Episode 25 - 7/29/66

David sneaks into Vicki's room. He opens the letter from the foundling home and starts to read it when his father bursts in. David runs out of the room as Roger begins to lecture him. He equates reading the letter without permission to stealing.

Downstairs, Liz receives a call about paperwork needing signatures. Vicki comes in and explains that David thought the constable was going to arrest him. Liz says no one else wants Roger dead. Roger enters and says except his loving son. Roger gives Vicki her letter, which she wants to discuss with the two of them, only to be sent upstairs to work with David by Liz.

Upstairs, Vicki starts to interrogate David. She asks if he learned from magazines how to take things apart. He says yes. A bit later, he then exclaims he didn't tamper with the car, and she says she never accused him of that.

Liz doesn't want Roger to bring up the letter Vicki received, even though it relates to Burke hiring a private investigator. Roger asks why she did hire Vicki. Liz explains because he recommended her. He laughs, and she says perhaps he has forgotten. Roger agrees to lie, and then asks why she really hired Vicki. Liz threatens to kick him out if he doesn't do as she says.

David apologizes to Vicki, only to be interrupted by Roger, who escorts Vicki downstairs.

David sneaks back into her room and rifles through the drawers until he finds the letter.

Speaking to Vicki, Roger backs the story Liz told him. Vicki points out that he didn't seem to be aware of that when she asked him earlier. He explains that an anonymous donor to the foundling home, not anyone working at the foundling home staff, had recommended her.

Upstairs, Vicki finds the letter missing. She goes into David's room searching for it. In his drawer, she finds the missing car part.

Our thoughts

John: What a great way to end the week! Vicki can now prove Burke's innocence, and David's guilt. But who will she talk to first?

Christine: That was certainly a satisfying ending that leaves us looking forward to next week. Perhaps Vicki will keep silent to protect David.

John: One thing that I didn't like about this episode was the wishy-washy behavior of David. He seemed to bounce between love for and disgust with Victoria Winters without provocation.

Christine: Well that's not unusual behavior for children, but it did seem a little less than convincing.

John: Just when it looked like Liz' house of cards was finally going to crumble, we see just how much control she can exert over her brother. Will this finally shut down Vicki's questioning of why she was hired, or will she continue to believe there's more to it than she's being told.

Christine: Vicki seems pretty astute, so I don't think it will shut her down. She'll just ask someone else rather than attempting to penetrate the Collins' wall of deceit. There are quite a lot of flies in the drawing room today, most likely because the Collins siblings are full of...garbage. Best lines of today's show:

     Roger: "I must admire you, Liz. You really have a neat way of managing people."
     Liz:  "I hope I can do as well with you."

 

David, getting more ideas for sabotage.

For those following along with the sidequest to find the portrait of Isaac Collins, you can see that he still has not returned to this location above the phone where we found him relocated in Episode 22. This ancestor has not yet been identified. There has been no evidence that Isaac has been returned to his former spot. If you have knowledge of his whereabouts, please alert us. Let's keep an eye out for him.

Episode 24 - 7/28/66

The constable shows up at the diner looking for Burke Devlin.

Carolyn has been shopping, and stops in the diner for lunch. She orders for two, and Maggie asks if she's meeting Burke Devlin. She tells Carolyn the constable is looking for Burke. Maggie also asks if her Dad's name came up in the conversations about Roger and Burke.

Burke arrives at the hotel and greets the constable in the lobby. He offers to buy the constable lunch, but they agree to meet upstairs in his room.

Carolyn and Joe are having lunch when Burke pops in. He orders lunch to go. He says hello to Joe and Carolyn, and Joe makes it's clear he's not invited to join them.

Burke denies involvement in the accident. He doesn't deny holding a grudge against Roger, but he says he doesn't want to kill him. Burke offers up a number of metaphors to explain how he wouldn't be so stupid as to be caught tampering with Roger's car and then let him drive it.

Maggie lets Joe and Carolyn know he'd like to have Carolyn come up to his room. To speak to him AND the constable.

Burke asks Carolyn how he came to visit Collinwood. Carolyn tells the constable that she was responsible. The constable leaves, and Carolyn yells at Burke for playing her like an idiot. She mentions that Maggie said her Dad was going to paint his portrait, which means he's not leaving in a few days. Before leaving, she asks him if he tried to kill her uncle and he denies it.

After she's gone, Bronson calls. Burke arranges to meet him in Bangor. He mentions that they have less time than he thought.

Our thoughts

John: I love how Devlin all but says he'll be back down to see Carolyn after Joe goes back to work. Of course we find that like Roger with Vicki, he was planning for his surprise witness in his discussion with the constable.

Christine: Joe is pressing Carolyn for marriage again after telling her he might get "a honey of a boat" in a few months if he pools his money with his buddy, Jerry. He promises to punch Burke in the mouth some day. I can't wait to see that.

John: The least convincing line you can tell a peace officer: "I've been thinking about buying a car. I knew Roger Collins had a car and I wanted to look at it."

Christine: Not only that, but he even got behind the wheel to see how it felt. I'd just like to note Burke's 1960s lunch for pure sociological purposes: ham and cheese with butter and mustard, no lettuce, and he has coffee with lunch, as do Carolyn and Joe with their burgers. Interesting. People must have been really hyped up in the 1960s.

John: Who is this Bronson, and what's he bringing to Burke? Maybe we'll find out tomorrow.

Christine: Constable Carter warns Burke not to take any sudden long trips. I wonder if his trip to Bangor to meet with the mysterious Bronson will qualify as a long trip or not. Quotable quotes from Burke Devlin in today's episode:

"One thing I never did was place a bet on a dead horse."

"Well do you think I would jump into a river if I knew I couldn't swim?"

The expressive Burke Devlin trying to think of more metaphors.

Episode 23 - 7/27/66

The constable arrives to speak with Roger. Roger tells him he needs him to dig up a murderer, and the constable clarifies attempted murder. He asks to use the phone, and Liz grabs Roger to tell him that Vicki has a letter from the foundling home that may cause problems for her. She wants to speak to Roger alone before he talks to Vicki, and he says he doesn't have time. He explains to the constable that the brakes on his car had been tampered with. The constable tells Liz that Roger wants him to arrest Burke Devlin for attempted murder. Roger hadn't mentioned his name, but the constable had been involved in the trial 10 years ago.

Vicki works with David on his reading lessons, who is fixated on going to jail for trying to kill someone.

Roger spells out his theory, but the constable isn't so quick to believe everything, particularly in that he waited so long to contact him, after going to see Burke himself. He asks to speak to Vicki, and Liz goes to get her to prevent Roger from being alone with her. When Liz goes upstairs and mentions the constable is downstairs, David all but freaks out.

David creeps down the stairs and peeks into the drawing room.

The constable asked if Burke had threatened Roger. And then the constable goes on to say how he did that exact thing 10 years ago. He doesn't believe Devlin is a murderer. Vicki tells the constable that she believed Devlin when he denied it.

Outside the drawing room, David is terrified.

The group goes out to the garage to examine the scene of the crime. Liz waits until the foyer is empty to tell David, hiding in the shadows, to go back upstairs. David asks Liz if they'll arrest someone for having fingerprints on a wrench. The constable comes back in with the wrench and sets it down. David knocks it onto the ground and grabs it. Roger is furious with him, not realizing why he needed to justify why his prints would be on it.

Our thoughts

John: I couldn't tell if the constable was serious when he said David was, "Probably just impressed with the dignity of my badge."

Christine: Constable Carter seems quite intelligent and level headed, despite only having experience with faulty traffic lights and barroom brawls in Collinsport. He asks Roger, "Was my phone out of order?" when he found out Roger waited 12 hours to call him. When questioning Vicki, he asks Liz to tell her brother to let Vicki answer his questions. He seems more irritated with Roger for delaying the investigation than with David for contaminating evidence. 

John: I have to give him credit. David was pretty smart to cover for his fingerprints on the wrench. Maybe he's smarter than we think he is.

Christine: Yes, he is a clever boy. When asked, Vicki tells David the worst thing she ever did was to get into a fight with a girl and give her a bloody nose. David follows up by asking if she ever tried to kill somebody and she responds curiously by smiling and saying, "I'm afraid not," and turns back to the history of Maine lesson. I found that a rather odd response to his disturbing question. David wishes he knew why his father never liked him. Perhaps this attempted murder will end up bringing them closer together.

John: It's nice to see Liz backed into a corner. We'll have to see if Vicki will get a chance to speak to Roger before Liz is able to ensure his story matches hers.

Christine: As Roger says, his sister has "a whim of iron." Roger seems to be quite adept at covering for Elizabeth's falsehoods, so I don't think Vicki will get anywhere with either of them.

David, engaged in intellectual pursuits.

David: "Did you ever try and kill somebody?" Vicki: "I'm afraid not. David, which state do you think is the largest of all the New England states?"

Vicki prevents David's first attempt at tampering with evidence.

David may be deprived of affection, but is not deprived of toys.

The portrait of Isaac Collins has been moved from its location in yesterday's episode. Where is Isaac now?

Constable Carter is played by Michael Currie, who you may recognize from Sudden Impact, Halloween III, The Philadelphia Story, and many appearances on TV.

Episode 22 - 7/26/66

Burke Devlin shows up at the Evans home looking for Sam. Maggie asks if his visit has to do with Roger Collins' accident. He tells her it was no accident—someone tampered with the brakes on his car. Maggie says her dad has been upset since... and trails off.

Sam shows up at the diner and runs into Roger. Roger asks him to stay away. Sam asks if Devlin had anything to do with the accident. He says the two of them are tied together, and he needs to know what happened. Roger tells Sam that he's going to see that Burke is back behind bars. Roger says only the two of them really know what happened 10 years ago.

Burke tells Maggie that he and Sam used to be good friends. He says he wrote to Sam from prison, but Sam never answered. He also says he can't imagine Sam doing anything that would make Burke hate him. Sam begins to get stern with Maggie about sharing personal info about him with Burke. Burke then offers Sam $1000 to paint a portrait of him. He wants one just like the ones up at the Collins house.

Carolyn sees her uncle for the first time since the accident. He takes off the sling and gives it to his 'kitten'. She asks if he's going to have Burke Devlin arrested. He says not only arrested, but indicted and thrown in jail. Carolyn feels responsible if Burke tampered with the car. Roger says it doesn't matter whether he's guilty or not. Carolyn gets upset, and then Roger backpedals and says he's only after justice.

    

Burke sits for Sam so he can complete his initial sketches. Sam asks how he's going to have time to sit for a portrait if he's leaving so soon, and Burke explains there has been a change of plans.

Our thoughts

John: WHAT HAPPENED 10 YEARS AGO! I'll bet its something that would make Burke hate Sam...

Christine: Sam is sure acting that way, isn't he? He really went off on Maggie when he should have been trying to play it cool in front of Burke. I wonder what happened to Maggie's mom.

John: It's funny how when Burke asks if he can get a portrait done, the music stops cold.

Christine: Yes, that was odd the way it cut out. You know what else is strange? The portrait of Isaac Collins has been moved. It used to hang to the left of the window in the drawing room (at least since Episode 3) and now it is hanging over the phone. I want to know why.

John: Is it just me, or does Roger get a better kiss from Carolyn than Joe has thus far? Amazing that Burke has yet to experience that first hand.

Christine: Ew. Here are some screen grabs from today's episode to wash that image of Roger and Carolyn from your mind. Back to the mysterious case of the wandering portrait.

Isaac Collins, who Roger is said to resemble.

Isaac's new location today.

Isaac's location in Episode 17.

Burke admires the portrait of Maggie's mother.

Bestowing the "Badge of Honor."

It's just an innocent peck on the cheek from Uncle Roger

Episode 21 - 7/25/66

Carolyn and Vicki have breakfast the morning after Roger's car crash. Carolyn refuses to believe Burke was responsible. Vicki describes what she saw in the garage before the accident, and Carolyn realizes she may be wrong about Burke. Vicki tells her Burke denied it after Roger confronted him, and while Roger doesn't, she actually believes Burke is innocent.

Bill Malloy visits Devlin in his hotel room. Burke reiterates that he had nothing to do with the brakes on Roger's car. Malloy said when he was convicted 10 years ago, Burke said he would be back to take over everything the Collins family owned. Malloy then asks Burke about Wilbur Strake, who had been in town two weeks before Devlin arrived. Bill discovered that he is a private detective Devlin hired to snoop around Collinsport.

Downstairs, Liz lets Vicki know a letter arrived for her. Carolyn tells Vicki that if Burke is guilty, then she is too, as she brought him to the house.

In the drawing room, Liz takes a call from the constable saying he'll be by Collinwood in the afternoon. Carolyn tells her mother that she thinks Burke is innocent. Liz asks who else would want Roger dead. Carolyn asks what has got her mother so upset, she knows it's more than just an accident. Vicki enters and gives Liz the letter she received. It's from the foundling home, referencing private detective Wilbur Strake. Carolyn asks if it has to do with her mother's concerns, and Liz flatly denies it. Vicki wants to know if Liz is hiding something about her and her past that Burke would be interested in finding out. Liz walks out on the girls.

Devlin asks Bill where he heard of Strake. He admits he hired Strake for business reasons; to investigate new areas of business interests. Malloy says he asked a lot of questions about the Collins family, and Burke says they do own a cannery. Bill compliments Burke on being a smooth talker, and leaves him, for now.

Burke calls a man named Bronson in New York, and asks him to get on a flight to Bangor, as things are happening fast.

Our thoughts

John: Burke manages to keep everyone at bay, despite the mounting evidence against his claim of just visiting Collinsport for old time's sake. Unfortunately for him, having advocates in Carolyn and Vicki doesn't appear to be swaying anyone's opinion in the house on the hill.

Christine: Burke is looking pleased as punch with himself, so something is going his way. He seems unconcerned with the accusations of attempted murder.

John: When Liz asks who else might want Roger dead, she lists off the family members, including David, but they don't give it a second thought. If Vicki had been there, I doubt she would have brought it up, but how many times has she heard David wish death upon his father?

Christine: They'd assume it's just angry talk and probably wouldn't think David capable of knowing enough about cars to pull it off anyway. If there's a question in Vicki's mind about Burke, it's probably because she's starting to add up the clues about David's recent odd behavior. It's her job to pay attention to David, so she ought to be the first one to figure it out.

John: Interesting that Liz is as much of a liar as Devlin, albeit a far less successful one. What's she going to say when the truth finally comes out?

Christine: Which truth? About the reason she hired Vicki, David's attempted murder, what's going on in the basement, what happened ten years ago, or whether or not Liz really is a witch, as the kids at school used to tease Carolyn?

More images from today's episode for your viewing pleasure:

The 40 room house on the hill aka "The House of Tears."

The view from the cliff at Widow's Hill.

Vicki and Carolyn debate Burke's innocence.

Elizabeth and Carolyn in the kitchen nook.

The heat is on Liz.