I'm reminded of A Midsummer Night's Dream every time I watch this episode, at the point when Julia, summoned by Tom, wanders out into the night followed by crazy Liz. It's a wonderful moment in an episode filled with wonderful moments. You can say what you like about Elizabeth's obsession with death, but when it's mixed up with Julia's victimization by Tom, it makes for a magical mixture of comedy and drama. (Hmm...RobinV thinks differently.)
If I remember correctly, when Elizabeth was carted off to Windcliff, she was sure she was Naomi Collins, and she had no thought of being buried alive. Where did the buried alive obsession come from? Cassandra put quite a lot of time into the whole Naomi business, and now it's gone with the wind. Was the fear of being buried alive something to do with Elizabeth being buried alive inside of Naomi's personality? No, it couldn't have been. It definitely came from outside Elizabeth. Very mysterious. But never mind. Joan Bennett did a fine job with it today, and I just love the moment when she shows Mrs. Johnson the chopped phone cord - though I think that in fact the phone cord wasn't chopped: I was sure I saw a connector there.
I was impressed by the way Julia came up with an explanation for her initial dithering away about Tom. Just the right combination of plausible story and "I haven't the faintest idea."
And I adore the way Grayson Hall pulls out all the stops to show Julia's need of Tom. She does it perfectly. It looks easy - you just pretend your world has come to an end - but I suspect that if I had watched Addison Powell do it, I wouldn't think it looked easy anymore.