While Liz (Joan Bennett) goes for some tea, the newly arrived Vicki (Alexandra Moltke) looks around the foyer and drawing room at Collinwood. She opens the bay window and looks down, giving viewers the impression Collinwood is located directly on the edge of a cliff - since this is not true, Vicki may have seen a moth. Liz arrives and comments on Collins ancestor Jeremiah Collins, seen in the portrait hanging over the fireplace. "My great grandfather," she simplifies, "he built this house." Later, Liz nervously tells an inquisitive Vicki that Roger "knew someone in the foundling home" to help arrange her hiring...
For reasons later obvious, Liz is not going to be a reliable source of information. Given the information in this episode, we have two men who could be the man in the fireplace portrait. The Jeremiah Collins who lived in the 1790s is the man, although the Jeremiah Collins from the 1860s would be Liz "great grandfather." The son of Joshua and Naomi, the first Jeremiah originally was planning to live in Collinwood when it was built; the other Jeremiah would be one of Gabriel and Edith's sons. They may have lived parallel lives; we also learn the East Wing of Collinwood was closed "over 50 years ago..."
Meanwhile, Liz' rebellious daughter Nancy Barrett (as Carolyn Stoddard, age 17) dances at the Blue Whale tavern, making fisherman boyfriend Joel Crothers (as Joseph "Joe" Haskell, age 21) jealous. He tells Carolyn she's "had too much." An aside about the police potentially arriving indicates Carolyn is an underage drinker. Burke (Mitchell Ryan) and Strake (Joseph Julian) watch Carolyn dance with Robert Viharo (as Harry) and Alan Feinstein (as Mike), both making their one-shot appearances. The former is very likely "Harry Jones" the taxi driver with a flat tire in episode one...
Later, Vicki meets a menacing Roger on Widow's Hill. He warns her, "Stay away from the edge," and receives some startling news
Highlights from this episode are the introduction of two main characters, and the great location footage of Vicki walking outside on the grounds of Collinwood. The main weakness is that the footage of Vicki and Roger on the hill is dramatically different from the studio shot scene; a transitional cut away might have helped. Liz' piano playing is reminiscent of the proto-type character Caroline Barnes (Hope Emerson) from writer Art Wallace's "The House" (1957)...
****** Dark Shadows 1966 ABC #2 (6/28/66) Lela Swift ~ Alexandra Moltke, Joan Bennett, Nancy Barrett, Joel Crothers...
