Strange and troubled boy David Collins is using a swing set near the long-abandoned Old House on the grounds of the great estate of Collinwood. This is a jarring moment for returning viewers. David just had a traumatic experience at the Old House. He had found his governess, the well-meaning Vicki, bound and gagged there, about to be murdered by the fugitive Matthew. Terrified that he would be punished, David had fled, leaving Vicki at Matthew’s mercy. Vicki escaped, but it is still odd to see David using playground equipment there so soon.
David is not entirely alone. Peering at him from behind a bush is his mysterious and long-absent mother, Laura. Spooky music plays when we see Laura. In yesterday’s episode, similar music played when drunken artist Sam Evans unaccountably adopted Laura’s mannerisms and painted a picture reminiscent of her fascination with fire. That suggested that there is something supernatural and dangerous about Laura. Her surreptitious watching of David, so near the haunted and malign Old House, leads us to wonder if he is the one in danger.
No one has told David that Laura is back in town. Wildly indiscreet housekeeper Mrs Johnson has found out about it, and while she tucks David into bed she drops a series of very broad hints to the effect that someone else may be watching over him soon. David doesn’t seem to catch her point, but he does mention that he thought he saw a woman watching him from behind a bush while he was using the swing set. Mrs Johnson responds with a brusque joke, but looks very interested. Since she knows Laura is back, she may well wonder if Laura is the woman David saw.
David’s father, high-born ne’er-do-well Roger, and his aunt, reclusive matriarch Liz, are deeply worried about what Laura wants. They haven’t been able to get in touch with her, and the last time they saw her she was profoundly mentally ill. Mrs Johnson knows of their concerns, but does not tell them that David may have seen Laura on the grounds of the estate. Mrs Johnson is disloyal to her employers, working as a spy for the Collins’ family’s arch-nemesis, dashing action hero Burke Devlin. We’ve already seen her give a report to Burke today, and presumably if she has any further information she will reserve it for him.
Late in the evening, Laura comes to the house. She tells Roger that she will gladly divorce him, and that she does not want a financial settlement. All she wants is full custody of David. She says that the course of psychoanalysis she underwent while institutionalized has done her a great deal of good, and that she no longer drinks. She does have a pronounced habit of staring into the fire, but Liz mentions that she has the same habit herself. Neither Liz nor Roger sees any sign that Laura is still suffering from whatever psychiatric disorder she had.
David begins to writhe on his bed as soon as Laura looks into the fire. In his sleep, he moans “mother, mother!” When she leaves, he sleepwalks into the foyer. The wind blows the front doors open, and he starts to run out, again calling “Mother, mother!”
Acilius on Dark Shadows 