Fashion notes first . . .
Thank goodness the ladies change their clothes every hour because otherwise I'd have nothing to report.
Dana Elcar's uniform is evidently getting too tight on him because he shows up at Collinwood with the jacket open. Looks kind of sloppy.
Elizabeth is back in the dark dress with the rolled collar. Her hair is scraped back pretty tightly. For some reason she looks a lot thinner.
Okay, I'm not sure what to call the garment Vicki is in while she preps for dinner at Casa Evans. It looks like a housecoat, but I'm not sure that's really what it is. There are various ties and bows. It's not frilly though, it just looks like something found on a discount rack at a really awful sale.
David, meanwhile is looking pretty spiffy in his little suit coat with the brass buttons. Oh, and there's a pocket square. Clinton Kelly would be proud.
Vicki's night time ensemble is a sleeveless A-line dress in a light fabric. It is loosely belted at the waist and has some sort of weird front pleat.
In contrast, Maggie who has on a simple dark sweater, belt and a knee-length tweed skirt looks great. I cannot get over how thin KLS was though. My god, she doesn't even fill out that sweater and last time I had hips that narrow I was about 10.
Onto the show . . .
It's still Day 6. Are we surprised? No, I didn't think so. In fact, no time at all has passed since the end credits of #58 rolled. So George has made his return trip to Collinwood. Davy's convinced the sheriff's about to escort Daddy off to the Big House. I'm guessing he hasn't imparted that conjecture to Roger, because Roger's all helpful citizen with George. Little factoid - George is staring at the portrait in the foyer (no, the other portrait in the foyer) and Roger identifies it as Benjamin Collins, his great-uncle, who I presume is the other, other black sheep in the family? Or I guess we could explain him away as a brother to Edward, Judith, Quentin, and Carl who died prior to 1897.
In a remarkable exercise of restraint, Roger opts not to indulge in a drink just now. Probably a good thing too, because Dim George is playing stupid (not that it's much of a stretch), which I gather indicates he's onto something. I have to say though Roger is really very credible in his performance. If I had just tuned in, I'd assume his regret at Bill's death was genuine and that his indignation was real. The faĤade slips the teensiest bit when George starts to hone in on the murder angle.
Vicki pops back home. Looks like she did a lot of shopping and possibly bought a hat. She's talking to Liz and the door opens just in time for Roger to come out. I love how she is always in the wrong place at the wrong time; it's no wonder Roger thinks she's a snoop. She goes upstairs and Roger breaks his suave act long enough to implore Liz to remember he's her brother.
So it's back to the drawing room. The undercurrents are pretty thick beneath the helpful, polite exterior, and implications are flying back and forth. Ice Queen Liz starts to make an appearance and Dim George has to back up his need to be there with the tidbit that Bill's watch stopped at 10:45. Reluctantly Liz answers some of his questions with a lot more detail than I suspect Roger would have liked.
When in doubt, rant and rave. Roger denies all knowledge of Burke's claims and expresses a great deal of outrage. George turns to Elizabeth for her support and opinion, but she has absolutely no problem giving him the Freeze. She's backing her brother.
Upstairs, Vicki is getting ready for her big night out. There is something a little sad and pathetic about this, which I'll expound on later, but it's also sweet. David pops in all dressed up (I'm guessing to celebrate). He's convinced his father is about to be hauled off never to return and really isn't interested in hearing anything different. David Henesy's comic timing is really quite good. It's pretty funny the way he informs Vicki that his father doesn't like her and she could be murdered too. Oh, and the Widows and his crystal ball confirmed Roger's guilt so that's that. He wants to show her his calculations, but she finally kicks him out.
Downstairs: The Collins siblings are a tough unit to crack. George finally has to give it up for now. David wants a ringside seat to see Roger arrested, but George completely misinterprets it and reassures him that such a thing won't be happening today. He does take David's chart. The look Roger gives David is absolutely priceless.
The fuzz gone, the kid kicked out (they should know better cause he's got his ear pressed against the door); Roger and Liz get down to business. She wants the truth. He's not about to go down that road. Man, I love these scenes. She throws a number of zingers his way. And then Roger tells her in a very nasty way, that he killed Bill. She's horrified and then he witheringly tells her of course, he didn't do it, but that's how her accusations make him feel. She apologizes.
There's a remarkable quality to the Bennett and Edmonds' scenes. Even in this one, when Edmonds is not line perfect and he's doing some surreptitious Teleprompter reading, they're very comfortable with each other. They inhabit their characters so well with an ease that their colleagues often lack. Even on days when the words aren't flowing quite so freely, the physicality of their parts seems to come naturally.
Vicki catches David red handed. Unfortunately, when Roger opens the door just then, I think he assumes she's been doing some illicit information gathering herself. David predicts that "they'll get you," and runs off. Vicki's dinner plans worry Roger. While Liz apparently could care less, it's obvious that she finds Roger's attitude interesting.
Casa Evans: Kitchen is still off where Maggie's bedroom is. Vicki is let loose among Sam's paintings and finds one that makes her freak out. It's the portrait of Betty Hanscomb (identified later on), who is a dead ringer for Vicki. You all have seen it because the thing bops around all over town in subsequent story arcs. It's the head and shoulders of a dark-haired woman, hair done in an upsweep. Maggie sees the resemblance, but doesn't quite share the excitement. Even when she learns why Vicki thinks this is important, she's pretty cynical. It's not something Vicki wants to hear, but it's so true. Vicki needs to know and can't really imagine that the facts could be unpleasant, whereas Maggie, who lives in a state of denial for a reason, can easily conjecture that maybe it's better not to know.
Police Station: Burke comes in. His mood: stormy. He's making me like George, which has to tell you something. I think it's all those years of working retail. I never really cared for the customers who took out their anger on the clerk. For that matter, I never had a lot of patience with people who started out angry. Burke is a bully at this moment and it only gets worse. Dim George is trying to ignore him and wants to eat his dinner which is a sad looking sandwich.
Casa Evans: Maggie wants to know about the kitchen at Collinwood. Instead of telling her, there's some goofy dialogue that really isn't nearly as funny as Art seemed to think it was. Oh, dear. Maggie has brought out the good china and everything. Meanwhile KLS does her share of Teleprompter reading. Sam comes home; he doesn't look too happy to discover they have company, but seems to get that this means a lot to Maggie.
Police Station: George isn't too impressed with Burke's histrionics. He does admit that David's calculations weren't too far off. The official opinion, by the way, is that Bill fell into the water at Lookout Point. George still isn't letting go of the accident theory, which of course, infuriates Burke. And then George loses it. It's kind of like watching a cocker spaniel get angry, but Burke yells too. He storms out, but not before George threatens him should he get out of line.
Casa Evans: Sam listens to Vicki's origin story politely. She shows him the portrait. He's more intrigued by the change in his technique than the subject, but he sees the facial resemblance. She learns who the model was and that the girl died. He's less than clear about the time line.
Oh, this is bizarre. Maggie is anxious to entertain her guest and pressures him to recount the story of the hit-and-run accident. Although it's far from good dinnertime conversation, Sam finally obliges.
For those of you who want more details: Roger and Burke were good buddies at the time. They were out with Burke's girlfriend, Laura at a tavern getting wasted. That's quite the visual picture actually. I don't think we ever see Roger drunk out of his skull and I can't even begin to imagine Diana Millay playing a boozehound, but whatever. They left in Burke's car. Sam, who is giving Roger's version of events, claims that Burke was driving. They hit some guy and took off. Burke denied being behind the wheel, but both Roger and Laura testified otherwise. A week later, Roger and Laura got married.
George phones and warns Sam that Burke could be on his way and that he shouldn't hesitate to call him if Burke is a problem.
They sit down to eat and Burke barges in. Literally.
I will have a lot more to say about that next column.
