Fashion notes first . . .
Bennett's hair is wrenched into an aggressive beehive so tightly that I have to wonder how much hairspray and aspirin were involved. She's got on that nice dark blue velvet hostess gown as well as the requisite pearls, because, hey when you're lounging around the house, you want to be wearing big ol' heavy pieces of jewelry.
Carolyn's outfit du jour is that short-sleeved ribbed sweater over a cute flared check skirt. We're still in the 1-2 inches above the knee era so I wouldn't call that a mini. Not quite. Her hair is aggressively flipped.
I gather David has a court date scheduled. Up until now we've seen him primarily in clothes that well, a little boy would wear. Maybe they were splurging money on wardrobe, but he's now in that navy blazer complete with the emblem over the breast pocket and a tie. He's supposed to be nine.
Roger has on a smoking jacket. Goes to about the hip in length. It's patterned with some kind of dark trim.
I'm not sure I have the words for Vicki's après dinner attire. She's not wearing a robe over it so maybe it's a hostess gown. It's um, well, okay, gathered empire waist, ¾ length sleeves, and it looks like someone vomited flowers all over it. Her second outfit is that dark wool sleeveless sheath.
And then there was KLS. I have no idea what they (or she--I've read she did her own makeup, or perhaps this prompted her to start doing it herself) were after with this new look, but the makeup? I think there are two-dollar whores out there with a more subtle look. The dress is cute. Sleeveless with white trim around the waist and a stripe down the front.
Onto the show . . .
Francis wrote both of these. Lela Swift directed the second one, which I guessed almost as soon as KLS came on the screen. First one is a Take #2.
Anyhow it's Day 9. We're speeding right along here which makes me quite happy. Carolyn is supposedly a little wiser to Burke and his machinations. Elizabeth is very forgiving about the whole thing, but then I suppose if you're the parent of a seventeen-year-old girl, you take any moments of peace and quiet that you can get. She very calmly gets her daughter to admit just why it was she's been chasing after Burke. It takes awhile but Carolyn finally cops to being infatuated with him. And then Elizabeth tells her a little story about how she too once met and fell for a mysterious, attractive, and glib man. That man would be Paul. As she recounts this, you can see her mouth tighten, hear voice harden, and see her eyes narrow. She clams up fast when Carolyn tries to ask questions, but I think it's pretty safe to infer that Liz and Paul were not the Ozzie and Harriet of their time.
Upstairs in chez Sociopath (aka David's bedroom), Matthew is repairing a dresser drawer for Master Collins. He gives David a lecture on loyalty and tells him he'll have to choose sides. Matthew's happiest moment it turns out was when he decided to be loyal to Mrs. Stoddard. David shows Matthew a picture of Burke that he "borrowed."
In pops Carolyn and I guess the trip up the stairs was very taxing because her brief lapse into mental acuity is over. She's back to squabbling with David about Burke. Matthew warns her about Burke.
Drawing room: Elizabeth is busy trying to deprogram David. I have to say that she's got an awfully hard job here. First of all, he's just a little kid. Expecting him to understand about business takeovers and potential foreclosure would be hard enough, but she's asking him to grasp rather difficult abstract concepts. As far as David is concerned, Burke has been nice to him. Joan flashes a little leg (sorry, it's a fairly dull scene) and then Whoa Nellie! Elizabeth tells David "you're either for me or against me." That's um, a very cold thing to tell a nine-year-old child. He's come from an abusive environment. He's mentally troubled. His mother is in a sanitarium. His father is an alcoholic would really would like him to go play in traffic some time and now Auntie Liz is saying, "sweetie, it's my way or the highway." Yikes.
David's room: Carolyn spots the picture of Burke and starts going through the rest of David's belongings. She also casually tells Matthew that Burke is out to get the whole family. Oh dear.
Drawing room: David is visibly nervous as he assures Liz he's for her. He doesn't want to stop seeing Burke, but Liz doesn't want that to happen. Hearing about the potential hiring of Mrs. Johnson, David makes the leap to assuming she is to be his jailor (his words, not mine). He seems stunned to learn that his aunt loves him. And I'm officially feeling badly for the poor little tyke. Elizabeth is consciously manipulating him and tying her approval/affection to his obedience. David runs out.
Chez the littlest sociopath: Carolyn has gone from desultorily looking through his stuff to full-on drug bust "where'd ya hide the crack, bucko?!" searching. Understandably, David is upset. She's back to being Burke's personal bulldog. David correctly deduces that she's jealous. She mentions the fountain pen (albeit obliquely as in "nyah, nyah, he got me a better gift than yours!"). They debate situational ethics and then David gets in a zinger. Burke likes Vicki way more than he likes Carolyn. And if looks could kill . . . You know it's a weird scene when Matthew is the voice of reason and maturity.
Drawing room: Matthew goes down to bring his goddess up to speed about David and Carolyn. He's quite the little tattletale. The children come traipsing down. If you haven't seen these episodes, think back to your own kids or your own childhood. You know that argument: Ma! He pushed me! Did not! Did so! She looked at me! He's on my side!" That's the argument they're having right about now. Elizabeth finally loses it.
Second episode takes us to two venues: Collinwood's foyer and the Blue Whale. I have to say that my reading on this episode this go-around has changed a great deal. I'm a Roger fan from way back. I truly am. The only reason I'm here to day blathering on about this show is because of Roger. I started out like most of the more recent fans by watching the arrival of Barnabas and I wasn't all that impressed. I just wasn't. The repetitive dialogue, the general stupidity of the entire cast "Hmmm, young girls are getting attacked in a town the size of Mayberry, whoever could it be?" "You have such a lovely daughter, Mr. Evans, ignore the fact that I stare at her every chance I get." "Hey, he looks just like some dead relative in the portrait hanging on our wall, let's give him a house!" And while Roger fell into the stupid category, there was something about his snarkiness that I liked.
I'm not quite reading his character quite the same way at the moment. He's on the sociopathic side himself right now and it's just unpleasant to watch at times. I know that will change, but at the moment, I see this sweet young girl with this rather nasty man and I shudder.
But I digress. At the moment, Roger is busy on the phone with Sam setting up a meeting at the Blue Whale. They are both very concerned with not making this look like it's planned. When Vicki wafts through in her caftan, Roger's eyes light up, because he's got his beard for the night. He proposes to take her out for a night on the town. Yes, an official date. He doesn't say, "I'd like to date you, Vicki" but to my mind when a guy proposes an evening of dining, drinking, and dancing, that's a date. Vicki is agreeable enough to the concept. Maybe she figures he's harmless, who knows with her.
Blue Whale: we have a new song. A real song, I might add. The name of the tune escapes me, but it's the first of three that we hear. Real, honest-to-goodness songs. It's got one extra grooving on by the camera. He looks like an accountant high on a joint for the first time.
Maggie, who is Sam's beard for the evening, is having a fine old time. When she spots Joe coming in all by his lonesome, her eyes fix on him speculatively. The whole vibe coming through here is pretty heavy-handed. I'm not as up on the directors as I am the writers, but it seems that John Sedwick gets a much better, more even performance out of KLS than Lela Swift ever does. That theory is borne out here. Maggie is not so much interested in Joe as she is in heat. I'm serious. There are all kinds of languorous looks, Mae West style line readings, pretty much everything except for her pouncing on him and screaming "I'm available! Take me big boy!" Which would be interesting and possibly even plausible was it not for the fact that up till now, her interest has been established as quietly speculative.
So all three are drinking and get to talking about the rich folk up at Collinwood and start a regular drinking game/toast to the Collinses of Collinsport. Considering that Sam comes home soused every night, I find this a bit surprising on Maggie's part. Joe escapes long enough to call Collinwood, whereupon he learns from Vicki that Carolyn, having refused to see him, has gone out for a drive. And Joe comes back and asks Maggie to dance.
Another non-Bob Cobert tune that DCP must have to pay royalties for starts up. I want to say it's a big-band number, but I'm not positive.
Back at the manor, Roger's laying on the squick factor. He also expresses disapproval about Joe as a long-term mate for Carolyn. Aside from the snobbery that's behind that feeling, I have to say, I kind of agree with him. I'm not sure Maggie's the girl for Joe either, but I see Carolyn + Joe equaling disaster.
Blue Whale: Ah, nothing like a little heavy-handed football flattery to get a guy's attention. The funny thing is here is that Joe could not be more oblivious. The problem seems to lie in the mismatched performances. Joel Crothers has such a wonderful naturalistic way about everything he does; you believe in Joe by the time he's done with the part. I suspect that in the hands of a better director, Maggie's interest would have been more subtle. When they're back at the table, the three of them spot Vicki and Roger coming and in and they're pretty damn surprised at this recent development. I might add that their reading of the situation is that the two are dating.
Roger pretends to be enthralled with Vicki when Sam comes over for his daily dose of threats, warnings, verbal sparring, and booze. She gets sent over to go and talk with Joe and Maggie. I found that discussion a great deal more interesting. Joe, for instance, wants more details on Carolyn's evening plans and her comments on his behavior. Maggie wants to know about Mrs. Johnson's future employment. And then Vicki shares that Elizabeth and Carolyn are prone to mood swings.
Some very enthusiastic extras attempt to dance to yet another real song, in this case, I believe it's an instrumental version of "My Love" (immortalized by Petula Clark). Since this is taking place at a time when the show's ratings were questionable, I like to point these things out. When we get into 1968 when the show was enjoying huge ratings and popularity and the Blue Whale looks like a ghost town while and those same three lame song Cobert wrote assault our ears again and again, we can drop the theory about how it was a low-budget show and this is how things were done.
Roger and Sam. More of the same. By the time they're through though, Roger is totally enraged. He goes to get Vicki and in an interesting and memorable line questions what on earth Vicki could have to talk about with Joe and Maggie other than "the price of fish or the price of hash." Joe and Roger nearly come to physical blows after Roger "apologizes," and it's up to poor Vicki to literally drag Roger out of there.
Foyer: Vicki thanks Roger for the evening. He suggests the possibility of doing this again. He even invites her to have a nightcap with him now. She declines the drink, but seems to think that future dates would be a dandy idea. I'm unclear as to why or indeed what Vicki really thinks about Roger. It's a deficiency on the part of Moltke's performance and Swift's direction because what we just saw at the Blue Whale should mean that a nice girl like Vicki would not care to be dating Roger ever again. But no, she is happy about this concept and mentions that since Mrs. Johnson may be working at Collinwood, she'll have a lot more free time. Roger seems horrified at this potential new addition to the household and we close.
