secret with an accomplice who is using their knowledge of it to control them. She did say that she loves him, which I believe may be the first outward expression of sisterly devotion we've heard so far, even if it was an 'I love you, but'.

John: So Maggie finally knows the truth about her father, Roger Collins, and old family friend Burke Devlin. I wonder if Sam's letter is still locked in the safe at the hotel.

Christine: The truth is out! And so is the portrait of Isaac Collins after a lengthy time spent in the shadows. There were quite a few strange occurrences surrounding the portrait of Isaac Collins early on in the show, which makes his presence during Jason's conversation with Roger seem significant. It may indicate that grave matters lie ahead for Collinwood. It's interesting to look back at Episode 22 when we were wondering about the events of ten years ago and realize we are finally getting some answers more than 170 episodes later.