Episode 5 - 6: Employee Loyalty
Fashion notes first . . .
Victoria Winters sports the ancestor to her many, very unattractive A-line dresses. It appears to be a dark wool, knee-length job, with double buttons down the front, and a velvet bow around a jewel neck collar. The most positive thing I can say about it concerns the length, which is more flattering than the minis she wears later on. The less said about the velvet bow and the buttons the better.
From the waist up, Carolyn's first costume looks like a refugee from Little House on the Prairie. It's one of those calico print things and it's gathered at the waist. Nancy Barrett was a tiny woman, but in this, she manages to look dumpy.
I always liked David Henesy's wardrobe in the early days. Originally he dressed like the little boy he was. Occasionally he wore jeans. He got messy. He got dirty. He looked right. Later on, he was either wearing double breasted suits or looking like a midget hippie and it was so, so, wrong. Here, he's just your run-of-the-mill bad seed sociopathic tyke.
Sam #1 definitely looks like he's slept it off. Short sleeve shirt but it's too tight and sleeves are rolled up. It's the right choice.
Elizabeth has her hair piled up in a very attractive ¢â‚¬Ëœdo, that I'm sorry, must have been accomplished by outside help. Her dress is not a favorite. It's some sort of jersey knit with more buttons down the front and it hangs all wrong on her.
Carolyn's second outfit is a frock also with buttons (apparently the theme du jour), these are down the sides. Again, the longer length seems to flatter most of the women way more than the ultra minis.
Onto the show . . .
So it's morning in Collinwood and the nonstop trauma and sleeplessness has wrought some sense into Vicki; she wants to quit. Smartest bloody thing she ever aspired to.
David gives us our second indication that all is not well with his mental state when he opens the window, looks out pensively, and then says "Mother." Oh, yeah. Bus station here we come. Unaware that his governess put the suitcase on the bed because she wants nothing more than to leave town, David decides this is the time to express his frustrations. He beats off her enameled monogram from that sad little plaid suitcase. Yikes.
I always loved it when they showed us the kitchen. At least I'm assuming this is the kitchen, because it's way too informal to be a dining room in a mansion, and I could swear that months down the line we see that to the right are appliances. Hell, I don't care. It's a kitchen. Luciaphil has spoken. Anyhow, Carolyn is doing her darnedest to convince Vicki not to quit. Vicki brings up the incident of the phantom sobbing, and Carolyn promptly denies all knowledge of it. Then in walks Roger, all slick charm and light, and hands Vicki a letter from home. Let's hear it for the Post Office, people! She hasn't been there a full day and here she is with a letter from the Hammond Foundling Home. Despite the fact that last night, Roger yelled at her, prowled around her door, had her hauled out of bed, and then yelled at her some more, Vicki forgives him. Like that. All water under the bridge. And when Roger tells her to "give David a kick for me," she smiles. Yeah, okay. See, Carolyn seems to be saying, "he's a really great guy."
On the other hand, as we witness David upstairs, casual corporal punishment begins to seem like a not-so-bad method of child-rearing, particularly when David thoughtfully begins to pack for Victoria. Anyone ever see What Not to Wear? You know, the segment where they start taking the makeover victim's old clothes and toss them into a metal garbage can, wooden hangers and all? Okay, that's pretty gentle compared to David's technique. For those of you who avoid reality TV and have no idea what I'm talking about, let's put it this way, little Davy doesn't mess around with neat folds and tissue paper.
Vicki reveals her background to Carolyn. We get the whole story including the message that was in the cardboard box with her: "Her name is Victoria. I cannot take care of her." We also learn that over the course of 14 years someone sent about $8400. It would be mildly interesting to know whether she got to keep the money or if the orphanage took it. Vicki gets downright bitter when she tells Carolyn, "Your name is more than just a season when you were dropped on the most convenient doorstep." Man, why didn't they keep writing her this way? She's gutsy and bitter and a hell of a lot more interesting.
Back up to Vicki's room. Now I realize that David is doing the packing, but even so, there is no way in hell all of those clothes would ever fit in that one suitcase.
Vicki, not to be dissuaded from her plan to get the hell out of Dodge, goes to take a final walk out to Widows' Hill. There she meets Sam #1 as played by Mark Allen. Now I liked him. He gave Sam a rougher, but oddly lyrical quality (as is reflected in his delivery of his dialogue), and he was also a much more convincing drunk. Not sure why he got replaced, but I think this was the stronger actor. Anyhow, he knows who Vicki is and has a lengthy discussion with her. His description of Collinwood as "a house of tears" is lovely. This is also where we get the first version of the Josette story. According to Sam, the townspeople hated her because she was different and she used to cry herself to sleep nightly. Then she jumped. It's a nice spooky scene. Made the more so by Sam's dialogue. He's clearly an educated man, clad in the wardrobe of a bum, and looking like he's no stranger to the DTs. I would also like to point out that it's a relatively long complicated conversation. Just so that later on when Vicki is asked to relay the conversation, we're all clear on that point.
In one of my absolute favorite moments of the show ever, we are treated to the sight of poor little rich girl, Miss Carolyn Collins Stoddard, ironing. Yes, you heard me, folks, ironing. See, back then the ostensible story is that the family did all their own chores except for "the heavy work." So, presumably, when it came time to scrub the bathroom floor or vacuum or do laundry, Elizabeth, Carolyn, Roger, and David were all doing this. All of the housework for a 40 room mansion. It takes me about a day and a half to clean my 3 bedroom apartment. Yeah, that's what I thought too. Anyhow she's ironing and there's more discussion between her and Vicki about the mystery of her parentage. Nancy Barrett used a higher pitch in her delivery initially. Every time I see her perform I'm amazed at the quality of her work. Despite all the plot chaos and the hectic working conditions, time after time she delivered a great performance. She also managed to create character growth in Carolyn, so it's nice to see her initial foray into the part. I like how we see how Paul's absence and her mother's isolation have affected Carolyn. Interesting. She and Vicki latch onto a possible connection between Vicki's parentage and Paul's disappearance. Based on this conversation it's clear that Vicki is 20 and Carolyn is 18. Vicki would have been 2 and already in the foundling home incidentally. Which means Vicki was born in 1946.
Poor Vicki. I don't like people touching my stuff. I can only imagine how I'd feel if some grimy fingered little brat had tossed all of my clothes into my suitcase willy-nilly, hangers and all. David is an annoying little brat, isn't he? Ah, and he hears voices. This is where we learn that the Widows told him to get rid of Victoria. It's a promising start to a new career, educational experience, home environment, and life in general.
After declaring that she'd be a fool to stay at Collinwood, Vicki opts to stay. Go figure.
We open episode 6 on the Collinwood basement set and some casement windows that I don't think we ever see again. In the first of many, many, "David, where are you?" moments, Vicki descends the stairs in search of her charge. The basement is a rather unprepossessing place. I realize the set people were probably thinking creepy atmosphere, but honestly, every time we see a section of the house that's not in general use it always looks like it's a perfect set up for Clean Sweep. I mean, it usually appears that there was some sort of a hurricane ripping through the house because the furniture is tossed all over the place. It's like they just drop empty picture frames and knickknacks where they stand. Apparently, dusting is also not part of the family or Matthew's chores.
Who is Matthew? Why as George Mitchell sneaks up on Vicki and starts yelling at her, we learn just that. Matthew Morgan is the "caretaker." Mitchell is Matthew #1. Thayer David replaced him later on and brought a. . . well, shall we say? hammy quality to the part. I much prefer George Mitchell. He's just the right mix of codger and small town loon. I don't think it's spoiling anything to say that he's not all there. Before we go to where the commercial break would have been, he's threatening to beat Vicki.
Fortunately for Vicki, Elizabeth arrives just in time, her hands clasped in her best boarding school posture and we get the stay-away-from-the-locked-room talk. Matthew is downright horrified when his employer informs him that Vicki will be staying at Collinwood. Seriously. He looks absolutely appalled. You really get the feeling that he'd be just as happy if it was just him and Mrs. Stoddard, whose daughter and brother and friends all take advantage of her. Yes, he's all she needs and he knows what's best for her and he's her number one fan . . . Unaware that there's such a thing as too much employee devotion, Liz packs them both off and discovers David ensconced in a packing crate. I like the relationship these two have. It's also kind of chilling to learn that David assumes that she'll hit him as punishment. Tells you a lot about how he was raised.
Meanwhile, Matthew and Vicki are up for round 2. It begins as an awkward conversation which starts to go more smoothly until Vicki abruptly launches into the saga of Paul. This is why I like to watch these things again every so often, because it prompted some new questions on my part. Because really, isn't that the sort of thing you'd be circumspect about? I love gossip as much as the next person, but it's her first day on the job and she is after all waiting for one of the chief parties in the Domestic Tragedy of 1948 to pop into the room any second now. I swear to God it's like she has ADHD or something. Anyhow, Matthew sure as hell isn't going there. We do learn just how he got the job.
For those fans who haven't seen these episodes and think about Elizabeth as that nice lady who pours all the coffee and never knows what's going on with Cousin Barnabas and the shrink who came to dinner, I urge you all to make the effort to see the stuff from the PB (pre-Barnabas) era. ¢â‚¬ËœCause matronly Liz apparently deliberately went out and got herself a loyal-to-the-bitter-end employee, who'd keep her secrets, protect her interests, and as they say in the hotel trade, would hide dead bodies for her. And she never had to bite him, bewitch him, or hypnotize him to do it.
Matthew, we learn, worked in the cannery as some sort of janitor and was very unhappy, "wondering if I'd be spending the rest of my days in that stink." Then one day, Elizabeth (who since we're talking Joan Bennett, would have been quite a looker) swept in rescuing him from the stinking cannery, giving him a house to live in (for life) and a job up at Collinwood. Just before Paul went walkabout and all the other servants took off. Think about that.
Matthew, it is emphatically clear, worships the ground she walks on.
Roger used to read the Rover Boys. Oh dear. No, Liz, I don't think David is going to like them much. Just a thought. It's kind of a sad scene, particularly when David indicates he knows damn well that Roger wants nothing to do with him.
Carolyn pops up in the drawing room all keen to play Nancy Drew. She thinks it would be a grand idea for Vicki to question her mother about Paul. It occurs to me that Carolyn's subconscious motive is to get information about her father, easier and less confrontational if Vicki does it.
As might be expected, this goes over about as well as a lead balloon. Elizabeth is trying to persuade Vicki that her job is to ease David's fears of her. Frankly, abusive or not, Roger is right when he says what David needs is military school. Vicki is more concerned with her own problems. Again, I have to question the wisdom of confronting your new boss with presumably painful questions about her troubled marriage, abandonment, and to boot, the implication that you're her husband's bastard kid. Whether or not there's validity to that or not, it's rude, it's invasive, and it's downright inconsiderate.
And here I thought Vicki was such a nice girl . . . .
