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Monday, July 18, 2016

Episode 16 - 7/18/66

Vicki answers a call from Bill Malloy confirming that Roger would be all right. Vicki says he's lucky considering the kind of accident it was, and Liz says she's not sure it was an accident. She thinks Burke Devlin is responsible. Bill Malloy says the brakes definitely went out on the car.

At the Blue Whale, Burke hangs out with Joe and Carolyn. Joe asks Carolyn to dance, and she says she wants to talk while giving Burke the googly eyes. While Joe is off making a call, Burke tells her Joe's a good kid. She asks why Burke had to leave and he suggests that she ask her uncle. She likes that Burke knows what he wants and lives life his own way.


Liz calls Matthew to meet with her. She mentions how he was almost killed on the same spot of road 17 years ago. And since then he made sure the brakes worked on all the cars since then. Liz starts to go off on the house - saying it's not for young people.


Matthew arrives to speak with Liz, who has gone upstairs to get pills. When she comes down, she asks when Matthew last checked his car. She asks if he dislikes Roger enough to harm him. He said only if he meant to do harm to Elizabeth. Matthew says he doesn't like Roger much, but he wouldn't tamper with the brakes. Turns out they had been checked just two days ago.


Back at the Blue Whale, Carolyn asks Burke to dance. He says sure, until one of the standard Blue Whale dance numbers starts up. He says it's too fast for him. Burke says Joe might hit him, and Joe agrees. She then suggests Burke join them at the movies, and Joe storms out. Carolyn and Burke leave together to try and find him.


Matthew arrives back at the house after visiting the car wreck. He didn't get a chance to check the brakes because reporters were on the scene. Liz asks if Vicki knew what movie they were going to see, so she can try and reach her before reporters do. Vicki told her she thinks Carolyn was going to the Blue Whale, and Liz wants to know if she was going to see Burke Devlin. Vicki says yes. Liz dresses down Vicki for not telling her sooner.

Liz called the Blue Whale, and found out Carolyn left with Burke Devlin.



Our thoughts

John: So Carolyn wants to be hit over the head and dragged out of Collinwood. And she thinks Burke is just the guy to do it. I can't imagine how she's going to maintain her relationship with Joe after all but ignoring him in favor of Burke.

Christine: Carolyn doesn't seem to know what she really wants. Joe is a tolerant fellow, but not a total imbecile, so he probably won't put up with her shenanigans for too much longer. Funny how Burke is singing Joe's praises to Carolyn and at the same time getting in the way.

John: Considering Joe left just moments before, you wouldn't think it would be too hard for Burke and Carolyn to find him. He'd probably be in the parking lot getting into his car.

Christine: Liz tells Vicki that Collinwood is old and decaying and smells of death. I was wondering when we might get back to what's locked up in the basement.

John: We learn that Matthew is not a member of the Roger Collins fan club, though we don't know why. I was thinking his time as a suspect might have lasted longer than a commercial break, but perhaps they didn't want viewers to be confused by too many suspects.

Christine: Roger does not currently have many fans. I think "Kitten" may be the only one singing his praises, though it may be because they're really two peas in a pod. By the way, the VTR date is 7/4/66 and announcer Bob Lloyd wishes all a Happy Independence Day! Here are a few more scenes from today's episode:

Another opening shot of the house.


Waiting for news on Roger.


Isaac Collins and Vicki


A rare view of the kitchen plants.


Troublemaker Burke Devlin.

4 comments:

  1. Collinsport has such an isolated feeling to it, that it's almost as hard to imagine a movie theatre as it is to imagine people watching TV. Maybe this is exaggerating, but I almost wonder how Carolyn learns about those trendy clothes she eventually starts wearing, let alone buys them (magazines and catalogs, maybe).

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  2. Collinsport has such an isolated feeling to it, that it's almost as hard to imagine a movie theatre as it is to imagine people watching TV. Maybe this is exaggerating, but I almost wonder how Carolyn learns about those trendy clothes she eventually starts wearing, let alone buys them (magazines and catalogs, maybe).

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  3. I assumed she was picking that up from all the other cool cats and groovy chicks hanging out at The Blue Whale. But you're probably right - I can see Elizabeth ordering the latest trendy clothes for Carolyn alongside her Orbach's order.

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  4. A few disconnected thoughts:

    1. The dancers at the Blue Whale are so bizarre in this one it really feels like watching footage from an alien world. Considering that so many members of the cast came from Broadway or were on their way to Broadway, it is baffling that the extras defined "dancing" as something you do by violently jerking your shoulders from side to side while wearing a huge grin. A few years before, aspiring Broadway players might have assumed teenagers dancing to rock 'n' roll in a Maine fishing village would look like that, but by 1966 there were enough people in the New York theater world taking pop music seriously that it's hard to explain what we see in the background of these scenes as anything but sincere ineptitude.

    2. Carolyn's fantasy about being hit over the head and dragged out of Collinwood goes a long way towards explaining the men she gets involved with later in the series...

    3. This is only the second appearance of the kitchen/ dining area that was introduced in episode 5. I think we see more of it in this episode than in any other. Between Mrs Stoddard's comings and goings, Vicki's business with the tea things, and the scenes with Matthew, it's established as a substantial space.

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