Episode 91 - 10/31/66

Vicki and Carolyn bring the ledger referencing B. Hanscombe downstairs, and Vicki suddenly remembers Betty Hanscombe from the portrait Sam Evans painted. Carolyn says that doesn't really add up to very much, but Vicki calls Sam Evans to confirm the name. Carolyn still doesn't understand what that proves. Carolyn asks if she thinks that's her mother. Vicki says it may be proof that she has some family in Collinsport. Carolyn wants to ask her mother, but Vicki asks her not to, as Liz always seems to avoid the question. Liz enters and Vicki confirms that she's decided to stay on at Collinwood. Liz is pleased, although surprised, by her decision. Vicki asks for some time off to visit Bangor, and Carolyn offers to drive her in to town.

Carolyn and Vicki arrive at the diner. Vicki goes to the lobby to check the bus schedule, and Carolyn calls Burke to let her know that she's at the diner. Vicki has an hour before the next bus. Burke joins the girls in the diner, and hears about Vicki's trip. Carolyn then asks if he knew Vicki saw Bill's ghost. Burke offers to drive Vicki into Bangor with him, and Carolyn jumps in to say the bus will be there any minute. Vicki agrees to join Burke, and he goes to get her luggage from Carolyn's car. Carolyn is angry that Vicki ruined her chance on seeing Burke that evening.

In the car en route to Bangor, Burke asks Vicki about Bill's ghost.

Back at Collinwood, Carolyn storms in. Liz asks her what's wrong. Carolyn says she thinks she made a mistake about Vicki. Maybe she shouldn't stay on. Liz asks why she suddenly feels this way. Carolyn explains that Vicki is with Burke. She says they're on their way to Bangor together, and Vicki is probably telling him all about the family.

Vicki explains how David locked her in a room, and how she saw Bill's ghost. She mentions Bill's ghost singing, and then warned her to leave Collinsport before she was killed like he was. Burke doesn't believe it was a ghost, but does believe Bill was killed by someone in Collinwood. Vicki confirms that the ghost said Collinsport—not Collinwood. She asks Burke to drop her off at the hotel when they arrive in Bangor.

Our thoughts

John: Happy Halloween! I know it's only Monday, but what a wasted opportunity to do something special for the episode airing today.

Christine: Well, technically it's 10-20-66, so it's not Halloween yet. It is disappointing that after being presented with the exciting ghost of Bill Malloy that we've had to endure some lackluster, plodding episodes.

John: How is it that Vicki knows Sam Evans' number from memory? Must be from always calling her best friend Maggie when the cameras aren't on her.

Christine: Remember there were no cell phones back in the day and it was commonplace to commit phone numbers to memory. Though I get your point that she's only been to Maggie's house once and wouldn't have dialed it often. She must have a really good memory.

John: How would Burke know that Vicki saw Bill's ghost, Carolyn? Would that have been published in the Collinsport Daily News? And then you tell him she's going to Bangor, and you get upset when he offers to drive her. Good lord Carolyn, you've got issues.

Christine: Are you really talking to Carolyn? Should we be concerned? She is a teenager, and a spoiled one whose father abandoned her before she was born and who's lived alone with her mother for the past 18 years. Certainly she's got issues. Just wait. Just you wait.

Betty Hanscombe? Who's that? (photo from Ep. 60)



Happy Halloween from the Ghosts at Collinwood!

Episode 90 - 10/28/66

Vicki starts to pack her bag when David comes into her room. He asks what she's doing. He says it looks like she's packing to leave. She asks if that's what he wanted. He says that's what he said he wanted. He says he didn't mean all of the things he said to her. If she died, he says he WOULD come to her funeral. Because he likes funerals. She asks about Roger scolding him for locking her in the room. David says he didn't know she was in the room. He says he wasn't talking to her - he was talking to the ghosts; Josette Collins and another girl.

Vicki mentions the ghost of Bill Malloy. David asks what he said. Vicki tells him that the ghost told her to leave. David says she can't leave now. If the ghosts like her, then she needs to stay. She says that he told her to leave or she'd be killed. David says that Bill had to have been murdered, as if it were an accident, he wouldn't come back as a ghost. He also says that Josette didn't jump from Widow's Hill—she was pushed. David begs Vicki to stay. Carolyn hears this as she walks by, and reminds Vicki that she said she'd let David decide. Carolyn asks if she might have been dreaming when she saw the ghost. Vicki points out the seaweed, and also that the ghost was singing what Carolyn knew to be Bill's favorite song.

David finds Matthew changing the lock on the door to the closed off portion of the house.

Vicki tells Carolyn that the only reason David wants her to stay is the ghosts. Carolyn admits that her wanting Vicki to stay is selfish.

David tells Matthew he needs him to fix something.

Vicki wants to show Carolyn the room, and with Matthew gone, they're able to get in.

Once the girls are gone, David goes into Vicki's room to read her diary entry on Bill Malloy's ghost.

Matthew finishes with the lock, and David asks him if anyone already in there could get out. He suggests that the lock isn't just to keep people in, but also to keep people out. David tells him that Vicki saw Bill's ghost. Matthew seems worried. David offers to take him to the room where Bill's ghost was seen, so he can hear who killed him.

Vicki brings Carolyn to the room she was trapped in, careful to hang on to the key. She describes what she saw, and points to where she saw Bill's ghost. There's no sign of seaweed, so Carolyn assumes she was dreaming. She then shows Carolyn how she tried to get the key, and she realizes the paper she used has a ledger with a familiar name - B Hanscombe.

Vicki and Carolyn find David in her room, where David goes so far as to say he loves her. After he leaves, Vicki asks Carolyn if he had said that about anything or anyone before. Carolyn says he once told her about a kitten he loved back in Augusta; but he drowned it.

Our thoughts

John: So did Roger and Liz NOT share how they found seaweed where Vicki saw Bill's ghost? Argh!

Christine: And while they can't bother to dust or clean out the cobwebs or even pick up papers off the floor, they went to the trouble of removing all the seaweed from the floor? Or did the ghost of Bill Malloy come back to get his seaweed back? It's what all the discerning drowned ghosts are wearing this season, after all.

John: How could Vicki have forgotten Betty Hanscombe from the Sam Evans portrait that looked just like her? We certainly haven't forgotten.

Christine: Yeah, that was pretty weak. Some kids may have had detention that day in 1966, and since they did not have the benefit of being able to record episodes, may have no idea who the heck Betty Hanscombe is.

John: Okay, I must admit I'm a little bit disappointed by this episode after last week's 'Ghost Friday.' We can only hope that they've saved up something very special for Halloween...

Christine: Save us, ghost of Bill Malloy, please save us! It's been a bit of a disappointing week. The ghosts are coming, but probably not on Halloween. Kids have to get ready for trick-or-treating and probably don't have time to watch Dark Shadows at 4pm in 1966, so there's no point in having anything too dramatic happening that day.

Episode 89 - 10/27/66

Burke Devlin works at his desk while Blair stands over him. Blair confirms the prices for the properties are fair, and that Burke's bid has been made on one of the Logansport Fishing Industries.

Roger tells Liz Vicki is delusional. He says she's a threat to David. The phone rings and Liz finds out about Burke's offer on the Logansport fishing fleet and cannery. Liz says she'll top the bid, and Roger says they can't compete with Burke's money.

Burke asks how quickly they can close the deal on Logansport. Blair suggests that Burke might be underestimating Liz. Burke gets a call and asks the caller to come up. There's a knock on the door several men enter. Burke introduces them as top men for the Collins fleet. Burke explains that he's purchasing the Logasnport fishing operation. They all start to leave when Burke explains he wants them to work for him. They're loyal to the Collins family. Burke offers to give them more money and a profit sharing deal in the operation.

Roger explains to Liz that Burke has a team, while they are alone. Liz says they have people Burke can never buy. Every one will stick by them.

Burke tells the men that if they don't take his offer, they won't have another chance. The main Collins man, Amos, walks out.

Liz explains that Burke won't find experienced men to run Logansport. Roger suggests Burke will poach their employees. There's a knock at the door, and it's Amos. He brings them up to date on Burke's pitch. Amos said the others stayed when he walked out, listening to Burke's offer and threats. He says Burke offered more money and a cut of profits. They thank Amos and send him on his way.

Burke and Blair discuss the meeting. Burke thinks he convinced three of the men. Though he says he only needs to get one to convince the others to follow suit. Blair cautions Burke that he doesn't think Amos' loyalty can be bought. As he says that, Burke gives Blair a $1000 bonus. The phone rings and it's Liz calling to tell Burke that he won't get away with what he's trying. She threatens to stop his Logansport takeover attempt.

Our thoughts

John: Roger is really laying it on thick to try and get rid of Vicki. Does he really think Liz will believe that Vicki is a threat to David?

Christine: He is desperate to be rid of her. If he's willing to encourage his psychopathic son to commit murder, he will try anything.

John: Shouldn't Liz have offered to compensate Amos for his loyalty? She needs to take a page from the Burke Devlin playbook.

Christine: For men of honor, it's an insult to offer money to buy loyalty which should be earned with trust and respect. As Blair says, he doesn't think his loyalty can be bought at any price. Though once his loyalty is proved, I'd expect she'd come through with a bonus or promotion.

John: Interesting to see some new faces. Question is, will we see them again, and if we do, who will they be working for?

Christine: Answer is, no we won't. Or maybe we will. But probably not. Good old Amos Fitch was played by George Mathews who appeared in many popular TV shows in the 50s and 60s and was also in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Episode 88 - 10/26/66

In the drawing room, Vicki tells Carolyn that she saw a ghost when she was trapped in the room—Bill Malloy—warning her to leave Collinwood before she was killed. Liz walks in as she says that, and says that's nonsense. She says Roger mentioned David's prank, but nothing about any ghosts. Vicki tells her that based on the events of the past few days, she thinks it's best that she leaves Collinwood. Roger enters and agrees with her. He says Vicki shouldn't stay where she is in danger. Liz asks the girls to leave. Roger makes up a story of what happened with David and Vicki. Liz asked how he got into that part of the house, and Roger says the door was unlocked. Liz suggests that lately there have been too many accidents at Collinwood.

Carolyn comes in to Vicki's room and tells her she can't leave. She also tells Vicki how she was out with Burke Devlin after finding out Joe was having dinner with Maggie Evans. Vicki tries to get Carolyn to see the double standard she's applying to Joe. Carolyn says that she was upset when she got home and Vicki's whereabouts were still unknown. Despite everything, Vicki expresses concern for David.

Liz is confused by Roger's explanation of events. She asks if Roger has ever seen a ghost in Collinwood. He says he's not sure. He says he's seen and felt things that he can't explain. He suggests they can go back to the room of the house to look for evidence of what Vicki claimed to have seen.

Carolyn says that Vicki is the only one she can talk to about Burke Devlin.

Liz and Roger make their way through the closed off portion of the house. They find the room where Vicki was trapped, and Liz finds David's things, proving he had been there before, and locked her in deliberately. Roger says Vicki needs to leave because David is an incipient psychopath. Liz asks if he was concerned about Vicki saying she saw the ghost of Bill Malloy. She points out the wet seaweed still on the floor in the room.

Downstairs, Liz explains that they saw the evidence they were meant to see. She talks of ghosts wandering around until wrongs have been righted. Roger doesn't know what to make of it. Carolyn and Vicki come downstairs, and she begs her mother to convince Vicki to stay. Liz explains to Vicki that she'd like her to stay, but that the decision is Vicki's to make. Roger argues that she should leave. Vicki says that she wants David to make the decision. She wants to know why he hates her.

Our thoughts

John: How is it that David doesn't make an appearance in this episode? He's certainly got some explaining to do.

Christine: The adults have to decide what to do about him. This is his second attempted murder.

John: Liz and Roger are pretty cavalier about finding wet seaweed in the room where Vicki says she saw Bill Malloy's ghost. If Roger really thought it was part of David's attempt to frighten Vicki, I think he would have made a stronger case for that.

Christine: They suspect Bill Malloy's ghost was there as Vicki stated, but don't want to believe that Bill Malloy's ghost is actually hanging around Collinwood.

John: It's great to see parts of the house that we've never seen before, but I have a hard time believing Roger's claim that he walked for miles before finding the room Vicki was in.

Christine: Maybe he meant to say feet instead of miles as he did in Episode 17. Perhaps it just seemed like he walked for miles. Wow, that was over 70 episodes ago. We've really come a long way.

Episode 87 - 10/25/66

Vicki remains trapped upstairs.

In the foyer, Roger looks at the time on the grandfather clock. It's 1am. Carolyn arrives home. Roger asks if she thinks Vicki might be visiting her artist friend. Carolyn barks that she's sure that's not where she is, since Maggie is entertaining Joe Haskell. She runs upstairs, angry.

Joe tells Maggie stories of his seafaring adventures. She's clearly enamored with him. Maggie says they have one thing in common—boats. Joe quizzes her to confirm this. He's pretty impressed by how much she knows. Maggie talks about her father blowing $15,000 he earned selling paintings 10 years ago, saying she could have used that to partner with him. Joe starts signing Bill's favorite shanty.

Roger fixes himself a drink. She tells him that she was with Burke earlier. Carolyn explains that she ran into Burke and Sam at the Blue Whale. Roger isn't thrilled to hear they were together. Vicki comes back up in conversation, and when the comparison to Bill's disappearance to Vicki's, Carolyn is worried. Roger sends her to bed and says he's waiting up for her.

At 2:15am, Joe decides it's time to leave. He gives her a kiss on the cheek on his way out.

Roger shuts off the light in the drawing room, grabs a flashlight, and opens a secret panel. He goes in and closes it behind him. Carolyn comes downstairs and can't find her uncle.

Roger explores the closed off portion of the house with the flashlight.

Vicki tries to sleep, wrapped in a blanket.

Roger ascends a spiral staircase.

Vicki hears a door open and calls out to David.

Roger hears Vicki. He sees the key outside her door and picks it up. Vicki asks who's out there. Roger topples something to make a noise, and then raps on the door with an old cane. He then masks his voice and calls out for Victoria to leave Collinwood.

He opens the door and expresses thanks that he found her. Vicki says that David locked her in the room. Vicki said she saw a ghost. She said it was Bill Malloy, and he warned her to leave Collinwood.

Our thoughts

John: Is it really 1am when Carolyn arrives home? And when Maggie and Joe are having coffee after dinner? Are we not supposed to be able to tell the time on that clock?

Christine: It looks like you got the times right. Everyone is staying out late on a stormy night.

John: Man, how long was that uncomfortable pause before Joe finally leaned in and kissed Maggie on the cheek?

Christine: Well, first he had to think about whether he should kiss her or not, and then had to decide on the cheek or lips, but being the good guy that he is, and being unsure if he's officially broken with Carolyn yet, he went for the cheek, which says he's interested, but he's not a dog. 

John: Am I the only one who was waiting for Roger to turn into Don Knotts in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken when exploring the closed off portion of the house? And then he turns out to be an evil jerk, trying to scare Vicki into leaving Collinwood before rescuing her.

Christine: Here it is only Tuesday and she's already been rescued. I'm surprised Roger didn't leave her in there to stew another day just to be sure she wouldn't want to stay at Collinwood any longer, though he is a very bad man to have done what he did to scare her. How interesting to learn there is a hidden panel that leads to the closed off portion of the house. That could come in handy. I wonder if Roger is the only one to know about it.

Episode 86 - 10/24/66

In the foyer, Liz asks David if he knows where Vicki is. Roger walks in and asks what's going on. Liz explains that she's missing.

Vicki pounds on the door calling for David.

David suggested maybe Vicki left, and Liz notes that Vicki's purse is still in her room. Roger asks if David has seen her since they were all last together. David says maybe a ghost took her. Liz sends him to bed, and as he goes upstairs, he says they'll never find Vicki. Roger asks about Carolyn, and Liz says she left upset about Joe.

Burke and Carolyn arrive at his room in the hotel. He offers her a drink, and when he asks for her ID, she says there are other ways to prove her age. They toast, 'to us.' Burke turns on the radio to find some music for them to listen to.

Roger finds David with his crystal ball. David says he wants to find out who killed Bill Malloy. Roger suggests he ask his crystal ball where Vicki is. He speaks to it and says he can't see. Roger then suggests that David ask himself where Vicki is.

Vicki hears a creaking sound and calls for David.

Burke tells Carolyn of carnivale in Rio. He then kisses her hand. Burke takes his shoes off and puts his feet up on the coffee table. Carolyn asks if he's ever been in love, and he says, "Once."

Roger says he wishes he knew what David knew and wasn't telling him. Liz comes downstairs with a key in her hand. She asks where he got it, as she found it on his desk. She says it opens the door to the locked area of the house. Roger was surprised to hear this. David apologizes to his aunt, and she says if he says he didn't use it, she believes him. When she goes upstairs, Roger asks him to look inside his crystal ball again, and see if he believes David.

Burke tells Carolyn a tale of a beautiful maiden who swam away from him. Carolyn gets up to leave and says it's the best night of her life. Burke offers to drive her home, and she declines, saying she's a very good swimmer. Burke gives her a kiss, and with that she leaves. After she's gone, Burke says she had better be a good swimmer, as she's soon to be caught in a whirlpool with the only way out being down.

Roger fixes himself a drink, and toasts Vicki, wherever she is.

Vicki throws something at the window and breaks it. She then slides a piece of paper under the door, pokes the key out of the lock with a hairpin, and attempts to pull the key under the door. Her attempt to get the key fails.

Our thoughts

John: Welcome to 'No ghost Mondays' on Dark Shadows. Is it just me, or has Vicki gotten over Friday's Bill Malloy sighting a little too quickly. And where's the seaweed?

Christine: You didn't really expect Bill Malloy to still be hanging out with Vicki in the locked room, did you? I also felt like she got over the ghost, but she's alone, so who is she going to talk to about it? She probably thought she dreamed it. Although I am also impatient for more ghostly appearances, I thought today's episode offered some interesting tidbits. I was wondering if David really intended to leave Vicki in the room to die and that was confirmed. Carolyn gets her first kiss from debonair Burke Devlin and we find out he is using her in his plot for revenge against the Collins family. Roger knows David had something to do with Vicki's disappearance and seems pleased about it, as it removes the possibility she could tell anyone about the pen she found at Lookout Point.

John: That voice on the radio in Burke's room sure sounded familiar. I was waiting for him to call out the airdates of the episode again.

Christine: Or that "Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production." It seemed that the station was being changed before Burke started turning the knob. Fortunately he found the sappy romantic music he needed to get Carolyn all warmed up. I wonder why he would risk contributing to her underage drinking since she obviously doesn't need any alcoholic inducement to be putty in his hands. Better hope Liz doesn't sniff her breath when she gets home.

John: Since when was the key still in the lock to the room Vicki was trapped in? She sure came up with that plan quickly, of course failing at the last minute. I guess we'll have to wait a few more days for her to get rescued...

Christine: Maybe the ghost of Bill Malloy put the key there. There's a lot of junk in that room and the door is over 50 years old. She could probably find something to break through that door pretty easily, but it would not be very interesting if she escaped so soon. We'll have to wait until Friday. If we wait long enough, maybe Bill Malloy will turn up again and ask why she didn't listen to him when he told her to get out.