Fashion notes first . . .
One new thing. Elizabeth appears in a very handsome dressing gown of belted brocade.
Roger was arrested in that plain wrinkled rain coat, but comes home wearing the sporty checked number. These people were so careful about matching clothes to the film footage but couldn't remember what the heck he was wearing a couple of days before?
Still the same day.
Well. After weeks of boring exposition and the chain of possession of a pen, we finally have some action. It's about bloody time too. Both of these were brought to us by Ron Sproat and John Sedwick
I take back what I said about Moltke. She's actually very good in the next few episodes. Right mix of believable hysteria and innocence. I think I would be hysterical too if I had a scary looking man standing over me saying things like "I don't want to kill you" and "You won't feel any pain." It also can't be too reassuring when you hear someone saying that they were "forced to" kill someone. .
In an earlier episode Burke told Vicki she was a bad liar and he is so right. She is. She totally cannot lie. By this I mean she is capable of the attempt, but that she is incapable of a successful lie. She is also really bad at letting go. So when she needs to shut up, she can't. Art Wallace described her as a girl who "has to know" meaning, I think, that she is driven by curiosity. I'm inclined to think that it's not so much the curiosity as it is the perseverance and the honesty. Both of which can be admirable qualities, but like everything else, one needs to have those in moderation and Vicki doesn't. Now granted this is an impossible situation as we will see in the next episode, but it occurs to me that a problems Vicki has and will continue to have stem from these qualities.
Anyhow, Matthew reveals what happened to Bill Malloy. He had overheard Bill telling Elizabeth that there might be trouble for the family and misinterpreted that to mean trouble for Elizabeth. He tried "talking" to Bill, but that was a no go. He grabbed at Bill. Bill fell. Bill died. Roger apparently showed up and Matthew couldn't properly send the body out to sea.
Vicki's first attempt at getting the hell out of there--and it's a good one--is to suggest that Matthew give himself up. It wasn't premeditated murder. It would just be accidental death. Unfortunately for her Matthew doesn't want to do any time. He has a much better solution. He'll kill Vicki and then no one will know!
In the drawing room, Elizabeth and Frank are waiting for the police to report back. George comes on in and he's got nothing. Frank doesn't quite get just how big the estate is and his expectations seem to be high. It's pitch black outside and we're dealing with George for God's sake. Oh, and interesting little fact. When asked about the buildings on the estate, Liz enumerates them: Collinwood, Old House, Matthew's cottage, greenhouses, sheds, stalls. You will note that Seaview, the house that Nicholas ends up living in, and the carriage house are not on this list.
First attempt is a bust. Part of the problem is that Matthew isn't terribly bright (he meant to scare Vicki away by breaking into her room and running her down; apparently she was supposed to decide to leave town), but he's pretty shrewd (his prospects of prison time are high). Moreover he's blaming Vicki for everything. Second attempt is that if she disappears he'll be suspected. He's so not going for that. Her third unintentional attempt is partially successful. She's crying in earnest and that really seems to distress Matthew. I picture him in his youth with his mother hammering into his head "Don't make girls cry. That's wrong."
Elizabeth at this point is picturing Vicki lying dead or injured in a hole or a cave on the property. She calls Matthew's cottage, but he's not picking the phone up. Frank progresses to believing that Vicki's in danger. He also surmises it's all connected to Bill's death. This makes Elizabeth uneasy. She really is very protective of Roger. Frank grudgingly has to let go of his theory of Roger and Sam being in cahoots seeing as how they're both still at the police station. He's a smart guy, Frank. After more Q & A, he starts to wonder if someone could be trying to protect Liz. You can practically see the light bulb turning on above Elizabeth's head.
Another comment guaranteed to make anybody hysterical occurs when Vicki asks Matthew what he's thinking about. His answer? The best way to kill her. I mean how do you respond to that other than to plead for your life. Which Vicki does. Thayer David is having a grand old time with this role by the way. I still don't think this is his strongest characterization but I have to love it when he starts blathering on about how he killed a dog by breaking its neck. Then light dawns and he realizes how to solve his quandary. He brightly tells Vicki that's how he'll kill her! He's going about this plan when thankfully Elizabeth walks in. Vicki hysterically (I know I'm using this word a lot but really it's the only way to describe her in this episode) yells that he killed Bill and now he's trying to kill her.
I don't know who Vicki's parents really were but if in fact Elizabeth was one of them, all I can say is that she sure as hell didn't pass on her nerves to Vicki. Because Elizabeth? has nerves of steel. She's eerily calm. This is the person I want around when there's a crisis.
Kudos to Bennett, Moltke, and David in these episodes because they all rock. I'm the first person to say that Joan Bennett could be insipid in many roles. She always excelled when she had to play a strong woman though and she excels right now. Meanwhile there's Thayer David playing the creepily devoted Matthew with panache. I still prefer George Mitchell because I think he brought a level of realism to the part, but right now I'll take Thayer David.
Elizabeth wants answers and she gets them. She's visibly disgusted and appalled for an instant (by the way, Bennett looks beautiful in these scenes) and then she turns it around. She gets the whole story out of Matthew along with his motives--he didn't want anybody bothering his beloved "Miz Stoddard." Vicki doesn't get what the hell Liz is trying to do here. Of course, she's totally lacking in guile so it's no surprise. Elizabeth makes it work for her though. She's positively icy as she tells Vicki to keep quiet. Unfortunately the situation has gotten beyond her control. She commands Vicki to go back to the house, but that upsets Matthew. There's a great moment when Elizabeth listens to his concerns (namely that Vicki's going to tell everyone), thinks about it, and then brightly tells him that "we'll watch her so she doesn't tell anyone." If Victoria Winters cannot lie, Elizabeth Stoddard is a champion liar. I mean, she sells it so much that the first time I ever saw this episode I almost thought she was serious. Matthew is tempted but finally concludes in a horrified tone that she's lying to him. He starts to attack her and then again horrified at himself runs out into the night.
They return to Collinwood. Elizabeth brings Frank and George up to speed. It's one of the rare times where she drinks. George tells the off-screen cops to look for Matthew. Moltke meanwhile is really making for one believable hysteric. Elizabeth is evasive and vague about the Malloy/manslaughter connection. Matthew just wanted to protect her.
Later she and George rummage through Matthew's belongings to figure out where he may have gone. They come up with a brother Walter who lives in some place called Cold Water.
Still back at the house, Frank's recipe for Vicki's nerves and ordeal is to take her out for a steak dinner. Those were the days. Roger's back. Vicki has the grace to apologize. To say that Roger is withering is a total understatement. Frank is indignant on Vicki's behalf but I can't say I blame Roger.
Roger joins Liz and the sheriff at the cottage spewing vitriol. The sheriff leaves. Roger wants Vicki fired, but Liz refuses. She distracts him by stating that they still have to deal with Burke and that they'll have to destroy him first. Well, that's quite the statement.
Frank seems to recognize that steak dinners don't really compensate for attempts on one's life. He gets a better idea. Namely that Vicki will come to Bangor for the weekend with him. I should point out that he means Vicki will stay at a hotel and not that they will do anything improper. Of course, Liz gives Vicki the weekend off (she's been working two hours the entire time she's been at Collinwood) and Vicki goes off to bed. They conclude that Matthew is miles away.
Or not. We close with film footage of Mr. Morgan making his way to the Old House.
