Chances are that if you have watched the soaps in the last 40 years of the 20th Century, you either saw character actress Clarice Blackburn on screen or heard her writing. She acted on at least 8 daytime dramas and was a stage trained actress who played a variety of parts. Here, in her debut, she emulates Margaret Hamilton in her no nonsense, plain spoken performance, looking like the strict schoolteacher, forbodding housekeeper or town gossip. And boy is she good in stating her suspicion that the Collinwood Mansion is filled with evil, a forecast into the future that includes her.
Sheriff Patterson is searching for alibis for the principal suspects, and here he focuses on Sam Evans. Will daughter Maggie be able to prove his? Carolyn confronts Burke over her family's claims that he is lying, and is instantly drawn in by his charm...or is it his manipulation? Most episodes of "Dark Shadows" are 99% dialog and very little action, like mini-stage plays with a repetoire company, and the actors from the New York theater aide the show in rising above its mediocrities and short comings. Perhaps half an hour episodes daily back in the mid 1960's could be tedious, but on video, the show flows tightly through mini marathons. The tense emotions and character driven plots over time just get better, and this is one of those transitional episodes.
Sheriff Patterson is searching for alibis for the principal suspects, and here he focuses on Sam Evans. Will daughter Maggie be able to prove his? Carolyn confronts Burke over her family's claims that he is lying, and is instantly drawn in by his charm...or is it his manipulation? Most episodes of "Dark Shadows" are 99% dialog and very little action, like mini-stage plays with a repetoire company, and the actors from the New York theater aide the show in rising above its mediocrities and short comings. Perhaps half an hour episodes daily back in the mid 1960's could be tedious, but on video, the show flows tightly through mini marathons. The tense emotions and character driven plots over time just get better, and this is one of those transitional episodes.
