7

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← Dark Shadows (1966) episode 7 →
Episode number	7
Timeline	1967
First aired	July 5, 1966
Tape date	June 21, 1966
Narrated by	Victoria Winters
Written by	Art Wallace
Directed by	Lela Swift
Home video	VHS: CS V2 DVD: TB C1D1

After Burke visits Sam, Roger is convinced Burke has returned to cause trouble for him.

Contents 1 Synopsis 1.1 Teaser 1.2 Act I 1.3 Act II 1.4 Act III 2 Memorable quotes 3 Dramatis personae 4 Background notes 5 Changes and mistakes

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Teaser

My name is Victoria Winters. The dead past drifts through the corridors of Collinwood and settles like dust in its corners. Spurred by hope and surrounded by fear, my search continues, as life itself continues. Not only for me, but for everyone else in this strange corner of the world, people who live with their own fears, their own hopes.

Sam returns home with drinking on his mind, but just as he begins to take his first drink, he is interrupted by Roger, who wants to talk to him sober. Something Sam has no intention of doing.

[edit] Act I

Roger wants to know where Sam was last night, but Sam doesn't know. Sam reveals that he knew of Burke's arrivval, which makes Roger angry. Roger's worried because Devlin's back in town. Sam is guilt-ridden about something and spent last night crying at the ocean. Roger wants to know what Sam intends to do about Burke, and Sam agrees that Burke probably wants revenge against Roger. Sam says he will do nothing.

At the Collinsport Inn diner, Burke doesn't recognize Maggie until she tells him that he used to pose for her father. Burke recalls he has an unfinished portrait at Sam’s house. Maggie alludes to her father's drinking by saying he hasn't felt like finishing anything for a few years unless it is 190 proof. Maggie asks Burke if he's made it, and he accuses her of being too nosy. Vicki shows up asking to use the phone and gets change from Maggie, who thinks she is brave for living at Collinwood. Burke asks Maggie to watch his coffee as he goes to see what Victoria is up to, revealing he knows who she is to Maggie in the process. Meanwhile, Roger is furious that Sam went to Collinwood and spoke to Vicki after agreeing to never go near Collinwood. Roger is determined to intercept Vicki before she sees Burke and discovers via telephone that Victoria has left Collinwood. Victoria is unable to complete her phone call and Burke is waiting when she leaves the phone booth.

[edit] Act II

Burke and Vicki have coffee and doughnuts sort-of together, but Vicki is very anxious to get away to make her telephone call. After running down their meeting, Burke points out he's her oldest friend in Collinsport. He tries to find out what she has heard about him and he offers her a doughnut several times. When she says he seems odd, he points out that she has left New York to come to a small town, opposite of what most girls would do. She points out that he has also come from the big city to a small town. He says he has his reasons, but doesn't understand hers. She gets up to try her telephone call again and he stops her. She explains she is being paid well to tutor a young biy and that is her only reason for coming there. Burke begs her to stay, insisting they will chat about the weather and clam chowder AND NOTHING ELSE. Maggie comes over to offer Vicki moral support and Burke sends her off to get a newspaper. After she leaves he tells Vicki that he modeled for her father. Burke slips and asks about Roger, and Vicki reminds him they were supposed to discuss clam chowder. She reveals that she told Roger about Burke's arrival, but refuses to say anything else. Roger somehow ends up at the front desk of the Inn, where he learns from Maggie that Vicki and Burke are having coffee in the restaurant. She asks Roger if he remembers Burke, and he leaves, without saying a word.

[edit] Act III

Burke tells Vicki about a time when he was 10 and got spanked at Collinwood while prowling through the West Wing looking for ghosts. When Burke tells her that a 10 year old boy could not resist exploring the town's real haunted house, Vicki says she doesn't believe in ghosts, which Burke questions, now that she has spent the night there. Maggie arrives with the newspaper and Vicki takes the opportunity to head back to the phone booth. Maggie mentions that was in the lobby looking for her, but Roger took off after she told him she was there with Burke. Burke expresses disappointment at missing a chance to see Roger again. Vicki goes to make her phone call. Burke plans to stop by Sam's, and is surprised to learn (from Maggie) that Sam drinks. Back at the house, Sam gets a call from Maggie, who is too late to tell Sam that Burke is on his way there. Sam isn't drunk enough to talk to Burke after Burke shows up at the Evans Cottage. Burke’s happy to see Sam, though the obvious doesn’t appear to be true. Sam’s upset by Burke’s visit and finally asks him to leave.

Maggie meets Vicki in the lobby and asks how her telephone call is going. The phone rings, she asks for Miss. Hopewell from the Hammond Foundling Home, she says it is important, very important!

[edit] Memorable quotes

• Roger Collins: I wanted to talk to you - but without this! (a bottle of whiskey)
• Sam Evans: Look, if I'm supposed to talk to you, that's when I'll need this most!

• Sam Evans: (talking about the whiskey) To life, Collins. To the long, unhappy, miserable life that lies ahead for both of us. (Takes a drink) Sustenance of my soul, provider of my courage, destroyer of my talents.

• Maggie: (referring to Collinwood) "You couldn't pay me a hundred bucks a day to work in that spooky joint!"

[edit] Dramatis personae

• ← Mitchell Ryan as Burke Devlin →
• ← Louis Edmonds as Roger Collins →
• ← Mark Allen as Sam Evans →
• ← Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans →
• ← Alexandra Moltke as Victoria Winters →
• Calvin Ander as hotel clerk (uncredited)

[edit] Background notes

• This is the first time we see the phone booth at the Collinsport Inn. It's located in the lobby in this episode, but the location will often change to inside the restaurant, depending on the plot.
• The Collinsport Fly makes its first appearance in this episode. It can be seen in the diner as Burke asks Maggie to fetch him a newspaper.
• Louis Edmonds' striped shirt causes the camera to strobe on close-ups.
• This is the first episode to not have any scenes at Collinwood.
• Calvin Ander went uncredited as the hotel clerk. He had no lines.
• Maggie's quote that she would never work in Collinwood turns out to be quite ironic, as she will eventually be hired as David Collins' new governess.
• When Alexandra Moltke pits the first three coins into the pay phone, you hear them fall and a bell. But there is no sound effect at all when she places the 4th coin in the phone box.
• This is the first episode where the credits end with Bob Lloyd saying, "Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis production". In previous episodes, the voiceover said, "Dark Shadows has been a Dan Curtis production".

[edit] Changes and mistakes

• A dark shadow appears on Sam as he returns home, as well as several times during the subsequent scene with Roger.
• Sam has two sets of glasses to drink out of, you can see one set has a frosted appearance, which means they are meant to be broken, like the one Roger broke 1.
• Mitchell Ryan has a hard time with his lines when Burke is talking to Victoria. He pauses between nearly every word, repeats his offer of a doughnut, and claims they're just having a "simple cup of coffee."
• Mitchell Ryan says that "All the young girls are just dying to leave the big city to find love" etc... but she has done the opposite, leaving New York to go to a town which "would not take up four square blocks of Manhattan". Obviously he was supposed to either say girls were dying to leave the small towns, or go to the big city.
• In episodes 7 and 8, Victoria calls her Miss. Hopewell, rather than Mrs. Hopewell.