User Reviews

It's a dark and stormy night at Collinwood, and a frightened Victoria panics as she calls for David to let her out of the closed off wing of the mansion. Elizabeth is worried, but Carolyn is too selfish to care, having decided in a fury to step out on Joe and have fun irregardless, even if it means spending time with the family enemy, Burke Devlin. Victoria somehow manages to find a cot like bed in the abandoned wing, and through the dull acting of Alexandra Moltke attempts to seem exhausted but frantic. Sam Evans gets drunk with Burke, basically trying in a desperate manner, to fix a dying friendship. They ponder the presence of spirits at Collinwood, giving hints of things to come. Burke questions the presence of ghosts all around them, and indeed, one appears, the late Bill Malloy! It's a nice twist that soap operas would use years later after a character was unexpectedly killed off, having the actor appear in either white lights or demonic visions to haunt someone. Another fun episode of Gothic proportions that couldn't make it into every episode, but when they do, it is a truly bewitching moment!

Though smiling from behind the opening production slate, (Alexandra Moltke's) Vicki is in a frightened mood. David has locked her up in a room in the closed off West Wing of Collinwood. Meanwhile, Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) tells Liz (Joan Bennett) she's going out for the evening. Carolyn has put up her hair and puts on her second sexiest dress. Liz is worried about Vicki. She sympathizes with Joe, saying, "The world doesn't revolve around Carolyn Stoddard."...

Drunk at the Blue Whale, Burke (Mitchell Ryan) orders another drink from "Andy" (Bob O'Connell) when Sam walks in - from a small portion of filmed footage. Possibly due to the stormy night, the only other customer is lonely Walter Arnold, sitting at the bar. Sam joins Burke and they sing a few rounds of "(What Shall We Do with the) Drunken Sailor?" which was a favorite song of Bill Malloy. Burke and Sam half-heartedly wonder if Malloy's ghost might be out looking for his murderer. Sure enough, Malloy appears to Vicki at Collinwood, warning her to leave town before she is also killed...

This was the second appearance of a ghost on screen - in this case, the relatively freshly deceased Bill Malloy. For the first time, a killed-off actor, Frank Schofield, reappeared in the credits. Also notable was the last writer Art Wallace was credited as such; his "Dark Shadows" input was diminishing, though he would still receive creator credit.

****** Dark Shadows 1966 ABC #85 (10/21/66) John Sedwick ~ Mitchell Ryan, Nancy Barrett, David Ford, Alexandra Moltke

Most of Episode 85 is taken up with a rambling and drunken conversation between Burke and Sam; given Mitchell Ryan's much-publicised battle with the booze, you wonder just how much of it is close to home. Expect lots of singing, laughing, and general merriment. Just when things seem rather pedestrian, the unexpected ghost of Bill Malloy appears at the climax, dripping seaweed and lifting the enjoyment considerably.