Fashion notes first . . .
Nancy Barrett apparently had her hair cut. Bangs are now very different and it's definitely shorter. Carolyn is back in that stupid girly girl robe and night gown with the elbow length sleeves. I dunno. It screams housecoat to me, but whatever.
Elizabeth has that robe with the satin trimmed embroidery, which is cute, except I really hate her hair down.
And another dowdy outfit for Victoria Winters. Today she's wearing a wool A-line, with a striped blouse, and a frumpy cardigan sweater.
I'm no happier about Elizabeth's day wear. I have never, not ever cared for that dark blue dress with that sort of white turtleneck collar. Yuck. She's got on an interesting broach though.
Onto the show . . .
No writer's credits on either one of these. The KLS Memories book (the second one) has an episode guide. According to that, Art Wallace penned both episodes.
It's still Day 4. I suppose I shouldn't complain. There are other soaps out there that have done this real time crap before, but I'm so over it. Seriously. I'm on Volume 10 here of the VHS tape. They'd been on the air for over 9 weeks. You do real time when you have a huge mess of drama to get through. Not interminable one-sided phone calls.
The Collinwood piano is getting some use. Liz is pounding out something. Sorry, my knowledge of classical music is comparatively limited. Carolyn pops in and we go straight to dialogue. Basically Liz is wringing her hands, has a sense of impending doom about Bill, and wants Carolyn to get married. Carolyn is being her supposedly supportive self which constitutes perkiness coupled with the ol' passive aggressive routine.
Back at the office, the three men are sitting around awkwardly. Or rather, Burke is trying to contact Bill while Roger and Sam are looking like they'd prefer a nice root canal without anesthesia just about now. They suggest calling it quits, but Burke puts the kibosh on that. He attempts to get them to open up, but neither man is about to do so. He finally tells them he's going out to find Bill, and demands that they hang around.
When Elizabeth can't find Roger upstairs, she gets more upset.
Yeah, tea before bedtime. Guaranteed to help you sleep. They knew about caffeine back then, people. And this was way before you could find herbal tea everywhere from the supermarket to the gas station.
More hand wringing. Must suck to be a recluse right about now, I'm betting, eh Lizzie? She's not paying a lot of attention to Carolyn though, which in my opinion, is a good thing. I can't say that Carolyn is bringing a whole lot to the table at the moment, other than a pot full of highly caffeinated beverage which won't help anyone get in their eight hours, and should kick up that anxiety level nicely.
Change of plans at Roger's office: Roger wants Sam to stay. We learn some interesting things. Sam knows Bill isn't at home. That is important for those of you who don't know the outcome of this plot. More pertinent to those of us with inquiring minds is the fact that Sam informs Roger that Bill's only telephone is in his bedroom.
Well.
Color me curious about this one. Does Bill Malloy really strike anyone as the type to have his telephone in the bedroom? This wouldn't be a cordless, mind you. This would be one of those old fashioned deals with the dial. I mean, I would have pegged Bill as a man with the telephone in the kitchen or the hall. It adds layers of new meaning now to visualize him laying in bed talking to Elizabeth about contracts and such. Also, how does Sam know that the phone is in the bedroom? Hitherto now the implication has been that Bill and Sam know each other in a general social wave-to-the-other-from-across-the-bar sort of way. Hmmm¢â‚¬¦ But I'm digressing.
Anyhow, Roger and Sam are busy lobbing back and forth volleys of threats and general expressions of dislike.
It's not looking too good for my beloved Bill. Burke returns with the news that Bill's car is in his driveway, but he's not answering the door or the phone. Burke still wants to meet. Roger and Sam, however, aren't hanging around. Roger tries to return the pen, but can't find it. Uh oh.
Burke→ Carolyn→ Roger → missing
Abandoning caffeine as a way to jolly her mother out of her melancholia, Carolyn is recounting hysterical stories about neighborhood children playing Hallowe'en pranks on her mother. Bet Liz was laughing it up the whole time. Uh huh. Then she refers to her mother as "a bit of a kook." Oh, yeah, that should cheer her up no end. Liz acts like a good sport. As soon as Blondie hops off for bed, Liz goes back to looking depressed.
Roger shows up shortly thereafter. She confronts him about Bill's accusations. Now normally, the man would burst a blood vessel, but Roger is in a relatively Zen mood for Roger. He calmly suggests that she set up a meeting for all three of them (Liz, Roger, Bill) and they can talk about this. She's not entirely sold, but she looks significantly calmer.
So Day 5 dawns.
We're back to David as the budding young artist. See if you're going to try and convince us of this by showing us a professionally down charcoal sketch, it's probably not a good idea to have David sifting through page after page of stick figure crayon sketches (and by crayon, I mean Crayola).
Vicki comes in with the aforementioned professional charcoal sketch of Collinwood and praises him to the skies, promising to show it to a "real" artist. Her actual attempt to do her job is thwarted by her casual remark that she also showed it to Roger. Immediately, David rips up the sketch. She tries to piece it together, but he's not having any of that. She tries to move on to American history, but who needs Aaron Burr when you can bitch at your governess for stealing, interfering, and generally ruining your life? And people actually question David's parentage? He's a pint-sized version of Roger sans receding hairline and a snifter of brandy. Liz walks in while he's in full huff mode.
Vicki covers for David (bad move--trust me, he will not be impressed, sweetie). Elizabeth is picking her battles and gives David a present that's just arrived for him. It's a crystal ball--from Burke. The kid is thrilled, but I'm left wondering why the hell Burke of all people would purchase a crystal ball for a nine-year-old boy. It's a tad outre and Burke strikes me as a Louisville Slugger kind of man. Go figure. Anyhow, it's a huge hit. Liz would really rather he not keep it, but David does that "Aunt Elizabeth, please can't I keep it?" whine and she relents.
We get one of those drawn-out one-sided phone calls and learn that the drawing was meant for Burke. Meanwhile, Joe shows up. Bill didn't make it into work, so Joe comes bearing contracts. Bill's not at home either as Liz discovers after she talks to Mrs. Johnson (yes, our Mrs. Johnson). I'm still hung up on the phone is in the bedroom revelation. Every time the phone rings, Mrs. Johnson, who sleeps in has to go to Bill's bedroom to answer it? This is sounding more disturbing and kinkier all of the time. Oh, and yeah, Elizabeth is worried again.
Vicki pops up looking for her missing math pupil and reluctantly tells Liz that Bill was at the house last night.
Poor Joe is cooling his heels in the foyer when David comes back with his new toy. Joe (who probably would have rated a present of a crystal ball slightly higher than those socks from Aunt Mary) attempts to tease him. Unfortunately, sociopaths apparently lack a sense of humor; David informs Joe that the crystal ball has Carolyn marrying Burke.
Elizabeth phones Roger and demands he come home. NOW. Heh.
Vicki attempts yet again to get David to focus on the joys of arithmetic. He'd much rather discuss Bill. He tells her that Bill's dead and that his father did it.
Yikes.
How the hell do you get them back onto fractions after they come out with a zinger like that?
