He is a father of a young child and I can't believe that he would just leave town without leaving a number he could be reached in case of an emergency.

I agree that Roger would have been a welcome addition to the plot.  But, let's face it, his paternal qualities have come and gone according to the whims of the storyline. (Yes, I think David would have been in a boarding school with Lizzie being "dead" and unable to prevent it!)

I thought it a nice touch that Bennett didn't have her false eyelashes on as she returned from the grave. Rather an unusual touch of realism, don't you think?

I have always thought reincarnation was a better explanation than genetics. The same souls kept being drawn to Collinwood over the generations.

The chances of looking exactly like your great-great-grandmother are about nil. Though my brother does look a LOT like our grandpa. That would be 1/4 his ancestry. I can't even do the math on the other, I'll pretend it is because it is late at night and I'm tired.  

I agree with Cassandra. I think it is so funny to hear Mrs. Johnson try to explain what is wrong with the kids! It sounds so lame and yet, she is very right. She just can't put her finger on what it actually is.

"I think there is something wrong with David, Maggie, I really do. I think he is possessed by the spirit of a very tall, yet obscure ancestor that noone up to now has ever heard of. AND, you should have seen the lecherous expression he had when looking at Amy, I've never SEEN the like!" (Yes, Mrs. Johnson, we can believe THAT. Ahem.)

I have never had the impression that the cannery is the grand total of their assets. I think it reasonable that most of their money is tied up in various investments.

I don't think it odd that a New England family would live frugally whether they had scads of money or not. We aren't talking nouveau riche out to make an impression!
I don't think they are rivalling Onassis in wealth, just that they have a good amount invested and a supposedly profitable business. (Whether that is realistic or not!)

I don't have a problem with that part, the family has been wealthy and continued to do well. What I have a problem with is that they ran this huge mansion for YEARS and YEARS with only one cantankerous handyman. Ok, obviously, noone has cleaned the closed off wings or the basement for a heckofa long time. But, we are supposed to think Lizzie cleaned the place from top to bottom in her cocktail dress? Or, choke, sputter, think that CAROLYN lifted a finger to help her?? Oh, I KNOW, Roger was always happy to pitch in and run the vacuum! Uhmmm, right.

The other part I find hard to take is how well it must pay to be a supernatural creature. We never see Barney or Wolfie boy rifling through their victim's pockets and emptying their wallets! Ok, I know that Barney is explained by the countless number of family jewels that he had hidden away and now he can live forever off the proceeds. (Can't you just imagine Joshua's fury at not being able to find them?!) Not believable, but at least a flimsy pretense in my book. But Chris? He is presented as middle class, and no fortune to be inherited as far as anyone can tell. But he certainly doesn't work.

At least the Rev. Trask had a job!

You bring up some really good stuff, I had never heard the Jamison as daddy theory. Could it be, hmmm.....

I have always thought it was Lizzie. As you said, strongly implicated in the beginning. And I disagree that she would not be able to hide it. Who would make that so difficult? She had no parents alive at the time, presumably. (Kind of bites the Jamison theory, do we KNOW when her parents died? I thought it longer ago than Vicky's age.) As heiress, she could pretty well do what she pleased. If she said she was going to Europe on an extended tour, it would have been accepted. And that was not an unlikely choice for a young woman in Lizzie's class and finances. We know Roger was away at school. We don't know of any long term staff other than Matthew Morgan, and he would not have questioned her going away for a while. I would not for a moment think that she hid away and gave birth at Collinwood.

It seems unlikely that Lizzie would have gotten p.g. by the butler, though that would explain the resemblance in the portrait AS WELL as Lizzie's intense reaction of denial. If the 25 years were fudged just a little, I suppose it COULD also explain the abrupt departure of butler and his older daughter. From a social and conventional viewpoint I think this is unlikely. But not impossible, she WOULD have been a very young woman living in the same house with this man without any real chaperone figure, at least not one with any authority.

Regardless of who played the role of sperm donor, Lizzie's love child would still be a Collins.

Have you ever imagined what those missing parts of the sets might look like? The other side of the Collinwood foyer, for instance; what one might see looking straight ahead if they were walking down the staircase. I've always pictured an enormous hallway leading off to the study, perhaps a library, and who knows what else.

And what of the other side of the Old House drawing room? Or the other side of Maggie's cottage? What do you suppose they might look like?

I guess I'm being dense, but I thought if you were looking straight ahead coming down the staircase at Collinwood you would see the door? I've always had the feeling that the Old House was rather small, probably with small rooms jutting off. The homes of that era that I have seen didn't have a kitchen in the main house, for instance, since that was a fire hazard. So they had a dining room and maybe a mud room behind it and that was it.

Maggie's house would have a small open kitchen on the other side of the studio area. In fact, I'm not sure that I'm making that up, I thought they had showed it at some point?

I agree and was going to post about it also. Glad I checked for your message first.

My first thought was, "At last, Collinwood is decorated for Christmas!"

Julia looks so sad. Beth looks beautiful. Could live without the grey haired hag. I just realized that I HAVE had a DS encounter, at least almost. Once, I was in the same restaurant as Abe Vigoda!