Monday, August 1, 2016

Episode 26 - 8/1/66

David comes out the door of the closed wing of the house holding Vicki's letter. Vicki confronts him about tampering with his father's car. She shows him the valve she found in his room. He denies it. he tries to wrestle it away from her. She locks it in a drawer so he can't get it.


Roger shows up at the police station. He's angry that Burke Devlin has not yet been arrested.

Vicki has locked herself in her room with David outside.

The sheriff explains that there's not enough evidence to charge Burke with a crime yet. Roger threatens to see to the sheriff being ousted when next up for re-election, but the sheriff stands his ground. Roger suggests that he at least search Devlin's room for the valve.


David runs downstairs and tells his aunt that Vicki tried to hurt him. Vicki enters the drawing room and asks to speak to Elizabeth in private.


The sheriff gets a search warrant for Devlin's apartment. Roger wants to join him on the search.


David listens outside the door as Vicki tells Liz what happened. Before she can tell her what she found, the phone rings. It's Roger. Liz says that the sheriff is going to search Burke Devlin's room for the valve. Vicki says he won't find it because she has it. Liz refuses to believe it, and when she goes up to Vicki's room to see it, it's gone.

 


Our thoughts

John: Compulsive lying seems to run in the Collins family. Elizabeth, Roger, David... Maybe Carolyn was adopted.

Christine: Give her time. I'm sure she'll demonstrate her prowess for mendacity soon. That little devil David is quite vicious. Vicki is right to be fearful of him. He may try to do her in next.

John: I do like how the sheriff stands up to Roger's bullying and threats.

Christine: He's pretty awesome. Just don't put mustard on his ham on rye.

John: I thought we were going to have to wait longer before Vicki would get the words out about finding the valve in David's room. So I was not surprised that once she did, the valve wouldn't be in the drawer anymore...

Christine: Could she not have also locked the door to her room? I wonder if David will manage to plant that valve in Burke's room before Sheriff Carter shows up with his search warrant or if he'll just toss it off the cliff at Widow's Hill. Incidentally, there is still no sign of the portrait of Isaac Collins. I only point this out because portraits in Dark Shadows are important. We'll continue to keep watch.

We won't forget you, Isaac Collins.

5 comments:

thingmaker said...

Here's where I start imagining Victoria Winters lured into a room in the unused wing of the house and locked away by David. Just a prediction. I think this was done to somebody later in the series but these pre-Barnabus episodes are totally new to me.

John Scoleri said...

As most of my Dark Shadows history is from the Barnabas era, the only thing that occasionally spoils the show for me is knowing that certain characters survive whatever events are currently going on in Collinsport.

Los Thunderlads said...

Watching the series first time through, it bothered me that Vicki didn't bring the valve to the drawing room and show it to Liz. She knows David is a clever, mechanically competent little fellow, and no respecter of private property. Why on earth would she leave the valve in a dresser drawer which she knows he likes to riffle through and to which he has had considerable time to find or make a key?

That time, I could come up with an explanation. She is in shock, bewildered by the confirmation of the dark suspicions we've seen forming in her mind, and isn't thinking straight.

(SPOILERS FOLLOW)

This time, though, I'm coming to the episode having seen the series through. This is the first time they resort to Idiot Plot- a story that would resolve itself immediately if the characters behaved as intelligently as would the average member of the audience. And it's Vicki supplying the idiocy. Later on, they will rely heavily on Idiot Plot, and because she is so much the point of view character Vicki winds up as the Designated Idiot. That will ultimately destroy her character and drive her off the show. So I can't help but feel sad now when I see this first appearance of Dumb Vicki.

John Scoleri said...

I'm enjoying your comments, Los Thunderlads — please keep 'em coming! It's certainly true that it's a different experience watching the shows again once you're made your way through the series.

Acilius said...

Thanks very much, John! I've decided to post episode-by-episode commentary on a site of my own. I'm linking to your blog frequently there, and pasting some of my comments. Right now I'm a few days behind on that site where I am in viewing. I'm using your comment section to post my first impressions, then am posting more detailed comments as I catch up. I've changed my identity here to link to that site, so that you can see what I'm doing.