Fashion notes first. . .
Burke's outfit today is a turtleneck under a blazer. I do believe this is the most casual look we've seen him in yet. It's still a very business casual outfit, but comparatively, it's on the more casual end of the scale.
Onto the show . . .
It's Day 10 and if memory serves, it will be Day 10 for some time. Art's writing these episodes and John Sedwick directs.
They're still incorporating the filmed footage. I rather like this technique. It must have been a pain to have to match it up with the wardrobe and all, but it's a shame it got dropped later on. It really does serve to open up the show so much more.
Diner: NotSuzy is manning the counter when Matthew Morgan enters. Burke wants to eat his breakfast in peace, but Matthew isn't about to let him do that, not until Burke agrees to let his goddess alone. Burke smokes a lot of cigarettes. Just thought I'd share. Burke tries to end this conversation by making three points:
1. Everything and everyone has a price.
2. Bill was murdered.
3. Matthew will have a job when Burke takes over Collinwood.
Then for good measure, Burke uses reverse psychology and warns Matthew about Sarah Johnson.
Collinwood: Back at the ranch, Elizabeth isn't really interested in Matthew's report. She tells him to avoid Burke and reassures him that she's more than a match for the guy. She also tells him she may be hiring a housekeeper. Once again, her expression when he leaves the room is interesting. She clearly finds him creepy or she wouldn't look so relieved and so disturbed at the same time.
Oh! I love it! Classic shot. Matthew is trimming hedges as a cab pulls up to the real entrance of the real Collinwood. Thayer David is waving hedge clippers around and he looks totally deranged.
At long last, the interview. I mean, honestly, with the build-up this thing has been getting, you would think she was in the running to be a college president or a school superintendent or something. Clarice Blackburn is in fine form. Unfortunately, Joan Bennett isn't. She's not bad, you understand, but she misses a couple of lines. The good thing is that she can usually rescue the scene when that happens. The two ladies enjoy some uneasy chitchat. It's a scene that's almost more interesting for what is not said than for what is. They're about the same age. They both grew up in the same town. At some time, at some point, their lives would have intersected. They both cared about Bill Malloy to some degree. Those commonalities serve to make their interactions harder though. Sarah plays the sympathy card, expresses her dislike of Burke, and adds that she's not a gossip. She gets the grand tour, a promise of an early decision, and a ride back to town with Matthew.
Diner: Mrs. J's really getting wild and wacky. She's at the restaurant again looking for lunch and a phone. Matthew, however, has his own agenda. He tries to warn her off the place. He expresses the belief that she should let her daughter take care of her. We never see this daughter, btw, but Sarah doesn't seem to find that a viable or desirable solution. She assures Matthew that she will be as loyal to Collinwood as Bill Malloy was.
Divested of Matthew's company, she reports to Burke via the phone. Burke has a fit that she wasn't offered the job then and there, which seems totally unreasonable to me. Sarah doesn't take any crap from him. She did her best. She expresses some criticism of Elizabeth's "grande dame" pose and finally he backs down, but not before ordering to get on home so she can be there in case the phone rings.
Collinwood: It's probably not a good thing that Elizabeth asks Matthew for his opinion. In the first place, she's undermining her authority with him. In the second, what the hell can he bring to the table? He's already got a hefty workload that probably won't be affected by this. She's the one who's got the family cleaning and cooking and doing the laundry. And lastly, the guy is nuts. We know it. She knows it. By giving him an inch, he's now outwardly taking the opportunity to reassure her that she can do no wrong, and inwardly is getting that much more obsessed with her. She decides to offer Sarah Johnson the job.
Our second episode is largely about office supplies. No, really, it is. You would never believe that a soap that had vampires, witches, zombies, severed heads, ghosts, and the like ever spent this much airtime on a fountain pen. I like office supplies, don't get me wrong. I could seriously drop fifty bucks at Office Max on things like colored file folders and legal pads (I'm serious). I once spent months trying to track down a supply of the purple ink FlexGrip Ultra pen that Papermate makes. But somehow it doesn't exactly make for scintillating television viewing.
David is turning to his crystal ball for the answers to his math homework. I never tried that technique myself, but maybe I should have. He would rather discuss the coroner's report with Vicki, but she's much more interested in arithmetic.
At the diner, George is relaxing with a mystery. I can't see the title (another reason MPI needs to release these on DVD soon). Now it's his turn to deal with unwelcome company. Burke insists on joining him. His newest theory concerns his missing fountain pen. He knows Roger had it last and since he wants Roger to be the murderer, he believes it must have been at Lookout Point. George just wants to read his book.
God, I hate math. I hate watching a math lesson too, which is what we're doing here. David, who probably would have been diagnosed with ADHD today, admires Vicki's silver filigreed fountain pen.
Back at the diner, Faux Suzy gives them both a warm up for their coffee, while Burke smokes some more. George isn't biting. As far as he is concerned, a missing pen is not enough to reopen the case. And he has a point. It hasn't been established where Roger lost it. It wasn't found on the beach (Burke went too and no luck there). There is, in short, as far as they both know, nothing to tie Roger to Bill's death. George finally leaves in disgust.
Collinwood: David correctly concludes that math has no practical application to his life. He'd rather discuss Mrs. J and the likelihood she has been hired to be his jailor. Frankly, I think someone needs to sit down with David and talk about how no one likes ironing and scrubbing toilets. Maybe he'd get it. Vicki and he then talk about her nifty silver pen and how she found it--just as Roger walks in the door. He tries to walk off with the pen, but David catches him.
Later on, Burke calls Roger and demands he give him his pen back. Roger has to schlep out to the diner to see him. Burke attacks with the Lookout Point angle. Roger isn't going there and is in mid-defensive rant when George comes back. Burke makes his daily threat and they take off through separate doors.
Collinwood: Roger does some maneuvering to get Vicki out of the room. He now claims to be deeply concerned about her welfare. He even offers to cough up a few grand to help her on her way. When David runs in, he takes advantage of the distraction to head up to his son's room and steal the pen.
Burke ? Carolyn ? Roger ? Lookout Point ? Vicki ? Roger
