Fashion notes first . . .
It's all about nighties for this column. Mainly because these are the only new pieces of attire present in these two episodes.
Maggie has some sort of quilted robe thing going on. It's . . . well, it's not heinous, but it's also not particularly flattering. KLS is a twig. You can tell that especially when she's wearing her waitress uniform. The quilted robe flattens her out even further. It's interesting really, if the sixties, or rather the fashions represented by Ohrbachs, were unkind to women with hourglass figures (e.g. Alexandra Moltke), they worked well on very thin, very flat-chested women like KLS. But we're in sort of an in-between state right now.
Carolyn has on what I would call an ultra feminine, floofy robe and gown. There are ruffles. At least four on the sleeves of the robe. And there are ribbons. It's very chocolate box pretty, which is okay, until she takes off the robe and it's got these huge ruffles right across the chest. Not an attractive sight.
Vicki is finally in the standard romance novel gear. I actually think the pjs were cuter on her than this lace trimmed tent thing with the yoke collar.
I'm going to come out and say it now. Ramse Mostoller doesn't win any kudos from me.
Onto the show . . .
Both of these episodes were penned by Francis Swann. I actually made a guess for each episode before the credits rolled. To my joy, I was right each time. Francis has a much better handle on making the expositional scenes more dynamic. Whereas Art will have one actor on the phone in a rather dull conversation, Francis shows us both people. He also tends to use this as a transitioning device. (e.g. We start out in Collinwood with Roger calling Sam, camera shifts to Sam and then next scene is at the Evans Cottage). I also think Francis has a much better handle on character growth than Art. More on that later.
It's still day 5, albeit late on day 5.
Bill Malloy's body lies a moldering on the rocks. Shot of Vicki screaming her head off, as would I because dead body, eww. Waves crashing on the rocks and then the music cue. The voiceover for both of these episodes is significantly shorter incidentally. As might be expected they prepare to run home.
Back at Collinwood, Roger is pouring what is certainly neither his first nor last drink of the day. Liz is worrying about the girls and Bill. She delivers what is really a rather nice testimonial to Bill. She also considers contacting the police (give the lady a gold star!) Roger is quick to throw buckets of water on that idea.
In come Carolyn and Vicki who are close to hysterical. They aren't aware that it's Bill they saw, but they do know a) it was a dead body and b) it was scary as hell. Roger has lost a great deal of sangfroid since the episode started, but dismisses their fears. I absolutely loved his reaction when Elizabeth asks him to go down to the beach and check. Sort of like: Why me? Why do I have to go? She calls Matthew. I'm guessing that being hauled out of bed in the middle of the night to go down a treacherous cliff path and look for a dead body probably falls under "other duties as assigned."
Matthew, who would probably joyfully clean out a septic tank if Liz asked, agrees to go check it out. Carolyn meanwhile insists that it was real. She isn't falling for their suggestions that it might have been the light, or seaweed, or rocks. Roger instantly theorizes that David might have pulled a prank on them.
The outdoor sets always look unconvincing to me. The plants just scream plastic and the lighting is off. Matthew heads on down the cliff (unfortunately not the way I would have preferred).
Roger on like his third or fourth brandy ties all this into the legend. We hear more about the victims (#1 bride who would be Josette and #2 is a governess). Roger looks meaningfully at Vicki when he says the latter. Heh. Carolyn is already planning on insomnia and/or nightmares because she asks if she can bunk with Vicki. They finally agree to go off to make themselves cocoa.
Alone at last, Roger and Elizabeth get down to it. There's some other stuff mixed in with the it really might be a dead body and what are we going to do if is that I find fascinating. I get the feeling Francis wanted to do more with Roger, which of course puts him in my good book. Roger openly complains about Bill's deficiencies as a manager; he keeps passing up Roger's ideas; he wouldn't know innovation if it smacked him on the face, and so on. Liz isn't terribly sympathetic. She tells Roger how she invited Ned Calder back to his old job. Roger does not like this at all and seems relieved to hear that Mr. Calder declined the job offer.
Matthew comes back and tells them that there was nothing there. The girls are at first very upset. Roger calms them down, while it's evident that Liz has her own suspicions about Matthew's story. Roger really, really wants to let it go Everyone but Roger goes their separate ways and we see him place a call to Sam asking if he's heard from Bill.
Back in his cottage, Matthew's gulping down a cup of something when Elizabeth shows up. She confronts him about his story. He stands by it. Pretty heavy Teleprompter reading from Thayer David. He starts going on about how she'll need to scotch Vicki and Carolyn from talking about this. Strangers on the property, calling and bothering her, and trampling on the lawn. Elizabeth ignores that and asks him to show her what it was he did see.
Meanwhile, Vicki wants Carolyn to go out with her and take a look. Carolyn appears to have embraced the seaweed theory and isn't all that keen. Vicki tries to persuade Roger to come along with (I suppose to be a strong, manly presence). When he refuses, Vicki tells him that there's nothing to be frightened of. Ha!
There's growth here with Vicki. She appears to be thinking before she speaks. There's a little more maturity. I'm liking her tons more.
Out on the cliff, Elizabeth is startled by the seaweed (and I'm just dying to know how exactly that all got accomplished). Bill is gone. Matthew again starts up with the people pestering her and the gossip.
Roger is not responding to their baiting when Liz comes back. She reassures them and Carolyn is all for forgetting the whole thing. Vicki mentions the mirror incident and then David's pronouncement that Bill is dead and that Roger did it. I'll let you imagine Roger's face at that one.
Next episode is a new story. Now it's Carolyn who is adamant that they did see a corpse, and Vicki who's uncertain. The girls are in Vicki's room and Carolyn asks her if she knew Burke prior to coming to Collinwood. Vicki relates what happened and seems determined to stay. Carolyn talks about tides and undertow with authority. They start to tie in Bill with the body, but neither really wants to go there.
At Casa Evans, Sam is nearly passing out on the sofa and Maggie wants him to go to bed. Not sure why. Would you wake up a sloppy drunk or would you just let him zonk out in situ? I don't have a ton of experience with this so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. More about Bill Malloy. And evil (from Sam). There's some stuff about "pollution that lies in the souls of men" which has Maggie nonplussed. She says the air in Collinsport is supposed to be pure. No flies on Maggie. My god, she's sharp as the proverbial tack. Sam mentions that letter he entrusted to her.
In Vicki's room, Carolyn starts hearing noises and she's all nerves. They decide they came from the drawing room. They rule out David after Vicki (over Carolyn's protests) unlocks the door and checks his room.
Maggie tries to cheer Sam up, but he's deep in the throes of melancholia and whiskey and no amount of peppy platitudes is going to help. She finally heads off to bed in the direction of what will eventually be the kitchen.
The phone rings at Collinwood and Vicki takes off to answer it. When the shutters start moving, Carolyn literally runs after her. Sam hangs up. Oh, for the invention of Caller ID. Things go bump in the drawing room and Carolyn freaks. Vicki is determined to investigate. This being 1966 and Collinsport, they find not crack addicts in search of pawnable loot, but an empty room and fluttering curtains. They also find the family album smack dab in the middle of the floor. How it got there is unclear. Carolyn is totally hysterical. Vicki is the calming voice of reason here. Yes, as weird as it sounds, Victoria Winters proclaims logical explanations and the nonexistence of ghosts.
Once they're gone, the book opens up by itself to a page of Josette. Born 1810. Died 1834.
Casa Evans. Maggie is back and nagging Sam about his attempted phone call. He comes up with a rather plausible excuse about Burke and the sittings, which she doesn't buy.
Collinwood. so if it is a ghost, someone wanna tell me how a locked door and the covers are going to keep it out? Carolyn wonders if the call was from Bill. They talk about Bill and his "crush" on her mother and then some more about Burke. It's all very sweet and girly.
Casa Evans. Sam is being tortured. Maggie threatens to open up the letter and read it. Not a good plan. He loses it. He grabs her and makes her swear she won't read it.
Some nice performances all around, but the star here is Francis Swann. He's my new favorite.
