Episode 73: The company you’re putting me in

The first 19 weeks of Dark Shadows were credited to writers Art Wallace and Francis Swann. Wallace and Swann both specialized in finely etched character studies. So the plot doesn’t move very quickly in those opening months, but the actors do get an opportunity to show their stuff.

Every member of yesterday’s all-female cast, Alexandra Moltke Isles, Nancy Barrett, Joan Bennett, Kathryn Leigh Scott, and Clarice Blackburn, had at least one emotionally charged scene that gave her a star turn. Each made the most of it. Today’s episode is quieter. Most of it consists of people waiting for the coroner to rule whether the death of beloved local man Bill Malloy was an accident or homicide.

Joan Bennett and Kathryn Leigh Scott are back as reclusive matriarch Liz and restaurant operator Maggie. They are joined by David Henesy as problem child David Collins, David Ford as drunken artist Sam, and Dana Elcar as the sheriff.

Sam goes into the sheriff’s office to ask about the coroner’s report, and quickly realizes that no matter what he does or says, he keeps making himself look like a suspect in Bill’s death. Sam’s anxiety plays effectively against the sheriff’s serenity.

At the great house of Collinwood, David thinks he has a card to play against well-meaning governess Vicki. He tells Liz that Vicki never showed up to give him his lessons for the day. To his disappointment, Liz tells David that she knows all about that, that Vicki isn’t in trouble, and that she will be his governess for years to come. The two of them have a very nice scene in which David tries to convince his aunt that he will never like Vicki and Liz isn’t having it.

The sheriff comes to Collinwood to tell Liz that the coroner ruled Bill’s death an accident. As he is approaching, David runs out the front door. There’s a bit of unintentional humor there- Liz is calling David to come back to the house when we hear a car. It sounds as if the nine-year old David is driving away.

David goes to the restaurant, where Maggie and her father Sam are having one of their depressing conversations about the consequences of his alcoholism. Maggie introduces David to Sam. David smiles when Sam addresses him as “Mr Collins,” and is excited to learn that Sam is a professional artist. A happy moment is budding until Sam asks David how his father is doing. David hates his father. If he knew that Sam also hates him, they would no doubt become fast friends. But he seems to think Sam and his father are friends, and so he rushes off. It’s a poignant bit.