Episode 143: Vague and Drunk and Impossible

Monday, January 16, 1967

Note: The episodes’ official numbering includes skipped numbers for pre-emptions, in accordance with their numbering system (so that one could look at the number of an episode and know what day of the week it aired on). I have elected to number the episodes by what episode it actually is, but I will note the official numbering also.

This is the 143rd episode, but the official number is 146 or 11.

My name is Victoria Winters. A painting has caused great concern among those at Collinwood—particularly for one, who is the subject of the painting—and another, the man who painted it.

Laura causes Sam to drop his cigarette onto the newspaper as he’s falling asleep. 

 Liz interrupts her. 

She calls Laura’s name, but Laura doesn’t respond. 

Liz touches her shoulder. 
Laura has gremlin face.

Sam wakes up and tries to put out the fire with his hands, which is not a good result. 
Maggie comes in and puts out the fire, covering it with a rug or blanket and stomping on it.

Liz asks Laura what’s wrong. Laura comes out of her trance and passes it off as being lost in thought. 

Liz thinks the expression on her face was frightening.

Maggie wraps Sam’s hands in cold, wet towels and calls the doctor. She tells him it could have been worse.

Sam thinks Laura burned his hands. 
Maggie thinks it’s just that Sam fell asleep with a lighted cigarette by some newspapers. (She seems more reasonable, you have to admit.)

Sam wonders what he can say to convince her. He says Laura told him she’d see to it that he stopped painting.

Liz tells Laura they need to take a look at where they stand. Liz doesn’t think she is making good progress with David. His nightmares are growing worse.

Laura blames the painting. Liz doesn’t think that’s the whole answer.

Laura thinks she needs to spend more time with David. They need to take the painting away.

Liz doesn’t understand why he painted it; it’s not even his style.

Laura says she went to see Sam. “He was vague and drunk and impossible.” And he started another similar painting. He needs to stop. He’s ruining everything and she hasn’t much time.

Liz wonders what she means by that.

Just that she hasn’t been able to do what she set out to do.

Roger arrives home, and they bring him into the conversation.

Roger thinks Laura and David are getting along well.

Laura blames the painting.

Roger says he’ll get rid of the painting, and he’ll stop Sam from painting more.

There’s a knock on the door. It’s Maggie, wanting to see Laura. Maggie tells them Sam burned his hands.

Maggie tells them her father is convinced Mrs. Collins started the fire.

Laura says that’s absurd. 
Roger says he’s going to talk to Sam, and he goes off to do so.

Liz assures Maggie they’ll find answers, sooner or later.

Roger arrives at Sam’s.

“Your wife burned my hands,” Sam says.

Roger thinks this is absurd.

Sam says she has some kind of hypnotic influence.

Roger wants him to stop accusing Roger’s wife of impossible things.

Roger goes to destroy the new painting, but it has a hole in it. Sam says the fire was nowhere near it.

             Cast, In Order of Appearance

Victoria Winters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexandra Moltke

Laura Collins  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diana Millay

Elizabeth Collins Stoddard . . . . . . . . . .  Joan Bennett

Sam Evans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  David Ford

Maggie Evans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Kathryn Leigh Scott

Roger Collins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Louis Edmonds

Fashion by Ohrbach’s

Directed by Lela Swift

Written by Malcolm Marmorstein

Episode 137: The Scent of Cinnamon

Friday, January 6, 1967

Note: The episodes’ official numbering includes skipped numbers for pre-emptions, in accordance with their numbering system (so that one could look at the number of an episode and know what day of the week it aired on). I have elected to number the episodes by what episode it actually is, but I will note the official numbering also.

This is the 137th episode, but the official number is 140.

My name is Victoria Winters. A strange, unexplainable terror has crept into the heart of someone at Collinwood. A feeling of love that should draw people together has driven one away—to the edge of the precipice.

David falls and grabs onto a big (but rather wobbly) rock. Vicki pulls him back up.

He says it was something about his mother’s eyes. Vicki says his mother’s come a long way to see him, and now she thinks he doesn’t love her. Now she’s crying.

David says it’s something he can’t explain.

Vicki says it’s his dream. He has it too much on his mind. But his mother isn’t a dream. It’s time for him to go to her, and give her the love they’ve both been searching for.

David tells his mother he’s sorry he made her cry. She asks why he ran away from her. He says because she looked so strange. There was something about her eyes.

She asks him whether he still sees it. He says no. He asks whether she likes him and if she’ll never leave him. She says they’ll be together forever.

Roger tells Liz about the body in Laura’s apartment. He says she plans to go somewhere else anyway.

He tells Liz it’s not that he wants to get rid of David; he just feels he’d be better off with his natural mother. It’s no reflection on Liz, but she has her own worries with her own daughter.

Is she aware Carolyn brought Burke there last night?

And Burke used Carolyn to get to Laura. Roger arrived in time and warned him to stay away.

Vicki, David, and Laura return.

Liz feels bad about his sudden camaraderie with his mother. David takes Laura to show her his room.

Vicki tells Liz and Roger what happened. Vicki says she was worried David would say Laura wasn’t his mother again. Liz is surprised to hear this, and Roger says he told Vicki to forget about that. Liz says it’s not that easy to forget.

The family have dinner. Liz asks to talk with Laura afterward. She says she’s glad Laura and David are getting along. She says David didn’t think she was his mother. Laura is surprised. David is very imaginative, Liz says, even thinking he can communicate with the Collins ghosts.

Liz also wants to talk about Burke. Laura assures her that she has no intention of becoming an ally of Burke’s. Nothing will get in the way of her and David.

Roger takes Vicki to task for spilling the beans, but she says she thinks it should be cleared up.

Roger decides to show David some old photos. David has seen them before. He wants David to look at the pictures and realize it’s the same person. David agrees that it is.

Laura comes into the room. She goes to look at the photos with David.

Roger takes Vicki into the hall and tells her he’s pleased with the progress they’re making.

Laura and David talk about how tall he’s going to be (taller than his father? taller than Burke Devlin?) and he asks what it’s like where she came from. She says some people call it paradise. It’s always warm and you can smell cinnamon in the air. And there are palm trees that make a wonderful resting place for the phoenix.

David has never heard of the phoenix. She describes it with its sea-blue eyes and iridescent wings. Vicki listens at the door.

Laura tells him about the death and rebirth of the phoenix.

The wind (or something) blows the front doors open and the drawing room doors too.

Laura looks contented.

  Cast, In Order of Appearance

Victoria Winters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexandra Moltke

Laura Collins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Diana Millay

David Collins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  David Henesy

Roger Collins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Louis Edmonds

Elizabeth Collins Stoddard . . . . . . . . . Joan Bennett

Fashion by Ohrbach’s

Directed by Lela Swift

Written by Malcolm Marmorstein