The Beginning, Collection Two - Disc 4

Episodes 63 - 70

Airdates: Sept. 21 - 30, 1966


THE PLOT

Matthew Morgan, the Collins' manservant, decides he's going to settle the trouble with Burke himself - violently. His assault on Burke has the opposite effect of the one intended, though, leading Burke to an angry confrontation with Roger at Collinwood. When the direct approach fails to win him any results, Burke conspires to use other methods to prove a connection between the Collins family and the death of Bill Malloy, enlisting the aid of Bill's grieving housekeeper (Clarice Blackburn).

Burke isn't the only one investigating. Though Sherriff Patterson (Dana Elcar)'s words indicate that he's leaning toward a verdict of "accidental drowning," he seems progressively more inclined to at least consider foul play. And when Vicki reluctantly supports Roger's loose alibi, the sherriff's suspicions fall on the only other likely suspect: Sam Evans - who took a suspiciously long time to make the short journey from his house to the cannery...


THOUGHTS

This disc gets off to a bad start with Episode 63, which is an important episode in that it really kick-starts Matthew's threats against Burke... but is unfortunately a deadly dull 20 minutes. Episodes 64 and 65 are better, but feel "off" somehow, with almost all of the actors seeming to struggle to get through their lines. Matthew's assault on Burke, and the exchange leading up to it, suffer from weak staging and unusually stilted acting from two of the series' more reliable thesps.

Things pick up again after that point. Episode 66 sees the performers back on form, and the momentum begins to build again. That momentum continues through most of the rest of the disc, and by Episode 67, I found myself once again gripped by the proceedings. Even so, certain repetitive interactions, notably involving Caroline simpering about how "Burke couldn't have done/said this," or "Uncle Roger wouldn't do such a thing," are progressively wearing thin enough to make me want to reach into the screen and throttle the stupid girl - who continues to be played by an actress whose work is far better than the often idiotic character she's been given to portray.


Cast & Characters

Speaking of actresses who are better than their material, I haven't yet said much in these reviews about Kathryn Leigh Scott. Episode 67 sees some excellent scenes for Maggie, who in rapid sequence has varied interactions with Carolyn, Burke, Sam, and Sherriff Patterson. Scott handles the shifting dynamics of these scenes superbly. Maggie is frosty to Burke, but commiserates with Carolyn about being unable to hate Burke no matter how much she feels she should. She is defiant to the sherriff, but playful and empathetic with her father. After her sympathetic but slightly sad, "You don't mind if I don't believe you?" to her father, I actually paused the disc to observe aloud to myself how much better Kathryn Leigh Scott is than the near-nothing she's been given to work with up to this point. I only hope the writers and producers noticed, and that she will get more and better material in the future.

Joan Bennett gets a plum bit in Episode 65, though. As Burke comes to Collinwood, spoiling for a fight as he insists on waiting for Roger, Liz abandons her efforts to force him to leave. She changes tactics, instead being excessively pleasant, offering him tea, ushering Vicki the room to "entertain" him. As she leaves to prepare the tea, Vicki demands to know what Burke thinks he's doing here. "I'm not so sure myself," a chagrined Burke replies. "I think I'm having tea."

Liz's attempt to disarm Burke with courtesy is a much better effort at dealing with Burke than either Roger's (largely impotent) bluster or Matthew's threats. Burke Devlin has been established as a character who does not respond well to intimidation. Matthew's threat to kill him, and his physical assault, actually spur Burke to going to Collinwood on this disc - something which probably would not have happened otherwise. As with his pushing Bill's body back into the water, Matthew's actions here may be intended to help the Collins family, but they are actually having the opposite effect.

Finally, the episodes on this disc are notable for introducing a new character, who seems set to become a major one at least in the short term: Clarice Blackburn's Mrs. Johnson, whose grief over Bill's death provides Burke with an unexpected opportunity. Blackburn's big scene opposite Mitchell Ryan in Episode 69 is well-played by both actors, though the character is still too new to really judge as yet.


Gaffe of the Week

There are a number of amusing little gaffes in Episode 65. A painfully visible boom shadow takes up about a quarter of the frame for several seconds. Later, Joan Bennett stumbles over her lines, referring to Burke as "Roger." Instead of just proceeding with the line reading, she makes matters infinitely worse, calling attention to the gaffe by backing up - several words later - to correct her mistake. This is fair recompense for Mitchell Ryan's stumble early in the episode, in which he forgets his line in the midst of giving a forceful speech, and flails around blindly for several seconds before recapturing the gist of his monologue.

Episode 66 has fewer botched lines, but one very noticeable technical gaffe. Near the end of the episode, a camera is apparently jostled, prompting a premature cut to another camera, which has to make a fast (very awkward-looking) move to get into position.


Final Note

The Gothic atmosphere that was so striking in the early episodes sees a welcome return in the final episode of this disc. Episode 70 - the closing episode of this disc, and of The Beginning: Collection Two - introduces us to "the old house," the original Collinwood estate. The film sequences that show Vicki and David walking to the estate, then out again, are surprisingly effective. Even the graininess of the film stock is an asset, creating a murky and otherworldly feel as the ghost of Josette Collins makes her first (but presumably not last) appearance.


Previous: Episodes 54 - 62
Next: Episodes 71 - 79 (not yet reviewed)


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The Beginning, Collection Two - Disc 3

Episodes 54 - 62

Airdates: Sept.8 - 20, 1966


THE PLOT

Bill Malloy is dead. It was his body that Vicki and Carolyn saw the night before, washed up on the shore of Collinwood. Matthew (Thayer David), trying to protect the family, pushed the body back out to sea, for the Coast Guard to find elsewhere.

Elizabeth calls Sherriff George Patterson (Dana Elcar) when she learns what Matthew has done. The sherriff is methodical in his investigation, initiating an autopsy and checking everybody's stories and whereabouts at the time of death. The cause of death is drowning, and with Roger Collins and Sam Evans remaining tight-lipped about the purpose of the meeting Bill called, the sherriff is unlikely to prove any other cause. But Burke isn't satisfied with that. He is certain that Malloy was killed. And the two people with the most cause to benefit are Roger and Sam!


THOUGHTS

Though it's not exactly CSI, I'm pleasantly surprised at the amount of genuine scientific work alluded to in the Malloy investigation. The police, David, and Joe all take turns puzzling over tide charts, discussing the variables involved in tracing Bill's body back from where it washed up on the cliffs at Collinwood to an origin point. For the television era, it's a surprisingly realistic look at some of what goes into police work (and, yes, more budget-friendly for a daytime drama than, say, a car chase would be). It also provides Joe Haskell, a character whose every appearance I've largely detested thus far, with his first good material of the entire series.

That said, Sherriff Patterson's investigative techniques are uninentionally quite comical. He goes around telling the people he most suspects all the information a real detective would most likely hold back to potentially trap someone: the exact time of death, exactly what the police do and do not know, exactly what the other witnesses have told him. If Roger is the killer (unlikely, given that he's been walking around with a neon "Villain" sign around his neck since Episode 1), then Sherriff Patterson effectively tells him everything he needs to know to get away with the crime.

We do finally get some concrete background on Burke Devlin's manslaughter conviction. Episodes 60 and 61 provide Vicki (and us) with both sides of the story - Burke's side, which Burke insists on as the truth, and Roger's side, which Sam presents and defends. It's good to finally know what all the fuss between Burke and Roger has been about. I question whether the series should have waited this long, what would have been a full 12 weeks from its premiere, to finally provide a fuller picture of such a critical piece of backstory. To the series' credit, I don't think this was made up on the spot. It's all quite consistent with the fragments we've gotten to date. I just think it's something the writers for whatever reason chose to hold back a little longer than was probably necessary.


Cast & Characters

Kathryn Leigh Scott is downright adorable, and David Ford has grown nicely into the role of Sam Evans at this point. That said, how many times can they repeat variations on the same scene between Sam and Maggie? Maggie pleads with her father to let her know why he's behaving so strangely; he evades and snaps at her; she responds by whining at him. I wish they would either do something with Maggie's curiosity or let it drop, one or the other, because I am quite tired of watching that interaction repeat itself every time these two are at the center of a scene.

Speaking of good actors who aren't necessarily always best-served by the material, Nancy Barrett really impressed me in Episode 56. When Carolyn learns of Bill's death, her reactions are perfectly played, from the small tremor in her voice to her attempts to suppress any emotion and focus on tasks like making a bed. Carolyn may be written to be an idiot most of the time, but the actress playing her is clearly capable of more. I hope she gets more chances to show that, as the series moves on.


Recast of the Week

A blurred line, this time, since Dana Elcar's Sheriff George Patterson is not actually the same character as Michael Currie's Constable Carter. He's filling the same role in the plot, but with a different character - which is my preferred method of recasting.

In any case, while I liked Currie well enough, this is one cast change I'd say is unquestionably for the better. Elcar was always terrific in roles such as this, and it's a delight to see him popping up here. He's extremely dominant in the episodes on this disc, with Sherriff Patterson really driving the plot, and he effortlessly commands scenes opposite the series' regulars. A scene in which he questions Burke Devlin is particularly good, as two television actors with very strong screen presence square off. It's a disappointment every time that scene cuts away to other characters.


Final Note

A remarkable thing about this disc: It's the first disc where I've enjoyed every episode. There is no episode on this disc that felt like pure filler, and no episode that had me just half-watching and waiting for it to end. Even the episode prominently featuring Joe Haskell, whose presence is usually a guarantee of at least a few scenes of boredom, manages to give Joe his first decent character material of the series. The mystery plot perhaps seems a bit thin, with only two real suspects (neither of whom is likely to be guilty), but it at least continues to see the series building momentum, and Dana Elcar's sherriff is a very welcome addition.


Previous: Episodes 45 - 53
Next: Episodes 63 - 70


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The Beginning, Collection Two - Disc 2

Episodes 45 - 53

Airdates: August 26 - Sept. 7, 1966


THE PLOT

Bill Malloy meets with Burke once more, to offer him Roger Collins "on a silver platter," in exchange for Burke's promise to stop his move against the rest of the Collins family. He tells Burke to meet him at Roger's office at eleven o'clock that night, at which time Malloy will play his "hole card," to wrap up the entire sordid mess in one go.

However, Malloy forgot a certain saying about the best-laid plans. Before the night is through, there will be a death in Collinsport!


THOUGHTS

Though there a few episodes of pure filler (Episode 48 being a particular offender), this disc is mostly engrossing. There was nothing really compelling me to watch more than one episode at a time, and it took me a few weeks to watch my way through it. But with rare exceptions, every time I sat down to watch an episode, my attention was held.

In my last review, I observed that some of the Gothic atmosphere was creeping back into the show. That continues with this disc. The episodes set at the house have quite a bit of atmosphere, with the shows set during the night in which Caroline and Vicki see the dead body having some effectively eerie moments.

Cast & Characters

One thought regarding the other characters' reactions to David.  Of course, David genuinely is a despicable little monster at this point in the series.  But when he complains that his father hates him, everyone rejects that as ridiculous... no matter how many times we directly see Roger expressing his loathing for David!  It's not exactly helping David to pretend to him that his father feels differently.  David knows better, and he knows that Vicki and Elizabeth know better.  So every time Vicki or Elizabeth tell the boy that his father doesn't hate him, they're only proving to David that they can't be trusted to tell him the truth.  Vicki is, incidentally, an appallingly bad teacher from the glimpses we get of her teaching David his "lessons."  Reciting facts to a child from a book is a sure way to make that child tune out.  It's certainly no way to make him learn.  And any time he happens to get interested ("Could you transport a dead body down a river?"), Vicki shuts him down - rather than follow up on that interest.  Sure, transporting a dead body is ghoulish.  But if David's interested in that example, then it's a valid example to use within a legitimate lesson. 

Moving away from Vicki and David to characters who are actually interesting, let's turn our attention to Bill Malloy.  Frank Schofield is terrific as Malloy bullies, cajoles, and threatens Roger and Sam to make sure that they come to his meeting. The ever-steady Schofield has done a fantastic job from his first appearance at portraying a man whose loyalty to the Collins family, specifically Elizabeth, is so strong that he is willing to sacrifice just about anything for their interests. He lays it out for Roger that, as he sees it, the choice is between Roger's welfare and the family's. To see the previously taciturn, unflappable Malloy practically spitting and growling at Roger and Sam is very effective, and Schofield's performance is a big part of what makes it work so well.

Schofield makes a strong impression, which helps to sell it when Elizabeth labels Malloy "the most reliable man (she's) ever known." Roger remains far from reliable - and for a character who's basically the villain of the piece, he remains a largely stupid villain. He tells lies that are easily penetrated, insists on calling and visiting Sam while at the same time insisting to Sam that it's important they not be seen together (um, step one genius - Stop spending so much time around him), and ping-pongs between icy cool and irrational outbursts. Despite his campier tendencies, Louis Edmonds actually is doing a fine job of playing Roger, and even at investing Roger with intelligence on a scene-by-scene basis. But the character, as written, makes too many contradictory and downright stupid decisions to come across as anything but a moron by this point.


Final Note

Though the series is not hooking me the way it was in Discs 2 and 3 of the first collection, it does continue to be enjoyable. I'm only sitting down to it here and there, as is obvious from the rate of these reviews - two to three episodes per week seems to have settled into being the average. But when I watch it, I usually enjoy it, often enough to carry me through the occasional episode of dull filler. The increasing atmosphere is a good sign, and the disappearance and evident demise of one of the major supporting players seems likely to make for some intriguing plot turns as the show moves forward.


Previous: Episodes 36 - 44
Next: Episodes 54 - 62


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The Beginning, Collection Two - Disc 1

Episodes 36 - 44

Airdates: August 15 - 25, 1966


THE PLOT

Burke continues investigating the Collins holdings, and it isn't long before his inquiries are noticed by Elizabeth Collins' loyal fleet manager, Bill Malloy. He reports to Elizabeth, telling her that Burke is not only looking into her business holdings, but everything she owns. When Liz admits to him that she is genuinely worried, Bill decides to take matters into his own hands. He arranges to meet with Burke. But he isn't there to threaten him. He offers Burke a deal. Leave the innocent members of the Collins family alone, and he will do everything in his power to clear Burke's name.

Meanwhile, the issue with David now settled, Roger's paranoia about Burke returns full force. He pressures Sam to refuse a hefty commission to paint Burke's portrait. When Sam is unable to back out of the deal, Roger pressures him again, this time to leave town. When bullying escalates to threatening, Sam finally decides that it might be time for some action on his part...


THOUGHTS

The first part of this disc was very slow going for me. Episodes 36 - 38 reinforced my impression from the previous disc: That with the resolution of the bleeder valve subplot, the show didn't quite seem to know where to go next. I started to become rather bored with the series, and it began feeling like a job to put the disc in to watch an episode. Look back at my reviews of Collection One, Discs Two and Three - the show had me, really had me. Not very far into this disc, it almost lost me again.

In the second half of this disc, it caught my attention again. The Roger/Sam material went from tedious wheel-spinning to suddenly rather interesting, as Sam finally realized that it's he, and not Roger, who has the upper hand in this situation (he promptly forgets that again in the next episode, but it's still interesting). Bill Malloy's investigation was an interesting and unexpected new turn for the story, and after a week or so of forcing myself to watch one episode every 3 - 4 days, I suddenly downed two episodes in one sitting for the first time since Burke found the bleeder valve in his sofa cushion.


Cast & Characters

I think David Ford will be just fine as Sam. I still prefer Mark Allen's version, if only because he did a better job of showing a truly haunted man. David Ford seems to struggle more with that aspect of the character. He's very good when Sam is easygoing, but his performance dips into forced tics when Sam is under stress. Still, he's doing fine in the role, and I'm sure after another couple of discs I will stop mentally recasting his scenes with Mark Allen.

Roger Collins... He isn't very bright, is he? He desperately doesn't want Burke connecting him and Sam. So what does he do? Runs to Sam every chance he gets to pressure him into altering his agreement to paint Burke's portrait, including at least one meeting in public! He's like a cartoon evil mastermind, coming up with plans that seem designed to guarantee his own downfall.

The best character scene on the disc comes in Episode 39... not coincidentally, the episode that got me actually wanting to watch again after several episodes of tedium. The meeting between Burke and Bill is a scene that works on almost every level. It is not a long scene - just a couple of minutes on each side of a commercial break. That fits with the two characters, both of whom are what would be termed "serious men." Bill brushes aside Burke's mask of easygoing small-talk and gets straight to the point. Recognizing the situation, Burke drops the act and meets Bill on his own terms. The result is an excellent scene, very well-played by arguably the series' two best actors.

Episode 40 sees Malloy showing a more ruthless side. He faces down Roger unblinkingly, in a very entertaining scene. But when he questions Sam one-on-one, he begins plying the man with drink. He even says a couple of deliberately unpleasant things to make Sam drink harder, to make his tongue looser. It's effective, but it does cast Malloy in a more unlikable light than had previously been the case. Frank Schofield is excellent as ever, and he manages to show this darker edge to Malloy in a way that feels fully consistent with the character we've been watching all along.


Recasting of the Week

Wow, two discs and two characters recast. At this rate, they'll overturn the entire supporting cast by Disc Eight!

Thayer David takes over the role of Matthew Morgan, and the credits announcer doesn't even blink for him. In fairness, Matthew's role is much smaller than Sam's, with George Mitchell only having racked up three appearances in the preceding 30+ episodes, so it's not as though David has to replace someone who had a chance to really make much of an impression. I suppose if Matthew is meant to be intimidating, burly Thayer David is considerably more dangerous-looking than thin and wiry George Mitchell was. In terms of performance, there isn't much to judge as yet, though he seems as capable an actor as his predecessor.


Gaffe of the Week

Episode 44 ends the disc on a high note, with things definitely happening at an accelerating rate. This episode also sees an appearance by the Collins banker, played by Patrick McVey. Hopefully this will be a one-off appearance, because McVey garbles every other line, stammering and tripping over his own tongue, and seeming to throw off the other actors too. The impression of a grand gaffe is sealed when Joan Bennett leaves the room temporarily and has to struggle with a wobbly door to close it.


Final Note

Though the wheel-spinning episodes just about had me ready to give up on the series, the last 4 - 5 episodes on this disc rekindled my interest. I doubt I'll go back to downing a disc a week, but now that events are actually in motion again, there's probably little chance of my giving up. I'm sure there will be some other rough patches like the one spanning the end of the last disc and the beginning of this one, but it is at least encouraging to know that the series can pull itself out of those patches and go back to delivering some pretty good drama.


Previous: Episodes 28 - 35
Next: Episodes 45 - 53



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The Beginning, Collection One - Disc 4

Episodes 28 - 35

Airdates: August 3 - 12, 1966


THE PLOT

Vicki has seen the missing bleeder valve from Roger's car, and she now knows that it was David who attempted to kill his own father, and that Burke is innocent. David panics, fleeing with the valve into town. His plan is to sneak into Burke's room and plant the valve there. But when Burke finds him lurking by his room, it isn't long before he figures out exactly what David is up to.

Meanwhile, Vicki finds herself with time again to pursue her quest for her own past. If anyone at Collinwood has answers, they aren't saying. But she does know of one man who hired a private detective to search for the same answers, a man who is willing to share his findings with her: Burke.


THOUGHTS

As the first episodes on this disc unfolded, I started to become a bit impatient with the "car accident" plot. With David going up to plant the evidence in Burke's room, it seemed that the writers were engaging in the time-honored soap opera technique of dragging out a subplot until every bit of entertainment value has long since departed. Then an interesting thing happened. At the end of a lengthy, often charming scene between Burke and David, Burke sends David into the bathroom to wash up... and then walks right to the place where David hid the bleeder valve, pulls it out, and shakes his head at the spot the boy has gotten himself into. With Elizabeth basically admitting that she knows that David is guilty, and his father finding out soon after, a plot turn that seemed to be trying to further extend this subplot instead ends up wrapping it up.

The door is closed firmly enough that the plot feels satisfactorily completed, but we are left on an ominous note. David is far from a sweet, innocent cherub, after all. Roger's warning that he is a troubled boy who is likely to become worse, not better, doesn't seem terribly far-fetched. If his aunt will shield him from the consequences of attempted murder, then why should he consider the consequences of whatever he might do next?


Recasting of the Week

It is a time-honored soap tradition that when an actor either moves on or doesn't work out, the producers don't write out the character. They just change the actor. Wouldn't it figure that not only does that happen startlingly early in this series' run, but it happens with one of the better-acted supporting characters.

Mark Allen is gone, with the role of Sam Evans now played by David Ford. Ford's Sam appears in only one episode on this disc. My first impression is that he is not an improvement, but I'll withhold judgment until I've had a little time to get used to him. I will miss Mark Allen, though, who was quite convincing playing the tortured Sam, and whose booming voice was a good fit for the potentially overblown "poetic" dialogue which, thus far at least, doesn't sound nearly as convincing coming from Ford.


Cast & Characters

One thing the car accident subplot has done, beyond simply chewing up episodes while delaying the trigger on Burke's revenge, is to really focus on David Collins. How odd it must have been, for viewers of mid-1960's daytime television, to witness a 9-year-old boy who not only attempts to kill his father, but who willfully tries to shift that blame onto others, who runs to his aunt claiming that his governess "tried to hurt (him)," and who growls at that same governess - the show's audience identification figure - that he hates her. There's often a pause in David Henesy's performance, and he often looks up at camera - probably a simple matter of getting indications about what he should do. But it helps to create the sense of something "off" about David. He's also almost frighteningly good when he growls his hatred of Vicki. Small children often say they "hate" others. When David wheels on Vicki, though, he truly sounds as if he means it.

Unfortunately, not all of the characters are developing quite so well. Joe Haskell has got to be about the most tedious character imaginable. The show keeps trying to cram him down our throats as a "really nice guy." But his repeated whining about wanting to marry Caroline (the subject of very nearly every scene in which he appears) has passed the point of being potentially sympathetic, and now passed the point of being merely tiresome. At this point, it's downright obsessive.

In real life, Caroline's loving mother shouldn't keep trying to push her into his arms - She should be trying to get him away from her daughter, with police intervention if necessary. I'd half expect him to start going after people with an axe... only I fear Joe will never do anything half so interesting, since being boring appears to be his mission in life. No disrespect to actor Joel Crothers, who has been generally competent in his performance, but Joe ranks highest on the list of characters I would like to see slip off the top of Widows' Hill.


Final Note

The Collinwood sets deserve special praise. The sets representing the entry hall, the drawing room, and the upstairs areas are extremely well-designed, particularly by the often creaky standards of 1960's television. The house's internal architecture - at least with regard to these major areas - is always clear to us when watching, and each set feels like part of the same house. Given that these are the key sets of the series, it is worth observing just what a good job the production team did in creating them.

Unfortunately, I have already come to dread any scene set in "The Blue Whale." That set is almost laughably poor, and the canned music makes the overall impression even worse. It doesn't help that the scenes set in there (frequently ones involving Joe and Caroline) tend to be the weakest of the series. On my relatively new and brief wish-list for the show, top of the list is... Well, top of the list is "Joe Haskell has a tragic accident," but second on that list is "No more Blue Whale."

The show itself remains entertaining. Once the "car accident" plot is tied up, though, the last couple of episodes go by very slowly, with most of the momentum gone.  Hopefully, Burke's true revenge plot will kick in soon, and things will start gathering steam again.


Previous: Episodes 19 - 27
Next: Episodes 36 - 44


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The Beginning, Collection One - Disc 3

Episodes 19 - 27

Airdates: July 22 - August 2, 1966


THE PLOT

Roger Collins is recovering after his car's brakes failed on the windy road down from Widows' Hill. The crash was no accident. A bleeder valve was removed, causing the brakes to gradually fail. Roger is convinced that Burke Devlin caused the wreck, as is Elizabeth. Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) insists that Burke couldn't possibly have done it - all the while plagued by guilt that, if Burke did try to kill her uncle, then she was responsible for bringing him there.

Burke seems almost startlingly blase about the accusations, maintaining his cool in the face of a confrontation with Roger and a visit from the town constable (Michael Currie). He even commissions Sam Evans to paint a portrait of him: A portrait of the exact kind that hangs in the drawing room at Collinwood...


THOUGHTS

The Gothic atmosphere has largely vanished by Disc Three, as the mechanics of the Burke/Roger plot overshadow the series' other elements. The show now seems to be borrowing more from film noir than from Victorian Gothic, though I'm sure that particular pendulum will swing back again.

This is not to say that the show's gotten worse. Though the pace isn't as driving here as it was during the Disc Two episodes, the story is still ticking along at a much better pace than one would normally expect of a daytime soap. The Burke Devlin plot continues to generate interest. If the writers focused solely on the "car accident," then the story would become tiresome very, very quickly. But we also see Burke making tantalizing phone calls to put his own plan into gear, and we see him engaging Sam to paint his portrait. The juxtaposition, between Roger's desperation as he tries to get Burke arrested, and Burke's calm calculations as he works on his own agenda, is very effective.

I will say that the timeline is starting to become a bit of an issue. In Episode 19, Sam apologizes to Vicki for spooking her "the other day."  The other day" was, of course, that morning. In Episode 25, Elizabeth laments that Vicki has been wondering why she was hired by strangers "from the day she walked into this house."  The day she is referencing could also be described as "the day before yesterday." These are matters that would have been invisible to viewers watching one episode per day five days a week. But watched in closer proximity, these timeline-bending references start to stand out a bit.


Cast & Characters

Any Dark Shadows drinking game would be incomplete without having an entry for "Vicki launches into a story about something that happened to her in the foundling home." Alexandra Moltke's performance as Vicki is much better by this point than it was at the start... but I have already devised a special eyeroll that belongs solely to anytime Vicki starts a sentence with, "When I was in the foundling home..."

I noted in my last review how quietly impressive Frank Schofield's background performance as Bill Malloy is. Three discs in, and he's still consistently excellent, rarely fluffing a line, always completely in character. Other actors also fare well.  Michael Currie stumbles over some his lines, but has a general authenticity in his role as the town contable.  Kathryn Leigh Scott loses the bad wig and immediately looks much, much more attractive. Her performance also improves, and she gets some good material in Episode 22, in some very well-scripted and acted scenes opposite Mitchell Ryan and Mark Allen.  And it's always a pleasure to see Barnard Hughes, who pops up on the last episode of this disc as Burke's nervous researcher, Bronson.

Finally, David Henesy's David continues to emerge as a rather well-scripted child character. It's unusual, in 1960's television, to see a regular child character who is as completely self-absorbed, manipulative, and dangerous as David. And all of David's behavior is understandable, through the eyes of a child. His father threatens to send him away. It's an offhand comment, but one David takes to heart. He has an excellent understanding of mechanical things, and takes action - and then is absolutely certain, and terrified, that he is going to be discovered. Mix in Roger's antipathy toward him, with Roger reacting to David's worries in the worst possible way in every scene they share, and the characterization is believable in context. It works, not least because there is something genuinely spooky about the way Henesy lurks in corners, and looks at the camera - an acting no- no that actually helps to make David feel a bit "off."


Gaffe of the Week

The key scene of Episode 24 is a meeting between Burke and the town constable (Michael Currie) - a scene which is initially made up of a series of minor gaffes. None of them on their own would be anything special. But it's the combination of them: Mitchell Ryan, stumbling over a few lines; Michael Currie, straining a bit too obviously to hit his mark for a close-up; audible talkback on the soundtrack, which is actually louder at one point than the character dialogue; then the recurrence of that talkback while Ryan is speaking, prompting the actor to really emphasize an odd word in mid-sentence in an attempt to coverup the production noise. Wrap it all up together (and all of these hit within a space of about 2 minutes' screentime), and it's absolutely priceless.


Overall

Three discs in, and the series is still holding my interest. The Burke Devlin plot is ticking along particularly nicely, with the final episode on the disc benefitting from an extremely well-scripted scene between Devlin and Bronson, in which we finally learn something of Burke's plan... and it's a plan that actually makes sense.

The episodes on this disc are less atmospheric than the earlier discs, but some of that atmosphere comes back in the last two episodes, through a nice slow pan of the empty drawing room and a couple of nice close-ups of doors opening, with a gap between that and the person behind the door appearing.

A final thought that really struck me during the scene between Roger and the constable is how much I actually like the way the people in this show tend to talk around situations before getting to the point. I know some of that is just a function of this being a daytime soap, where padding out scenes is a prerequisite. But Carter's deflecting Roger by talking about his sandwich, then putting Roger off while taking a call about a missing dog, are little things that make him feel authentic.

For all the flubbed lines and intermittently stagy performances, this show has created a feeling of authenticity about its setting and characters (particularly the peripheral ones). That goes a long way toward maintaining my interest in a 45-year-old daytime soap, and - along with the eventual vampires and werewolves - may well be one reason why this show has endured in the popular imagination for so very long.


Previous: Episodes 10 - 18
Next: Episodes 28 - 35


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The Beginning, Collection One - Disc 2.

Episodes 10 - 18

Airdates: July 8 - 20, 1966


THE PLOT

Elizabeth Stoddard and Roger Collins' anxieties about Burke Devlin's return seem to be confirmed when Burke comes to the house to confront them. Burke does not act like a man seeking vengeance, but his pleasant conversation is marked by multiple inquiries about buying the Collins house and business, and he clearly does have some resentment toward Roger. Nevertheless, he extends an olive branch, asking Roger to meet him for a drink in town to discuss an unspecified "business deal."

But when Roger heads down the steep, windy road to town, his brakes fail. Was it an accident? Was it Burke? Or did someone closer to home have a reason for wanting to see him dead?


THOUGHTS

My last review got so overstuffed with initial thoughts that I forgot to mention the title sequence. Dark Shadows has a truly splendid title sequence, very atmospheric and effective in terms of both the visuals and the music. The waves, beating upon the rocks, followed by a dissolve to the wonderfully spooky main house, with that eerily dissonant main title theme playing over it. It's simple, but hugely effective, and one of the most iconic US title sequences I can immediately think of.

As this disc rolls along, taking us to the start of the series' fourth week on air, we get a bit more of the backstory behind Roger and Burke parcelled out to us. One of the more interesting revelations is that Roger's own presence in Collinwood is only barely tolerated by Elizabeth, and that only because of David.

It does stand out how compressed the action really is. The first disc took viewers across a single night and day. The second disc makes that seem positively sprawling by comparison, with the nine episodes of this disc taking place entirely over the course of a single night! Part of this is a function of the show's theatrical nature. Scenes are long, static, and talky, with an episode cutting between what amounts to only two or three scenes. The result is that 30 minutes of program time encompasses probably about the same amount of time in the world of the show.


Cast & Characters

The cast continue to grow into their roles. As was the case on Disc One, Mitchell Ryan's Burke and Louis Edmonds' Roger continue to carry the bulk of the plot, with the Burke Devlin plot getting even more of the focus than was the case on Disc One. Mitchell Ryan continues to be the cast standout, though he is getting increasing competition for that title from Mark Allen, whose Sam Evans is becoming a genuinely interesting and sympathetic figure; and Frank Schofield, who gives a quietly and consistently excellent background performance as Bill Malloy. Meanwhile, as good as George Mitchell's performance continues to be, I'm seeing one problem with his casting as the character develops: When Elizabeth warns Vicki about Matthew's potential for violence, all I could think in response was how basically old and frail he seemed.

Victoria Winters moves from the spotlight to the background on this disc. She isn't even in Episodes 9, 10, and 17 (not counting the ubiquitous voice over intro.), and she is far less dominant in many of the remaining shows than she was in the first disc. As the other characters become more familiar to us, it becomes less important to have her as our "eyes" into this world. This creates the risk of Vicki becoming irrelevant, particularly with her own storyline being the weakest of the major throughlines at this point. Still, Moltke's performance is improving. She gets some pretty good scenes opposite young David Henesy as the troubled David (who also gets substantially more development on this disc), and she shares a quite memorable scene with Louis Edmonds in Episode 12, reacting to his story about "the widows."


OVERALL

Still very early in the series, we're already getting some payoff from the initial episodes. The episodes of this disc contain major plot developments, and I found myself downing three episodes per sitting this time out. All the characters advance, and all of the actors are improving in their roles.

On the downside, the occasional technical fluffs and forgotten lines are also increasing in frequency.  Louis Edmonds' recovery from mispeaking "100 miles" in Episode 17 is hilarious, in that he actually draws a lot more attention to the fluffed line than if he'd just kept going. Still, the series is improving on all other fronts, and is already delivering on much of its initial promise.

...And still nothing more supernatural than a creaky door and a particularly loud wind in sight!

Previous: Episodes 1 - 9
Next: Episode 19 - 27


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