Discuss - Ep #0039

[Watching Project]

Robservations #39

[MagnusTrask]

"Strands of fear" eh, Victoria?  (In VO.)   How 'bout strings of dread, or tendrils of mortification?   Roger should inform New Sam that there's no such crime as "breach of promise" when you're talking about artists and customers.   Sam actually can say NO.   He thinks he HAS to paint Burke!   That's very odd.....

I suppose when characters start threatening to kill, perhaps almost randomly or impulsively, a murder can't be far behind.   Roger and New Matthew have made the threat in the same episode.   Roger to Sam Part Deux: "I could quite easily kill you."   Roger Collins, an Army of One!

So Sam took $ from Roger ten years ago... shows how starved I am for data that I'm remarking on this little nothing they threw at us.

[Lydia]

If I remember correctly, Roger Collins, like Barnabas, was supposed to be a short-term character, but was kept on instead.  And I can sure see why.  Louis Edmonds is so much fun to watch!

I caught myself thinking, as Sam wrangled with Roger, "Why doesn't he just explain to Burke?"  And then - oh, yeah! - I remembered why.  I'm not made for a life of deception, and neither is Sam.

Was any effort made to cast Ned Calder?

[DarkLady]

We're still so early in the story line that there's actually a scene of Elizabeth and Bill discussing cannery business. There is apparently some new machinery that will speed up production without the need to lay off any workers. Evidently Elizabeth is a humanitarian. That was a loooooooong time ago.

So Roger was originally intended to be a short-term character? That seems hard to believe! But maybe the originally story was [spoiler]to have him confess and get carted off to the slammer.[/spoiler]

[alwaysdavid]

The bandage on Roger's forehead is gone revealing a Frankenstein's Monster look.  I think it's day four of Vickie's journey, so it's seems a bit premature to remove the bandage. 
Burke comes for his sitting.  Roger and Sam's behavior drives me crazy.  Way to make Burke think that they are hiding something.
Elizabeth offers Ned a job and it is revealed her left a couple of months ago.  Was this why she let Roger return to Collinwood?
SHe offers him his old job. 
Sam suddenly decides he needs protection and tells Roger he wrote a letter to be opened on his death.
Bill reveals his true feelings for his employer when he decides to throw Roger under the bus and help Burke get revenge as long as Elizabeth is spared.

[DarkLady]

Evidently Roger pulled the bandage off himself while he was eavesdropping on Sam and Burke.

Aha! I always thought that Bill was carrying a torch for Elizabeth! 

[MagnusTrask]

If I remember correctly, Roger Collins, like Barnabas, was supposed to be a short-term character, but was kept on instead.  And I can sure see why.  Louis Edmonds is so much fun to watch!

Short-term character?  Really?!   LE IS great to watch, but as Roger, I can only like him as the 1966 weasel.   When he's homogenized into a bastion of respectability, I don't like the character anymore.   I feel as if I'm being asked to accept an aloof elitist as one of the good guys, and it rubs me the wrong way.   They should have let the family keep all their flaws and personalities in later years.

[Janet the Wicked]

Evidently Roger pulled the bandage off himself while he was eavesdropping on Sam and Burke.

You know, I thought so too and I'm like, why would he do such a thing in whatever room he's in and what did he do with it?

If I were Sam I would have told Roger a few choice words and kicked him the hell out of my house.

[Joeytrom]

As for Roger being a short term character, Art Wallace's original story bible "Shadows on the Wall" didn't have a murder mystery following Roger's car accident.

The second storyline was to be Burke searching for the truth about his being sent to prison.  The climax was to be Vicky learning the truth about what happened and Roger forcing her to Widows Hill to throw her off the cliff.  Just as he was to do so, David would appear and throw Roger to his death over the cliff.

[spoiler]Bill Malloy was to live and eventually have a romance with Elizabeth.[/spoiler]
There wasn't any Matthew Morgan or Mrs. Johnson in the story bible.

[MagnusTrask]

Thanks, joeytrom.... [spoiler]This comes dangerously close to their saying that David was "right" to try to kill Roger in the first place, since he had to later.

I'd just been thinking how great it would have been to have Bill Malloy stay as a regular, through all the later storylines.   To continue Roger's character, they felt the need (legitimate or not) to "neutralize" him.   Malloy was an interesting (not neutral) protagonist.[/spoiler]

[Joeytrom]

[spoiler] Bill Malloy was to help Liz fight Jason McGuire (called Walt Cummings in the bible).  There wasn't any Willie Loomis. There was even to be a scene with Walt getting on a ship at New Orleans heading to Collinsport. [/spoiler]

[DarkLady]

Interesting revelations! I had absolutely no idea! I agree that some aspects would have made a better story--at least in the early days.

[Midnite]

IIRC, the wound on Roger's forehead will begin morphing and moving about from one ep to another.    (BTW, Roger already had no dressing on his forehead when he entered Sam's cottage at the beginning.)

The climax was to be Vicky learning the truth about what happened and Roger forcing her to Widows Hill to throw her off the cliff.  Just as he was to do so, David would appear and throw Roger to his death over the cliff.

I think it's an important distinction that "Shadows on the Wall" does not have David throwing his father over the cliff.  It states:  And, as [Roger] grabs [Vicki's] arm, and she sees the madness....she struggles. But they are not alone. David is in the darkness, too. He comes forward, crying out. Roger turns sharply at the sight of his son. He loses his balance, slips, falls down....down....down. David screams....and rushes off into the night.

Paraphrasing:  David runs for Burke, who returns him to his family, and Vicki sees Burke in a new light.  But the boy will be tormented by what he witnessed on the cliff, and, as he becomes jealous of Vicki's budding relationship with Burke, will blame her for what happened.