Dark Shadows (TV Series) Episode #1.55 (1966) User Reviews

"You're Holding a Pistol to My Head"

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 9 September 2011]

At Collinwood, Sheriff Patterson (Dana Elcar) questions a nervous Roger (Louis Edmonds) and distraught Liz (Joan Bennett) about the recently drowned Bill Malloy. Neither wants to believe a murder occurred. Roger seems open to the possibility of either suicide or accidental drowning due to drunkenness. Outside, Matthew shows deputy Harry Shaw where he found Malloy's body. At the hotel restaurant, Maggie (Kathryn Leigh Scott) serves coffee to father Sam (David Ford). Sam has the shakes and is unable to paint. He refers to Malloy in the past tense, telling Maggie, "We had a great deal in common." Sam wants the sealed "insurance" envelope back from Maggie. Patterson enters, and reveals new information regarding Bill Malloy...

This was the last episode taped (August 26, 1966) at the daytime serial's temporary home in Studio #2, on West 67th St., NY. The show was renewed by ABC-TV for 13 weeks and optimistically given a permanent home in Studio #16, on West 53rd St., NY. Production was shut down for a week as the sets were moved and reassembled in the new studio. This version of "Dark Shadows" would be taped at the unassuming small location for the remainder of its run. Someone must have been watching, but the series was not considered a success. When it did become a hit, fans began to gather outside the studio...

**** Dark Shadows 1966 ABC #55 (9/9/66) Lela Swift ~ Louis Edmonds, Joan Bennett, Kathryn Leigh Scott, David Ford...

More detective work

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 25 April 2018]

More detective work in episode 55 of the show. It continues on from the last and we don't really learn anything new, but at least there's stuff going on following on from Malloy's disappearance and apparent death. Roger continues to be exceptionally shifty while it seems that others like Sam and Burke may know more than they're letting on.

Can Roger escape his latest obstacle?

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 30 October 2019]

One thing the "Dark Shadows" did right during its first few months on the air was present to male characters who could be classified as a villain, giving indications that one of them was actually an anti-hero. Louis Edmonds Rodger Collins is definitely presented as the initial villain, abusive to his son verbally and definitely keeping secrets that impact the lives of others around him. in the case of Burke Devlin, his revenge against Rodger eventually does begin to seem justified, and here, it's indicated to that Sam Evans, the pathetic blue collar worker who dabbles in art might know the truth of who the real villain is.

Now that Bill Malloy is dead, it's up to sheriff George Patterson to figure out what exactly happened, if it was murder or suicide or an accident. It's the first death in the series history, tying together two months of intrigue since Burke Devlin's return (and the series premiere), and yet in this episode, nothing really concrete is revealed, making it nearly pointless and definitely slow moving. A conversation between Sam and Maggie only points out his continued pathetic life, and while the acting is good, the writing is cliched and uninteresting.