High-born ne’er-do-well Roger Collins had some bad news several weeks ago when he learned that his estranged wife, the mysterious and long-absent Laura, had come back to town. His consternation turned to joy when he learned that Laura wanted to divorce him and leave with their son, strange and troubled boy David.
The one obstacle in the path of the divorce is Roger’s sister, reclusive matriarch Liz. Roger has squandered his entire inheritance and has no inclination to make himself useful enough to anyone to earn a living. He therefore lives as a parasite on Liz, living as a guest in her house and drawing an income from a sinecure with her business. Liz distrusts Laura and sees in David the only hope that the family name will continue. She is determined to prevent Laura from taking David, and Roger has to appease her.
Today, Liz is disturbed that the authorities in Phoenix, Arizona keep insisting that Laura is dead. She lived in an apartment there which burned to the ground. The medical examiners in Arizona have now inspected the charred remains of a woman found inside, and the dental records are a perfect match for Laura’s. Lieutenant Dan Riley of the Maine state police shows up to inform everyone of this fact and to convey Arizona’s request that Laura submit to a physical.
Riley has some rather peculiar mannerisms. When Roger answers his knock to let him into the great house of Collinwood, he finds him standing at the door, staring off into space at a right angle to him. I’ve answered many a door in my day, and I don’t believe I have ever found anyone on the other side presenting his profile to me in this way. It is truly an odd thing to see. I suppose director John Sedwick must have told him to do that in order to make some kind of point, but I can’t for the life of me imagine what that point might be.
Roger is dismayed that the bizarre situation created by Arizona’s insistence that his wife is dead threatens to postpone his final farewell to Laura and David, but he does see the funny side of it. He and Liz take Riley to the cottage where Laura is staying. Before Riley can start talking, Roger asks Laura how it feels to be dead. The show has been giving us lots of clues that Laura is a revenant of some kind, and both Liz and David’s well-meaning governess Vicki have taken note of some of these clues. Laura’s shock when Roger puts that question to her strikes her silent for a whole commercial break. When they come back and we find him teasing her with the news from Phoenix, we might wonder if she’s about to betray herself- “I haven’t been dead for weeks, not altogether anyway!” But instead she just sputters and postures, behaving as if offended. Roger is puzzled by this reaction, and asks what happened to her sense of humor. Apparently his comments are the sort of joke that used to make her laugh.
Riley does not doubt that the Arizona authorities have made a mistake and that Laura in fact is the person everyone in the town where she grew up, including her husband, her ex-fiance, her disapproving sister-in-law, and the sheriff, has taken her to be. He simply asks them to play along and help his colleagues in Arizona to complete the routine tasks required of them. At Roger’s instance, Laura agrees to go to a doctor so that Riley will be able to send them paperwork they need.
After Liz and the policeman have left Laura alone, Roger asks her what she isn’t telling about the fire in Phoenix. She is alarmed that he might attach some weight to the identification of the body as hers. He at once dismisses that as too ridiculous for words, but says that he is sure she knows more about the dead woman than she is telling. She won’t budge from her denials, and he tells her that while he will be glad to publicly support any lie it might be useful for her to tell, they really ought to share the truth in private.
That evening, Vicki is on a date with Roger’s lawyer, instantly forgettable young Frank Garner. She tells Frank she is glad that David is warming to Laura. He says that there are so many unanswered questions about Laura that he fears Vicki’s attitude towards her is excessively charitable. He does not think that Vicki or anyone else really knows enough about Laura to be sure that she ought to be trusted with David’s care.
After dinner, Vicki is a passenger in Frank’s car. We are introduced to this fact by a shot of a car’s headlights coming at us, a shot previously used in an early promo for Dark Shadows.
While Frank is droning on about who knows what,Vicki looks off in the distance and smiles broadly. Frank sees this big smile, recognizes that nothing he is saying could elicit so vivid a reaction, and objects to her ignoring him. She says that the scent of jasmine is all around. He says he doesn’t smell anything.
The scent of jasmine has been established as the sign that the ghost of Josette Collins is present. Josette has been trying to warn everyone that Laura poses a threat to David, and Vicki is especially susceptible to communication from her. So regular viewers will know that Vicki is now acting under instructions from Josette.
Vicki starts issuing commands. She orders him to take the next right turn, then a left, and finally to stop in the middle of a field. When Frank asks whether she has ever been there before, she says no. When he asks if she knows where they are, she says no. When he asks why she keeps giving these orders, she says that “It is where I am supposed to be.” He realizes that they are in a cemetery.
Vicki jumps out of the car and runs up to the door of a small building. She knocks furiously at the door. Frank comes running after her, asking her what she is doing. Again, she will only say that it is where she is supposed to be. When she knocks, he tells her no one can possibly be in there. It is a chapel or some other kind of public building, there is no public event taking place in the cemetery, and it is long after regular business hours. Vicki listens to him and starts to move away from the door. Then, she sees the door handle turn. She and Frank watch as the door opens.
Dark Shadows never had much of a budget for sets. Every time we see a new one, even one as modest as this, it is a sign that something important is about to happen.
Acilius on Dark Shadows 