“10.” Dark Shadows. ABC. 8 July 1966.
We open with David sneaking inside the house. Ducking behind a chair in the drawing room, he overhears Elizabeth talking with his father Roger on the phone. It seems that Roger wants Elizabeth to hold or trap Victoria somehow. Elizabeth refuses and hangs up. She also talks directly to David, aware of his presence the entire time. David then swears he didn’t break the teacup but blames the ghosts of the house. He runs off before Elizabeth can question him further.
Back at the hotel, Devlin calls the front desk and asks them to call his room in thirty minutes. He places a letter on the coach. When Carolyn arrives, he grills her. Was she sent by Roger or by Elizabeth? Carolyn insists she came up with the idea by herself. She also asks why her uncle would be so afraid of him, but Devlin turns on the charm and swears he means no harm to his old friend Roger. As he fixes her a ginger ale, Carolyn finds the letter and reads it, seemingly without Devlin being aware of her doing so.
She puts the letter back where she found it, then promptly reveals that she read it as she asks Devlin about the half a million dollar deal in Venezuela mentioned in the letter. Devlin is seemingly annoyed, but Carolyn is happy, since the letter proves that Devlin is leaving and rich so he can’t possible hold a grudge against her uncle. Devlin moves closer to her, asking her to forget about what she just learned.
Back at Collinswood, David amuses himself by playing a toy robot. When his father comes in, David hides behind chair. Roger pours himself a drink just as Elizabeth arrives. She notes he’s been drinking more frequently lately. Roger fires back, saying he knows Victoria and Devlin are meeting right now in town and that Elizabeth went against his orders about outsiders. Elizabeth insists she hired Victoria to help care for David. This sets off Roger, as he swears that Victoria will do nothing but damage the Collins family, topping it off with the insistence that there is nothing she could ever do for his son. David, he swears, belongs in a hospital away from ‘normal’ people.
This is the last straw for Elizabeth. She reminds Roger of his past, to wit: ten years ago she kicked him out of Collinwood and paid a great deal of money to cover up the trouble with Burke Devlin, all on the condition that Roger never returns. She only allowed him back to Collinwood for David’s sake. She sternly warns him to leave his son alone. Roger falls back to drinking when David’s robot goes off. Roger and David face each other down. David tells his father he remembers his mother and him fighting over Devlin. This enrages the older man, who starts to rough up the boy. David escapes and runs into Elizabeth. She assures him he won’t be sent away. Before disappearing upstairs David turns to his father and informs him he hopes Devlin gets his revenge.
Speaking of Devlin, he’s been busy regaling Carolyn with tales of his travels, carefully omitting the part about being in prison. Carolyn finds it odd as she is quite sure she has never heard of him, despite his insistence that he and Roger were good friends. The phone rings but Devlin hangs up while still holding the receiver. Pretending to be talking to ‘Jose’ down in Venezuela, this convinces Carolyn that the trip and money must be real. She reveals she had some doubts, especially when the obviously planted letter, but she is sure he is legit now. Devlin smiles and says maybe he really is tricking her.
Back at the house, while Elizabeth is brooding about ghosts, David returns from outside. He is filthy and clutching his hands together. He refuses to show whatever he has to Elizabeth, claiming it is a seashell. As he runs upstairs, Carolyn comes in with a surprise: Burke Devlin.
Questions asked: What happened between Roger and Devlin? What is really (if anything) wrong with David? What is Devlin’s plan?
Review: The tension mounts and boy is Roger Collins a jerk. Carolyn’s poor judgment in this episode is staggering. She takes a drink from a man whom the only thing she knows about is that he wants to hurt her family. She goes alone to his hotel room without telling a soul where she is going and she takes him right back to her house. Since he is rich and leaving town, or so she thinks, then he can’t possibly have motive for harming her uncle, right? Roger continues to crack up and Victoria is nowhere to be seen.