Dark Shadows Episode 257 - 6/20/67

Buzz comes by to see Carolyn, and Liz makes him wait outside. She tells her mother that not only is Buzz her fiancé, he's going to be her son in law.  Carolyn brings him inside and tells him to wait while she talks to her mother.

Liz tells Carolyn that despite her charade, she's still going to marry Jason. She tells Carolyn that she knows she's too smart to marry Buzz. She says she'll work to have the marriage annulled if they go through with it. Carolyn tells her not to worry about her problems when she has problems of her own. Carolyn tells her mother that she and Buzz won't have children, to ensure she won't cop out on the child like her mother is. Carolyn suggests a double wedding, making Liz extremely uncomfortable. She asks if she doesn't marry Jason, will it put an end to Carolyn's idiocy. Carolyn tells her to try her.

Jason runs into Buzz sitting on the stairway smoking. He asks Buzz to make space for him to pass, and after a brief tête-à-tête, he makes way.

In the drawing room, Liz tells Jason that Carolyn isn't bluffing, and that she was only agreeing to marry him to prevent Carolyn's life being ruined by finding out the truth about her father. She says if her life will be ruined if she marries him, it's no different. Jason tells her she needs to call Carolyn's bluff. He offers to give Carolyn some fatherly advice.

Upstairs, Carolyn fixes her hair when Jason enters her room. He offers her fatherly advice, and she scolds him for using the term with her. He tells her she's acting like her father. He tells her she shouldn't prejudge him and she says he makes her sick. He tells her that no matter what she does, he's marrying her mother.

Liz is pacing in the drawing room when Jason returns. He tells her things went nicely with Carolyn. She asks if he talked her out of marrying Buzz. He tells her it will take time, and that he's handling the situation. He says he'll chat with Buzz next. She tells him that if he doesn't clear it up, he'll be in as much trouble as she is.

Carolyn and Buzz dance at The Blue Whale, where they have the bar almost to themselves. Buzz suggests going to Logansport. Carolyn goes to powder her nose when Jason McGuire arrives.

He sits down with Buzz, and asks how long he's known her. Buzz says they've known each other a couple of years, but they hadn't gone out until recently. Jason asks him if he finds that odd, and Buzz says he thinks she always liked him. Jason explains that she's using Buzz to get her mother to break up with him. Buzz says he knows, and isn't worried about it. Jason tells him not to take her marriage talk seriously. He suggests that Buzz should go out with her a few more times, and then break it off with her. Buzz asks just how much it would be appreciated. Jason says if he spent more time with his friends than Carolyn, he could afford a new motorcycle. Buzz tells him he likes the bike he's got, and the chick he's got. Carolyn returns, and Buzz tells her that he could get a new bike by breaking up with her, but he's not going to. She laughs at Jason's failed attempt to buy Buzz off. Buzz tells her they should go to Logansport before he offers him a sidecar, too.

Our thoughts

John: Replace the leather jacket with a plaid shirt, and Buzz could almost pass for a young George Lucas.

Christine: Almost. I'm surprised that Liz treated Buzz so rudely. She should have known it would only provoke her rebellious daughter. Also, it wasn't very gracious, which is unlike her. I hope she decides to be a "good girl" so she can take him up on his offer for a ride on his bike.

Just the thing Liz needs.

John: Liz once again remembers that Jason too has a bluff to be called. If she'd only use that leverage, I think we might see the last of Jason McGuire.

Christine: Carolyn just might drive her to it. 

John: Turns out Buzz wasn't quite the easy sell Jason was anticipating. Oddly enough, Buzz is starting to grow on me.

Christine: I enjoyed his power struggle with Jason on the stairway. Jason may have won that round, but Buzz triumphed in the end. Buzz truly is the perfect guy for Carolyn. He doesn't care that she's using him, he doesn't mind waiting around for her while she powders her nose, and he does whatever she wants to do. She's never looked happier.

She never looked like this with Joe.

Bartender Bob Rooney shakes his head at the crazy kids.

Carolyn: "How does the powder on my nose look?"
Buzz: "Who looks at your nose?"

Interested parties will note that the portrait of Isaac Collins is no longer hanging in the study and has once again been relocated to his original site. No doubt Isaac is displeased with current events at Collinwood.