Well-meaning governess Vicki is bound, gagged, and imprisoned in a hidden chamber in the long-abandoned Old House on the estate of Collinwood. Her captor, fugitive Matthew, fluctuates between saying that he doesn’t want to hurt her and threatening to kill her. Their scenes are appropriately difficult to watch.
At the great house on the estate, strange and troubled boy David Collins is having breakfast with wildly indiscreet housekeeper Mrs Johnson. This is our first look at the full kitchen set in Collinwood since episode 53, and as in previous scenes in that intimate locale one character conveys a large amount of story-productive information to another.
Mrs Johnson tells David that Vicki is missing, says that Matthew probably has her, and that she will likely never be seen again. She dwells at length on the prospect that Vicki’s mangled corpse may be rotting on the beach somewhere.
David finds this idea upsetting. When Vicki first became his governess, he had been quite unpleasant to her. Among his favorite themes in conversation with her was the legend that a governess would fall to her death from the cliff overlooking that beach, and his wish that she might be the governess who makes the legend come true. His disquiet at Mrs Johnson’s speculation shows how far he has come since those days.* Now, he likes Vicki very much.
When Mrs Johnson tells him that if Vicki is dead, it’s his fault, he is shocked. She explains that Vicki disappeared while she was looking for her wallet, and that she wouldn’t have lost her wallet in the first place if she hadn’t had to go looking for David when he ran off. Unknown to Mrs Johnson, David knows where Matthew is and is bringing him food. She has no idea how heavy a responsibility David would bear were Matthew to kill Vicki.
While Mrs Johnson washes the breakfast dishes, David fills a paper sack with more food for Matthew. He also steals the pack of cigarettes she left on the breakfast table. The sounds coming from the sink make it clear she is only a few feet away from David while he conducts this raid, but she doesn’t notice a thing. When she leaves the sink, she does notice that her cigarettes are missing, but doesn’t accuse David of taking them. Nor does she ask him about the paper sack, though there is nothing between it and her eyes.
David takes the food to Matthew at the Old House. From her place of bondage, Vicki listens as David tells Matthew that she is missing and that people are blaming him for her disappearance. David talks soulfully to Matthew.
David wonders if his hated father, high-born ne’er-do-well Roger Collins, might be holding Vicki prisoner. Matthew has encouraged David to believe that Roger, not he, killed beloved local man Bill Malloy, and tells David that there’s no telling what Roger might do now. Once a man has killed, he explains, killing is easier the next time. Vicki, fearing that Matthew might kill her and now fearing that he might kill David as well, hears this remark with alarm.
After David leaves the house, he realizes he forgot to give Matthew the cigarettes he stole from Mrs Johnson. He returns to the house and does not find Matthew. Vicki hears David. Through her gag, from behind the wall, Vicki calls out to him. David’s first reaction to the sound of this muffled voice is to look at the portrait of Josette Collins above the mantelpiece.
We have seen Josette’s ghost emerge from the portrait twice, and in #102 we saw David have a conversation with it. We could only hear his side of it, but it seems that David can hear Josette talk to him through the portrait. Viewers who remember that scene will appreciate David’s quick glance at the portrait. He doesn’t seem to think that Vicki’s voice sounds much like Josette’s, he’s just checking to make sure.
David makes his way to the bookcase that conceals the entrance to the hidden chamber. He is listening there to Vicki’s muffled cries when we see Matthew coming back to the house.
As David Collins, ten year old David Henesy plays the lead in today’s episode. David Collins’ character began as a little fellow who had “known nothing but hatred all his life,” in the words of his aunt, reclusive matriarch Liz. Because his father hated him so, the only way David knew to behave was hatefully, and he made a valiant effort at that. Vicki strives to befriend him, and has had great success. Now, he is trying to extend the benevolence he has learned from Vicki to Matthew, whom he believes to be wrongly accused. David seems very small and very fragile throughout the episode. That vulnerability, framing David Henesy’s lively and intricately realized performance, makes for an effective Friday cliffhanger when we see David Collins in danger at the end.
*My wife, Mrs Acilius, contributed a great deal to my understanding of David’s characterization in this episode.
Acilius on Dark Shadows 