Discuss - Ep #0154

[Watching Project]

Robservations #154

[MagnusTrask]

I thought, as the cemetary scenes started, alright, now it's DS!  But then I did that when Thayer David appeared, and Diana Millay.  Daniel Keyes as the cemetary caretaker is great.   I'm not sure he does any work.  Maybe he inspects everything, and he jots down the fallen headstones etc. so others can take care of it all.   [spoiler](I wonder who's looking after Eagle Hill right now?!)[/spoiler]

I was right, Laura didn't have a Collinsport family in this "lifetime".

Written by Ron Sproat.

[DarkLady]

I've always thought this must be a private cemetery. I love the way the caretaker goes on and on about the "might name of Stockbridge" and the relish with which he describes the gruesome deaths of various family members.

When Vicki and Frank return to Collinwood, Vicki invites him in for a nightcap. Totally oblivious of any DWI laws that might have been on the books, Frank says to make it a double!

Haughtily, Laura tells Vicki, I'm descended from one of the oldest and finest families in the area. Roger tells Frank that the Phoenix police have determined beyond a doubt that the woman who died in the fire was Laura Murdoch Collins. I think that's very amusing! he chortles. Vicki says softly to herself, "Laura Murdoch Collins ... died by fire...." Frank looks at Laura, who seems uncomfortably beneath her stony exterior.

[Joeytrom]

Did they have DWI laws then?  Is this the Lt Riley with the thick NY accent?

[alwaysdavid]

I love the line. You're alive? Both living? As if it would be typical to travel with a dead person.  He says the ded are with him. I wonder if he is one of David's relatives?  The crypt smells of Jasmine.  Frank for the first time does not try to talk Vickie out of her supernatural experience.  Mrs J tries to find out why the police are at Collinwood. Roger reveals that Liz is about to oust Laura and Mrs J snoops.  Talk about lying in a job interview.

[tragic bat]

I'm really loving these peisodes.  But the crypt really has changed a lot over the years...

[spoiler]In 1897, it was in the basement of a two-story building, and the headstone read "Laura Stockbridge Collins," not L. Murdoch Stockbridge.  Laura Radcliffe also became a Collins instead a Murdoch.  But really, one of the biggest changes is actually the lack of any eerie atmosphere when they visited the crypt in 1897.  As has been said, it was just another trip to the cemetary by that point... [/spoiler]

[Lydia]

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Mrs. Johnson today, but I couldn't help wondering if Clarice Blackburn was piling it on a little too thick.

I didn't wonder that about the caretaker.  Daniel Keyes was perfect.  How many people auditioned for that role?  I just wanted the caretaker to go on and on forever about the various Stockbridges, and I was annoyed with Frank for stopping him.  Are there any Stockbridges left in the area?  Do the Collinses ever wonder if they'll go the way of the Stockbridges?  And imagine living to the age of 93, like U. Spencer Stockbridge, and then being murdered in your sleep.  Why was he murdered?  For money?  Because he was a cranky old man?  As far as I know, Dark Shadows never tells us.  But I'd love to see it acted out, with Jonathan Frid - Jonathan Frid as he is now - playing U. Spencer.

I was right, Laura didn't have a Collinsport family in this "lifetime".

But my impression is that she does still have family living.  Why haven't the state police contacted them?

Written by Ron Sproat.

And didn't he do a fine job!

[alwaysdavid]

I think it was Elizabeth who said that Laura's family moved away but they were the Murdoch's who apparently have intermarried with the Stockbridges probably to keep that good bloodline going.