Yesterday, we saw the first séance on Dark Shadows. Today, the characters who participated in that séance try to make up their minds about what it meant.
At opposite poles stand flighty heiress Carolyn and her uncle, high-born ne’er-do-well Roger. Roger declares that he has made up his mind to forget all about the séance, and demands that its organizer, visiting parapsychologist Dr Guthrie, be expelled from the great estate of Collinwood. Carolyn regards the séance as a success, and tells Roger that Guthrie will be continuing his work. They quarrel about this difference. There are weighty threats veiled in the dialogue. Their voices are sometimes quite sharp, but their facial expressions and body language are anything but. Watch the scene without sound, and Carolyn looks like she is pleading with Roger, while he just looks sad. They are losing something that neither of them wants to let go.
In the first weeks of the series, Carolyn spoke rather alarmingly of her crush on her uncle. Her flirtation with Roger’s enemy, dashing action hero Burke Devlin, somewhat reduced the intensity of that crush, dialing it down from frankly incestuous to merely disquieting. After the Carolyn/ Burke flirtation ended, we had some scenes where we were reminded of Roger and Carolyn’s odd intimacy. This scene marks the end of all that. Roger might still address Carolyn as “kitten” from time to time, but the red flags are furled for good and all. Dark Shadows won’t be developing any kind of storyline about unsavory goings-on between Carolyn and Roger, or using hints of such to emphasize any point they might want to make about the weirdness of the Collins family.
Well-meaning governess Vicki had a rough time at the séance. The ghost of Josette Collins used her as a mouthpiece, and blonde fire witch Laura used her powers to keep herself from being named as the source of the recent troubles and as a danger to her son, strange and troubled boy David. Caught in the crossfire between these supernatural beings, Vicki was exhausted and disoriented. At 2:15 AM, Laura materializes in Vicki’s bedroom, waking her. Vicki is bewildered by Laura’s presence. Like a dream in ancient Greek literature, Laura stands at the foot of Vicki’s bed and makes a speech. Unlike those Greek dreamers, Vicki talks back, engaging Laura in conversation. Laura’s point is that Vicki ought to quit the service of the Collinses and leave Collinwood immediately. She tells Vicki that she will be taking David away soon in any case, removing the need for a governess. Vicki looks away from Laura for a moment while gathering her thoughts. When she looks back, Laura has vanished.
Laura has appeared and disappeared in this manner before. This time, it would seem that she is trying to raise a question about Vicki’s sanity. Vicki might think she was dreaming, or might wonder if she is suffering some kind of hallucination. She might also tell others in the house all about the incident, leading them to wonder the same things about her. If Laura can undercut Vicki’s confidence in herself, she might reduce her overall effectiveness as an adversary. If others start to wonder whether Vicki might be given to psychotic breaks, the events of the séance might seem less significant.
Acilius on Dark Shadows 