154

Victoria and Frank get a history lesson on some of the families in Collinsport.
== Synopsis ==
Teaser
: My name is Victoria Winters. I have come to a dark and desolate place. I do not know where I am or why I am here, but I only know that I am drawn by an unknown force.
The chapel door opens to reveal an aged Caretaker, who believes Victoria and Frank might be ghosts. He claims that anyone who knocks on his door is usually dead.
Act I
Victoria and Frank ask the Caretaker their location; many Stockbridges are buried in this cemetery. He welcomes them inside; the chapel is filled with dusty old records. Frank tries to persuade Victoria to leave, but she adamantly refuses. She discusses the Stockbridges' deaths with the Caretaker. Victoria smells jasmine and wants to go to the room where the Stockbridges who met a violent death are buried. First names didn't mean much to the Stockbridges, and their middle names were their mothers' maiden names. The Caretaker shows them the tomb of L. Murdoch Stockbridge, a woman who burned to death in 1767. Victoria loses the jasmine scent the moment Frank becomes interested. She wants to be quickly removed from the crypt, while Frank realizes that Laura's maiden name is also Murdoch. The Caretaker ominously repeats "L. Murdoch Stockbridge died by fire!"
Act II
Victoria realizes that Josette drew her to the tomb of L. Murdoch Stockbridge. The Caretaker is lonely but Victoria and Frank have to go. They don't know if they've found a clue or not. At Collinwood, Roger doesn't want Mrs Johnson to build up the fire or help him in any way. She asks about the police being at Collinwood again and Roger insists that nobody is in any trouble. Roger says Mrs. Johnson should be commended for her loyalty. Laura drops by and Roger sends Mrs. Johnson to get some strong, black coffee for him. Alone, Laura tells Roger she has nothing more to say about the dead woman in Phoenix. Roger says the police deserve lies and evasions. He insists that Laura tell him the truth.
Act III
Laura refuses to discuss the matter further. Roger tells Laura that Elizabeth doesn't feel there's any further utility in Laura's staying at Collinwood. Laura is tired of Elizabeth's threats and she is ready carry out some threats of her own. Roger got a running report of Laura's behavior in the hospital and thinks she's capable of murder. Roger starts the Burke argument and Laura says she's placating him so he doesn't bring up the 10-year-old manslaughter charge. Mrs. Johnson overhears the last bit then asks to go to bed. Roger is characteristically wry; the couple wonders what Mrs. Johnson heard.
Act IV
Frank brings Victoria home, and they talk over their strange visit to the graveyard. Victoria is more worried about L. Murdoch Stockbridge's death by fire than by the fact that she may be descended from a family that married into the Stockbridges. Victoria is sure they're connected. Entering the Drawing room, Victoria asks Laura if she came to Collinsport as a young woman, or rather, if her family came from Collinsport. Victoria inquires about her ancestry under the guise of David's interest; she receives instructions to tell David that his mother comes from "one of the oldest and finest families in the area." Roger relays the amusing information about the diligent authorities in Arizona's discovery that Laura Murdoch Collins died in the fire in Phoenix.
== Memorable quotes ==
: Roger: When will you learn that nothing a human being does is shocking?
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: Roger: I would like some coffee for my brandy.
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: Caretaker: The earth is the keeper. I just open the door when they knock.
== Dramatis personae ==
* ← Conard Fowkes as Frank Garner →
* Daniel Keyes as Caretaker →
* ← Clarice Blackburn as Sarah Johnson →
* ← Louis Edmonds as Roger Collins →
* ← Diana Millay as Laura Collins →
* ← Alexandra Moltke as Victoria Winters →
== Background information and notes ==
=== Production ===
* Clarice Blackburn returns to the cast after an absence of 22 episodes.
* First appearance of Daniel Keyes as the Caretaker.
*The exterior wall of the chapel, seen to the right of the door, is recycled from one of the angled "marble" walls of the kitchen/breakfast nook in Collinwood.
=== Story ===
* As Roger and Laura discuss the possibility that Laura could be capable of murder, Laura denies it, but Roger says he got running reports of her behavior when she was institutionalized, implying that she might have been violent there.
*The memorial plaques in the crypt give the following names and dates:
**P. Agthorn Stockbridge: Born 1713, Died 1731.
**U. Spencer Stockbridge: Born 1687, Died 1780.
**F. Pendleton Stockbridge: Born 1801, Died 1817.
**L. Murdoch Stockbridge: Born 1735, Died 1767.
== Bloopers and continuity errors ==
== End credits announcement ==
*Sixty minutes of fun....Watch "Bewitched" followed by "Love on a Rooftop" tonight in color here on ABC.
*Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.
==External Links ==
Dark Shadows - Episode 154 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 154: Died by fire!
Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 154: 1/26/67
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