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After 10 years, Roger confesses that he killed the man in the manslaughter case and sent Burke to prison for it.
== Synopsis ==
Teaser
: My name is Victoria Winters. The time for darkness and for sleep has come to Collinwood, but lights blaze from her many windows, and sleep is still a stranger. Voices, angry voices, frightened voices reverberate through the long halls, and the air is very cold... cold with a long-felt fear... cold with a long-felt rage.
Roger attempts to scold Elizabeth for allowing Sam and Burke in; Burke says he can't be kept out. Elizabeth wants to know what the whole matter's about; Burke plans to tell all. Roger wants Elizabeth kept out of it; as they step into the Drawing room, however, she joins them. Sam glares hatefully at Roger as Burke closes the Drawing room doors.
Act I
Sam reveals that he saw Roger behind the wheel of the car that killed a man 10 years ago; Roger accuses Sam of lying, or at least misinterpreting the scene. He accuses Sam and Burke of attempting to ruin him and the Collins name. Burke calls the Collins family a bunch of hypocritical cowards. Roger accuses Burke of "another" bribe, and, of course, Elizabeth questions that wording. Burke asks Roger about his bribing Sam 10 years ago. Elizabeth realizes that what Sam and Burke are saying is true. Roger claims that Sam extorted the money from him, saying he would lie under oath that Roger was driving. Burke points out that if Roger were innocent, he would have locked Sam up for his supposed extortion. Roger asks Elizabeth if she believes him; Elizabeth doesn’t know. Burke accuses her of knowing all along, to which she admits. She admits that she suspected it in the deep back of her mind. She asks Burke what they are to do. Burke asks her, the Collins conscience, what they should do. Burke refuses to call the police, leaving the matter up to Elizabeth.
McGuire comes down the steps and eavesdrops as Elizabeth announces that she's going to call the police. Jason finds out that Elizabeth knows Roger framed Burke Devlin and sent him to prison for 5 years. Jason worries that Elizabeth will also tell the police that Jason was also involved in that man slaughter incident that took place 10 years ago. Victoria catches him; she's looking for David. Back in the Drawing room, Roger begs Elizabeth not to call the police.
Act II
Burke stops Elizabeth from calling the police. He just wanted to see if she would do it. Elizabeth won't let Burke have power over them. Roger supplicates; Burke gives his word that he's not going to go to the police; he's gotten what he wanted. He says he won't go to the police, only if Roger confesses in front of the trio. Roger can't. After a memory refresher from Sam, Roger says the words Burke's longed to hear in a stellar confrontation. Burke and Sam leave; Roger begs Elizabeth not to look at him now.
Upstairs, a frantic Jason calls Willie, afraid that Elizabeth is going to call the police and placing him on alert that they may need to bolt quickly.
Act III
In the basement, McGuire sneaks around and is caught by David, who says no one ever goes in there. Not even David, who’s been everywhere at Collinwood, has seen the inside of that room. David says he was waiting around to see a ghost, something he’s heard lots of times and seen a few times. He invites McGuire to wait with him. David doesn’t know what’s in the room and doesn't want to find out, lest it lose its mystery. McGuire points out that sometimes truths can be more horrifying than mysteries.
Upstairs, Elizabeth continues to glare at Roger; he expects she wants him to leave Collinwood. She doesn't want to discuss it anymore tonight. He implores her to think of David, “after all, he's a Collins.” Elizabeth lays into him; everyone does things they're not proud of, but he didn't have to add cowardice and bribery to it. Roger implores Elizabeth to understand, and she bids him leave her alone. Alone, she frets. She sees David coming up the steps and he acts elusive about his whereabouts. David asks Elizabeth if facts can be more horrifying than a mystery, like Mr. McGuire said. He talks about seeing Jason in the basement where he found him. Elizabeth is upset that McGuire was in the basement and sends the prying David, who has the feeling that McGuire was trying to enter the room, up to bed. Elizabeth admits that, as David suspects, he could be wrong about the matter.
Act IV
Upstairs, Victoria tells Carolyn that McGuire found David in the basement but now he's in bed. Carolyn asks if Victoria believes Jason's claim; she doesn't because McGuire said he was retiring. She also remembers his eavesdropping; suddenly, Carolyn, who was charmed by Jason, doesn't like or trust McGuire. It's unlike Elizabeth to lie, and Carolyn feels McGuire is forcing her to lie because he has a hold over her. Carolyn believes that McGuire is no one's friend.
In the basement, Elizabeth catches Jason again trying to pry into the locked room. Elizabeth catches McGuire in his lie and reminds him of her orders that he stay away from the Locked Room. She tells him to leave because no one goes in that room. McGuire laughs, saying he was considering leaving on his own, but now he's reconsidered. She orders him out of Collinsport by morning. Jason points out that he might meet and talk with authorities and police should he leave Collinwood and tells them Elizabeth is protecting an ex-con known as Roger Collins. McGuire doesn't know why Elizabeth is bothered by his trying to see what's in the locked room, as he already knows what's in there. He shouldn't want to see it, per Elizabeth. McGuire says he might want to pay his respects to his good friend Paul, because despite his lackluster performance as a husband to Elizabeth, he was a good friend to McGuire. McGuire thinks it’s piteous that Elizabeth had to kill Paul, but fortunate that she had McGuire to help her cover it up and covered up that man slaughter that Sam,Roger and Jason were involved in 10 years ago. Elizabeth is upset; Jason reminds her she forced him to say it, but he won't say it again unless she forces him to.
== Memorable quotes ==
: Roger: (frantic) I didn't know what I was doing! (stoic) I was driving. I hit the man. I killed him.
: Burke: And the money you gave Sam...
: Roger: I gave the money to Sam... to keep him quiet.
: Burke: And now, just one more thing.
: Roger: Please!
: Burke: I sent an innocent man to prison for five years.
: Roger: I...
: Burke: Say it! Say it! An innocent man! For five years! Say it or I’ll choke it out of you!
: Roger: I... sent an innocent man... to prison... for five years.
: Burke: At last, now it’s over. I thought I wanted to see you rot in prison. But people like you rot wherever they are.
----
: Jason: I already know what's in here.
: Elizabeth: Then why don't you stay away?
: Jason: Maybe I want to pay my respects...
: Elizabeth: Don't say that!
: Jason: Why not? Paul was a good friend of mine. He may not have been a very good friend or husband to you, but he was a good and loyal friend to me. Pity you had to go and kill him. And weren’t you fortunate that you had a good, loyal friend like me around…to bury him for you?
: Elizabeth: Stop it!
: Jason: I'm sorry, Liz, but you made me say it. But I won't say it again . . . unless, of course, you force me to.
----
: Jason (to David): Well, sometimes mystery can be very, very frightening. And sometimes the truth, facts, can be even more horrifying.
== Dramatis personae ==
* ← Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard →
* ← Louis Edmonds as Roger Collins →
* ← Mitchell Ryan as Burke Devlin →
* ← David Ford as Sam Evans →
* ← Dennis Patrick as Jason McGuire →
* ← Nancy Barrett as Carolyn Stoddard →
* ← David Henesy as David Collins →
* ← Alexandra Moltke as Victoria Winters →
== Background information and notes ==
=== Production ===
* This episode has a large cast relative to most other episodes.
* There are no actor or crew credits for this episode. Only the Dan Curtis Productions logo is seen.
=== Story ===
* This is the first episode when it is explicitly revealed that Elizabeth (supposedly) killed Paul Stoddard.
== Bloopers and continuity errors ==
* Mitchell Ryan flubs his dramatic "hypocritical cowards" line. The dramatic moment when Burke grabs Roger is also compromised when Mitchell Ryan loses his grip on Louis Edmonds when he grabs him and turns him around.
*The light attachment from an adjacent camera momentarily looms into view, obscuring the lower half of David Ford's face even as he is stepping forward and speaking his lines.
* A boom microphone hovers into view when David Henesy heads to the staircase.
*The shadow of a boom mic is briefly seen in the curtains behind Carolyn in Act IV.
*Although time has passed and Carolyn certainly has had time to change her opinion about Jason, her about-face in this episode is a bit confusing. The last time we saw Carolyn was episode 196, when Jason first arrived at Collinwood, and Carolyn was almost smitten with him. In this episode, she is quite negative about him when talking to Vicki, saying Jason is up to something and that she thinks he has some sort of hold over Elizabeth. One could argue this change happened off-screen, but the dramatic change, without our having seen anything specifically portrayed that would change Carolyn's mind, is a bit clumsy.
*Dennis Patrick flubs a line in Act IV when telling Liz that he was in the basement to help Vicki find David: "I was helping him...er, uh, find him."
== End credits announcements ==
* Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.
==External Links ==
Dark Shadows - Episode 201 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 201: People like you
Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 201: 4/3/67
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