Samantha Collins -- Who Knew?

[Philippe Cordier]

Who knew what secret Samantha Collins was hiding -- that she had (she thought) killed Joanna Harridge.

(As an aside, it's a little surprising that the mental asylum allowed patients to roam freely on the edge of a cliff ...  )

I wonder if keeping this secret contributed to Samantha's irritable personality ... her hair-trigger temper ...

At any rate, this reveals another layer to Samantha's character ... and who knows what other secrets she may have (e.g., re: Tad).

A while back someone commented that they didn't like the change in Samantha's personality after the earlier 1840 eps.  I think it was all planned from the start.  Certainly the writers knew about Daphne and Gerard -- this was evident from the 1970 haunting and 1995.  Quentin and Joanna were known from the beginning of 1840.  Samantha and Gerard was obviously known/planned from the start.  The Quentin and Daphne pairing also seems likely to have been part of the original plan.  Since all these relationships were plotted out, it seems likely that Samantha's killing of Joanna was also known from the beginning.  They certainly handed Virginia Vestoff and fantastic role to sink her teeth into!

[A.I.Collins]

Hey there!

  I agree the role of Samantha Collins was great for Virginia Vestoff. She is one of my favorite actresses on Dark Shadows. I just wished she could have been a somewhat nicer person.


Adra

P.S....that makes twice she's been slapped in this storyline.

[Cassandra Blair]

Samantha didn't change at all.  She was always scheming and volatile!
When we first met Samantha, we simply didn't know her well enough to see those qualities lurking beneath the surface.  And I'm sure that the grand lady of Collinwood didn't want people knowing the darkness that lurked beneath that well-lacquered veneer of gentility and moral uprightness.

Of course, we did see hints of Samantha's true character in her exchanges with Gabriel.  At the time, it looked like she just didn't like him in particular.  It was only later we learned that she was basically a bitch to everyone!

It's a testament to Virginia Vestoff's talent that she gave Samantha such life and believability - such a good actress!  The writers should be given their props too.  The character of Samantha is just so multi-dimensional, and proves that 1840 isn't just a shoddy retread of 1897.

(As an aside, it's a little surprising that the mental asylum allowed patients to roam freely on the edge of a cliff ...  )

I thought Samantha threw Joanna off the cliff on Collins property, after the latter had been released from the asylum.  I was pretty sleepy when I watched that particular episode, so I could be wrong.