Dark Shadows Episode 262 - 6/27/67

Liz finds Vicki in the drawing room, distraught. She says Joe called, and said they found Maggie, and that she's dead. Maggie mentions how Maggie was her first friend. She's disappointed there won't be a service. Vicki asks Liz what she wanted when she entered. Liz says she needs a legal witness to her marriage. Vicki asks if Roger would be the logical choice, and Liz says she doesn't have the courage to ask her. Vicki said she wasn't planning to be there. She didn't want to have to stand by knowing that Jason was blackmailing her. Vicki asks if having Carolyn hate her is the predestined outcome, isn't hating her for the truth better?

Vicki asks Carolyn to talk to her before she goes out with Buzz.

She gets defensive until Vicki tells her that Maggie is dead. Carolyn asks Vicki if she and Maggie were good friends, and tells her how sorry she is. Vicki asks Carolyn if she can call off upsetting her mother for one night. Vicki tells Carolyn that she doesn't know what she's doing, and Carolyn corrects her. Vicki says that while she might know what she's doing, she doesn't know what her mother's doing. Vicki suggests that Jason may be forcing her mother, and goes so far as to bring up Carolyn's father before stopping. Carolyn asks if she knows something that she doesn't, and Vicki tells her she doesn't.

We see the waves crashing on the rocks, and then Vicki walks along the beach with Burke Devlin. He tells her she doesn't have to talk about Maggie if she doesn't want to. Burke says that what happened to Maggie matters, considering the person who killed her is still out there. Vicki reluctantly agrees that he should be caught, but also says that she doesn't care. Burke asks if there's any way to stop Liz from marrying Jason, or Carolyn from marrying Buzz. Vicki says there's not.

Liz hears Buzz' motorcycle. They come in and argue about their plans for the evening. Carolyn decided she wanted to stay home. Liz says she'll leave them alone to go to the study. Vicki arrives home and Liz asks her to meet her in the study. Buzz and Carolyn continue to argue, but she sends him away for the night. He leaves and storms off on his motorcycle. Carolyn says she saw Joe walking down the road, and it made her feel bad. She runs upstairs, leaving Vicki with her mother. Vicki pleads with Liz to tell Carolyn the truth. She says this could be her last chance. Liz tells Vicki she'll ask Roger to be her witness. Vicki tells her that's not necessary, as she'll proudly stand by as witness.

Our thoughts

John: No! Say it ain't so! Mitch Ryan, who has been Burke Devlin since episode 1 (which aired exactly one year before this episode, no less), has been replaced! Not the way I was hoping to celebrate Dark Shadows' 1st anniversary. Perhaps Anthony George will grow on me over time, but for now, I tip my hat to the original Burke Devlin.

Christine: He will be missed dearly. They did manage to find someone else who looks like Dick Tracy, and eventually he'll be accepted as Burke Devlin, but there's no way he'll ever truly fill those shoes crafted by Mitchell Ryan.

John: Ah, yes. Maggie was Vicki's first friend. So warm and friendly. I guess Vicki forgot that Maggie called her a dope that day she arrived in Collinsport.

Christine: She actually called her a jerk, which makes me a jerk for pointing it out. Warm and friendly were not the words to describe the original incarnation of Maggie Evans.

John: Vicki seems awfully cool with the fact that Liz is a murderer. Perhaps if she knew the full circumstances, a case could be made for that. The fact that she just knows that her employer MURDERED someone—her husband, no less—and that doesn't seem to trouble her in the least. And shouldn't she consider that the fact that Jason is holding this over Liz could mean that he was involved, in which case there might be another murderer in the house that she doesn't have such a strong bond with?

Christine: Apparently her overwhelming faith in Liz is what allows her to believe that it must have been a justifiable homicide, without any evidence to support that belief. It's definitely a stretch. Vicki is understandably depressed and confused. In addition to keeping secret that Liz murdered Paul Stoddard, she's agreed to act as witness at her wedding, which will cause all sorts of problems for her with the other inhabitants at Collinwood, not to mention the ethical challenges it poses for her. As if that weren't enough, her best friend is dead, her other friend is being self destructive and hostile, and her boyfriend has radically changed his appearance and mannerisms. It's no wonder she's making no sense and says she doesn't care. She's headed for a breakdown.

Fond remembrances of Mitchell Ryan as Burke Devlin.