Episode 70 - 9/30/66

Liz asks Maggie into the drawing room, and says she doesn't want anyone to hear what she's about to say to her. Of course as she does this, David sneaks downstairs to eavesdrop. She thanks Vicki for providing an alibi for Roger. She asks what Vicki makes of Bill's death, and they agree that it must have been an accident. There's a commotion in the foyer as Matthew finds David listening at the door.

David says Matthew hit him, and Matthew says he just pulled him from the door where he was listening. Vicki and David go upstairs, and he tells her the ghosts of Collinwood hate Matthew, too. He says that one is a pretty lady all dressed in white.

Matthew explains that he was planning to kill Burke, but he failed. Liz tells him that he can't do that, but she appreciates that he was thinking of the family.

As he's leaving, Vicki asks Matthew if he's ever seen a woman that looks like a picture she has of David's. Matthew accuses David of snooping around the old house. He leaves, and Vicki says that he seems to recognize the drawing. They go into the drawing room to show Liz, who opens up the family history to a drawing of Josette Collins. Vicki learns there's an old house in the woods, the original Collinwood. David explains there are ghosts, and as he and Vicki go upstairs he says he'll show her the old house after dark.

Carolyn arrives home and tells her mother she needs help; a housekeeper. Liz says she doesn't need help, and even if she did, who in Collinsport would be interested in working at Collinwood. She also explains she has all of David's ghosts to keep her company.

Carolyn runs into Vicki and David as they head out to find ghosts. She brings tea into her mother, and says she's thought of someone to be a housekeeper. She says Mrs. Johnson must feel horrible with Bill dead, and so it would be good for everyone involved. Liz hesitates, and Carolyn says it's what Bill would have wanted.

Vicki and David trudge through the woods to the old house. Once inside, Vicki says it's huge. The shutters bang, and David says that's not one of his ghosts.

Outside the old house, a figure approaches.

David lights a candle and puts it beneath the portrait of Josette Collins. David says she's trapped in Collinwood until a third girl dies at the foot of Widow's Hill. They hear someone outside the house.

Matthew finds them in the old house. He suggests that Vicki stay away from the old house. He thinks it should be torn down. David says it's his house, and he'll get Josette to kill anyone who tries to do anything to the house.

Carolyn continues to push the housekeeper idea on her mother. Liz says she'll think about it.

Matthew offers to walk Vicki and David home. Matthew blows out the candle, and after they leave, we get some new creepy music as the GHOST OF JOSETTE COLLINS MATERIALIZES and steps out of the paining! We watch through a vaseline filter as she wanders outside the old house.

Our thoughts

John: Things have definitely turned a corner! Welcome to the old house, and the ghosts of Collinwood. There's no explaining this away, this is 100%, grade-A supernatural. I can't wait to see where things go from here!

Christine: Can you imagine how excited the kids were back in 1966 after seeing this episode? Probably just as excited as we are! Finally we have arrived at the old house and have had the pleasure of seeing the ghost of Josette Collins for the first time. It is a landmark episode.

John: It's almost funny that what seems like an eternity for this show is spent showing David and Vicki make their way to the old house, giving us plenty of time to appreciate what a poor job the foley artists were doing.

Christine: I had to look up foley artists, so for the benefit of others who don't know, it concerns the sound effects added after shooting. I thought they did rather well with the footsteps crunching through the brush, except for when Vicki and David stop and we continue to hear their footsteps.

John: Is it me, or does David's drawing look nothing like the images of Josette? And yet everyone recognizes it. Particularly funny when compared to Sam's painting that could have been Vicki that looked 'a little bit like her' around the nose and mouth.

Christine: I think David's drawing looks a little like Carolyn. All the images we've seen of Josette show her with her hair up, so I don't think it looks like her either, though he may have the dress right.

John: They also spent far too long trying to make Matthew's arrival at the old house suspenseful. They didn't even make an effort to suggest that it might have been someone else. But at the end of the day, who cares. This one was all about the arrival of Josette.

Oops! Someone spelled Ohrbach's wrong.

Episode 69 - 9/29/66

Mrs. Johnson meets with Burke Devlin in his hotel room. She also believes Bill was murdered. She says Bill thought the world of Mrs. Stoddard, but didn't have much use for Roger. Mrs. Johnson admits to harboring special feelings for Bill, though he never realized it. They go over the timeline when she last saw Bill, and she suggests his body washing up on the shore of Widow's Hill was Bill's way of identifying his killer—Roger Collins.

Carolyn calls Joe into Roger's office. She wants him to take the day off. He says he can't, and they make out in the office.

Burke tells Mrs. Johnson that Bill said he could prove Roger was guilty. He asks Mrs. Johnson if she'll participate in his conspiracy to avenge Bill Malloy's death. She agrees.

Carolyn and Joe talk about her argument with Burke. Carolyn is conflicted, and Joe says Burke must be lying. He tells her about Burke being jealous that Roger ended up with Laura. Carolyn pleads with Joe to take her to the beach so she can listen to the waves and forget about Burke Devlin.

Burke fills Mrs. Johnson in on the timeline of Roger's whereabouts. Mrs. Johnson says Vicki must be lying to keep her job. Burke agrees Vicki must have been lying or mistaken about the timeline.

Joe tries to find someone to cover for him, but he can't. The phone rings in Roger's office and Carolyn answers it. It's for Joe—someone was looking for him to get back to work. Carolyn storms off in a huff.

Burke asks Mrs. Johnson to try and get a job up at Collinwood. There's a knock at his hotel room door. It's Carolyn. Burke hides Mrs. Johnson in the kitchen. Carolyn says her uncle denied Burke's claims. Bill plants the seed with Carolyn that Mrs. Johnson needs a job now that Bill is dead. Carolyn suggests that she could come up to Collinwood.

Our thoughts

John: Though I was right about Mrs. Johnson working for the Collins' clan, I had no idea it was under such suspicious circumstances.

Christine: Interesting how Joe draws parallels between Roger stealing Laura away from Burke with his money and sophistication the same way Burke may be stealing Carolyn away from good old easygoing square Joe. Carolyn is pretty spoiled to think that Joe can just take a day off work to entertain her and be upset when he can't.

John: "You do everybody a favor by walking around and letting everyone look at you"? That Burke Devlin is one smooth talker.

Christine: Joe could pick up a thing or two from the smooth talking school of Burke Devlin.

John: Burke plays Carolyn like a fiddle. Mrs. Johnson might be up at Collinwood before the week is out. She does have a creepy demeanor, and she's already planted the seeds that her beliefs hedge toward the uncanny. Maybe she's just the key that will unlock the ghosts of Collinwood once and for all.

Christine: She is quite a bit more spirited than the Mrs. Johnson we come to know at Collinwood. She believes in signs and omens and that Bill Malloy's corpse was pointing a dead finger at his killer. She may not be wrong about that.

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.

Episode 67 - 9/27/66

Carolyn stops in the restaurant looking for Burke. Maggie is glad she hasn't seen him. Carolyn is still trying to understand why Burke would have said the things that he did. Maggie talks about how everything changed ten years ago. While they talk about him, Burke walks in.

In the Sheriff's office, Sam Evans goes over his statement again. Mrs. Johnson, Bill's housekeeper comes in and demands to know who killed him.

Carolyn watches Burke eat breakfast. She asks about his visit at Collinwood last night. He says he learned that Carolyn is perhaps the only honest person in Collinwood. Burke implies that Vicki lied like the rest of them. He then leaves to make some phone calls.

The Sheriff reviews the autopsy report with Mrs. Johnson. He asks her about the call Bill received, and she says Bill was shouting, so it was someone he didn't like. The Sheriff asked if he might have been so upset that he killed himself. She says no, and that the last thing he said before she left was that he wanted breakfast early, as he had a lot of things to do. He asks who might want to kill Bill, and she suggests he go to Collinwood and ask them.

Maggie is startled by Sam. She says that she talked to Mr. Wells in the hotel, and he told her that Sam had tried to get the letter from him. Sam asks if she remembers when he left the house the night Bill died. Maggie asks why he needs an alibi. She says if the Sheriff wants to know he can ask her. The Sheriff enters in time to ask her just that. She mocks him by saying her dad left exactly at 10:45.

Carolyn goes to Burke's room. She confronts him about what he's been saying about Roger.

The Sheriff asks Maggie if she'd confirm the time Sam left on the witness stand. Sam discourages her from perjuring herself, but she stands by the story. After the Sheriff leaves, she asks if reading the letter would help. He says it's his last will and testament, leaving her all his worldly possessions. She doesn't believe him.

Burke tells Carolyn what he believes happened 10 years ago. She can't believe it. Burke says he doesn't know exactly what happened between Roger and Bill - perhaps his death was an accident - but he does believe Roger was involved.

Our thoughts

John: Interesting to note that this particular episode was recorded just two days before it aired.

Christine: I wonder what that's all about. This show was taped on a Sunday.

John: Hello Mrs. Johnson! Where have you been hiding these past few weeks? I'm probably wrong about this, but my memory of watching later episodes was that Mrs. Johnson worked for the Collins family. That would certainly be an interesting twist; though I imagine she could use the work.

Christine: Your memory serves you correctly. It's interesting to see how her character originated in these beginning episodes.

John: Looks like Carolyn will be next in line to grill Roger on Burke's story. I think we can all guess how well that's going to go.

 

Carolyn: We were just talking about you.  

Burke: You couldn't have chosen a more fascinating subject.