Fashion notes first . . .
Vicki has some sort of dark suit. She's wearing the jacket open and there's a sweater underneath. It's a change from her usual dowdy governess clothes, almost sophisticated. Unfortunately, the dorky yarn bow takes her right back to little girl.
I like to think that Vicki changed back into the dowdy governess skirt, blouse, and cardigan because of the stench, but who the hell knows.
Carolyn is starting the day in a smart short sleeve turtleneck over a short black skirt. It's a simple but tailored look. Her flip is very flippy.
Oh, my, that is one ugly dress. No wonder Elizabeth is in a hell of a mood. It's a light colored tent of a dress. Joan Bennett, who was never remotely fat, looks enormous in this dress. It's beyond hideous.
Onto the show . . .
Day 8. Bet you didn't see that one coming. Unfortunately, Art is back on the clock so it may be Day 8 for awhile.
Collinwood: Roger's up bright and early. He's also making phone calls to the sheriff's office. See, he's heard that George is about to hand in his report to the coroner who will then make his final determination of the cause of death on Bill. George tells him the two options of choice are accidental death or homicide. Guess which one Roger is voting for? Now my tape is going and it could be just that, but I'm confused by all of this. I was under the impression that in the States, the coroner's function is purely medical. He gets called in to make a determination as to cause of death, but it's the job of the cops to take it to the next step. I thought. I know it's different--or was different--in England, but maybe I'm wrong?
MPI cannot put these episodes on DVD fast enough for me. My MPI VHS tapes are starting to go. As it was, I had to switch to another room because the sound kept fading in and out on me.
Oh, the show. Roger's mulling over things and strangely enough is not drinking. Yeah, it was a shocker for me too. He places another call to the sheriff before changing his mind. Vicki comes down and Mr. Smarm is all over her. He offers to take her to breakfast and then to a tour of the cannery. She doesn't think that Mrs. Stoddard would approve, but Roger assures her he'll square it with her.
Police station: Burke comes by looking for the same thing Roger is. He wants to know which way George is leaning. I have to admit I was much more interested in George's coffee mugs, which I found totally unexpected. I tend to like fairly fussy old lady china, but there's a beauty to the earthenware mugs that I like. They've got an interesting pattern and the non-matching earthenware pot is very cool. Oh, and there's some drama going on. George lets Burke have it with both barrels. Not that it has any effect on Burke, but the sheriff tells Burke that nobody owns him and that Burke needs to mind his own business.
Diner: That is not Maggie and that is definitely not Susie, although the other characters call her that, I refuse to. We have more discussion about sardines than I think anyone really cares to know. Would that I were joking. Seriously, there's a ton of info on the sardine industry. The talk veers back and forth between Bill Malloy and sardines. I'm just glad they're eating what appears to be a full breakfast. I admit to being confused by the sardine factoids. Apparently they hire planes to fly over the water and then the pilots report where they found the fish to the boats. I have no idea if this is true and even though I am a reference librarian, the thought of having to research the practices of the sardine cannery owners in the mid-sixties is a bit daunting. So if someone knows, I'd love to hear how accurate that is, but if not, we'll just go with it. This is, btw, as detailed as the show ever gets on the subject of just what the Collins Enterprises is all about. Burke spots them just as they're in the middle of the Bill Malloy topic. He looks none too pleased. Roger steps out to make a phone call and Vicki urgently tells Burke she wants to talk to him. Roger comes back and drags her out.
There's some film footage of Roger and Vicki walking through the town (Essex, CT?) which looks quite charming--the town, not Roger and Vicki. Roger stops off at the police station. He's cock and bull story of showing Vicki the sights goes over like a lead balloon. Roger does get Vicki to tell the sheriff what she knows about his alibi.
Vicki leaves the cannery, probably reeking of fish, and she heads back to the cannery to talk to Burke, who yells at her for telling the truth. He relents but warns her she could be in a world of trouble. He's getting distinctly mushy when George comes in. Burke goes back to snarking and then tells Vicki (there's no asking involved) he'll take her back to Collinwood.
George tries to rock my world by calling NotSusie Susie, but I refuse to buy it.
Burke comes right up to the door even though Vicki evidently tried to get him to leave her off in the driveway. Not a good thing as we will soon see.
You know how there are days when nothing seems to be going right and everyone is in a bad mood? This would be the prevailing tendency in episode 72.
Vicki's bedroom: Vicki is reading in her room and then decides a little light sewing is in order. I admit to be puzzled by this. Roger told her he'd square the breakfast and cannery tour, I don't recall him giving her the whole day off. But who knows. Carolyn storms in. Among other things, she tells Vicki she's sick of hearing about the foundling home and calls Vicki "Little Orphan Annie" (which is kind of funny). Vicki is confused by all of this. Carolyn is going at her guns blazing and manages to be more vitriolic than Roger. The 1966 Roger. Think about that. She has the nerve to call Vicki on socializing with Burke. Vicki takes umbrage at this and shrewdly suggests Carolyn is jealous. Carolyn storms out.
Diner: Ah, the start of my most favorite scene ever. Seriously. I don't know whether it's the sheer brilliance of the scene or my background in customer service, but I love this. I love every part of it. I even love KLS in this. Which should tell you something, because I am so not a member of the TLATKLS faction. However, here? now? she totally rocks this scene.
Mrs. J wants a roast beef sandwich, but she wants that well done (can you even do that? Doesn't it just come as is?) She wants lettuce on it, but first she wants to know if the lettuce is well washed. Maggie suggest mayonnaise (which grosses me out, but it ain't my sandwich) and Mrs. J wants to know if the mayonnaise is fresh. She used to make homemade mayonnaise for Mr. Malloy. She has fond remembrances of Mr. Malloy. They never shared the same bed, but she took care of him and she misses him.
Now there's Maggie and she has that look. If you've ever worked retail, I bet you've worn that look. If you are currently or were previously A Nice Girl, you've worn that look. It's the look of the polite, but inwardly groaning person who has gotten stuck with a migraine-inducing, oh-god-please-why-did-you-let-them-come-to-my-register/station/counter/extension, why-oh-why-do-I-deserve-this customer.
And you just know that the sandwich ain't gonna cut it. And it doesn't. It doesn't smell right. Maggie helplessly says that she just opened the jar that morning. Well, then she should complain to the firm that made the mayonnaise. She wants another sandwich without mayonnaise. She's just an old woman with no place to go. Oh, true, she has a daughter (yes, you heard me, a daughter. No mention of Harry at all), but she doesn't want to end up sitting in a rocker. Based on what we're seeing right now, I'm guessing her daughter feels similarly. The stools are uncomfortable. And because Maggie is A Nice Girl, she's doomed. At least, Mrs. J has the grace to apologize for making Maggie remake the sandwich. Her excuse: she has vengeance to wreck and she can't afford to get sick.
Drawing room: Carolyn snaps at her mother. Liz calls her on it and wants to know where Vicki is. Carolyn totally narks on Vicki. She has no idea that Roger was responsible of course, so Carolyn's version of events involve Vicki taking the day off and coming home with Burke. You can see Elizabeth lose it. Having done her thing, Carolyn wants to take off, but stops long enough to tackle the housekeeper question. Elizabeth pauses in her race up the stairs long enough to reply that right now she's "giving all my thought to firing the governess." Carolyn isn't unduly upset by that. She places a call to Burke, and is irked to learn he's not in.
Vicki's room: Vicki gets chewed out by Elizabeth. When I say that, I mean it. The emoting in this whole episode is fairly intense. I don't know if John Sedwick lit a fire under the actors or what, but everyone concerned is on fire. Elizabeth backs down only slightly when she learns that Roger was involved, but she's pretty direct when she tells Vicki that she pays Vicki's salary, not Roger.
Diner: Mrs. J makes Maggie sit with her. Because Maggie is A Nice Girl, Maggie does. For her pains, she gets to watch Mrs. J meltdown. And I do mean meltdown. We got tears. We got shaking. When Maggie tries to be A Nice Girl and mentions the magic word "accident," we got Old Testament "eye for an eye" quotes. To Sarah Johnson's credit, she does seem to realize that none of this is Maggie's fault. I think it's telling that when Carolyn shows up, Maggie all but leaps from her seat and drags Carolyn over to the counter. Carolyn, however, wants to go sit with Mrs. J.
There is discussion of a job, which of course Mrs. J embraces. It's all going to be up to Liz so they don't get too far. This has the result though of restoring her good mood. She pronounces Carolyn to be A Nice Girl and tips Maggie one thin dime for her pains (John D. would be so proud).
I'm not doing this sequence nearly the justice it deserves. It's even funny watching KLS when she has no lines and Carolyn shares her news that Mrs. J may come up to Collinwood to work.
Collinwood: Elizabeth wastes no time calling Roger for confirmation of Vicki's story. Unfortunately for her, Vicki comes in. Liz opts for her gracious lady of the manor routine, but Vicki is ticked. Again, when I say "ticked" I mean it. It's quite something to see. Again, no idea what prompted all this robust emotionalism, but I'm loving it. Vicki has had it. She's tired of being yelled at and warned and threatened. She denies being a liar, a snoop, or a spy. She even yells out the door that she's "not trying to steal anybody's boyfriend." In short, she's mad as hell and she's not going to take it anymore. Elizabeth, of course, backs down. Vicki relents. I find it interesting that Elizabeth then confides in her about the possibility of hiring a housekeeper. She doesn't really talk to her daughter about this kind of thing. I'm not terribly surprised by that because Carolyn is a total waste of brain power right now, but it's interesting.
Diner: Mrs. J is on the phone to Burke. She's got this one in the bag.
