Dark Shadows Before I Die: 2026

Before continuing, you may enjoy revisiting our original 50th anniversary summary and commentary: https://dsb4idie.blogspot.com/2016/09/episode-55-9966.html

Then & Now

John: Sam asks Maggie if Burke had been to the diner, which makes sense given he's staying at the hotel; but when he asks about Roger, does he really think Roger is a frequent customer?

Roger thought it was proven that Bill drowned — who needs a pesky body. Stop acting so suspicious, Collins!

Roger was a jerk to suggest to Liz that she may be responsible for Bill's death. Fortunately, she dismissed that outright.

I love how the Sheriff just drops word that Bill Malloy is dead as he's walking out of the diner. Not exactly CSI, Collinsport.

Christine: Yeah, that was not only unprofessional from a law enforcement standpoint, but pretty callous to mention it so offhandedly to people who were close to him and would be upset to hear that sad news.

The Sheriff claims to know everyone in town quite well, saying he knows some people a great deal better than they like to think, but I still wonder how he knows Mrs. Johnson is a teetotaler.

Shadows on the Wall

John: Roger does manage to get some good drinking done, once the word is out that Bill is dead.

You pointed out ten years ago Sam smoking. I don't recall that being a common occurrence on the show, so probably no need to start a smoke tracker!

That said, we may need a Burke Devlin mayo tracker. According to Maggie, he wants lots and lots on his food.

Christine: It's funny how we don't always notice the smoking, but there is quite a lot of it on the show, and a tracker may be warranted. Someone has already created a wonderful compilation of smoking scenes, though it only covers the first 200 or so episodes.

Burke Devlin's condiment preferences may not be sufficient for a tracker, but they are definitely notable. It is interesting that he prefers butter and mustard on his ham and cheese sandwich (hold the lettuce), but wants lots of mayo on whatever he was ordering with his coffee in this episode. Unless he is just ordering lots of mayo and coffee, which would be truly disturbing.

The phone booth at the Collinsport Inn has apparently been relocated, giving us a completely different view from it. I wonder what prompted the change.

Here are some views from the phone booth in past episodes to compare. Now that I've inadvertently created a phone booth tracker, I notice that its location has been shifting slightly throughout its history.

Today's episode

Let us know if there is anything you feel deserves a place in the Collinwood Collection.

Before continuing, you may enjoy revisiting our original 50th anniversary summary and commentary: https://dsb4idie.blogspot.com/2016/09/episode-54-9866.html

Then & Now

Christine: Liz says to Matthew, "How could you look at the body of a man you've known all your life and do what you did?" Are we to believe that Matthew was that much younger than Bill Malloy?

Matthew says he's seen drowned men before and also seems to know what a body that's been in the water more than 24 hours looks like. I wonder how he's come by that level of experience.

Why hasn't Burke gone to the police already? I think he just enjoys sparring with Roger.

John: Because he wants Roger on a silver platter! Funny that both the sheriff and Burke bring up who would profit from Bill's death...

Shadows on the Wall

John: When Roger arrives at the office, are those the first seagulls we've heard in Collinsport?

Christine: Roger moved the coat rack in his office. Will the next move be to Collinwood?

He not only left Burke in his office after Liz called and asked him to come home right away, but also left his overcoat and hat. Perhaps when he realizes he left his coat hanging in his office, it may occur to him how useful it would be to have a coat rack at the house.

There's an interesting sculpture on the mantel in Roger's office that I don't think we've gotten a good look at before. It appears to be a miniature figurehead featuring a shirtless man. What do you think it is?