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97
Number

97

Timeline

1967

Narrator

Alexandra Moltke
(as Victoria Winters)

Writer

Francis Swann

Director

Lela Swift

Broadcast

November 8, 1966
(Tuesday)

Recorded

October 27, 1966
(Thursday)

Video

Complete: Disc 11
Beginning 3: Disc 3

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Victoria goes to see Sam about the painting he made of Betty Hanscombe, and he gives her the portrait as a gift.

Synopsis[]

My name is Victoria Winters. Last night I learned that a man I considered my friend might be implicated in an unexplained death. I have shared this secret with only one other man. Now I dread having to face the rest of the family at Collinwood not knowing what to expect.

Morning at Collinwood; Victoria nervously walks into the Drawing Room. Elizabeth asks and Victoria provides honest answers; Elizabeth reasserts her claim that she knows of no link between the Collins family and Victoria. She also reasserts that Victoria and Betty Hanscombe look nothing alike. Victoria tells her she and Burke are not involved; Elizabeth says she won't ask what happened to cause her to call Roger.

Roger lies to Carolyn and tells her that he and Victoria were intimate in Bangor to allay her questions, because for once Carolyn has a logical mind. Carolyn is snippy with Victoria; Victoria tells her about Frank Garner and that she knows Carolyn called Burke.

Roger lies to Elizabeth about Victoria's motives. Elizabeth believes the coincidence story. Roger repeats his lie about Burke being too drunk and says Victoria isn't one to gossip.

Carolyn asks if Burke was drunk; Victoria says no. She warns Carolyn against "unpredictable" Burke as she's about to go out on an errand. Victoria puts Carolyn in her place.

Victoria goes searching for the painting of Betty; she and Sam talk. Sam explains that he never really mingled with the Collins family. He says there's a superficial resemblance between Victoria and Betty but doesn't say whether or not he correctly captured her soul. He gives Victoria the portrait as a gift.

Elizabeth tells Roger about Victoria's inquiries about Betty, whom Roger doesn't remember. Roger questions her motives when Elizabeth orders nothing be done about the matter. She says Victoria's her responsibility.

Victoria returns home with the portrait; Elizabeth forces Roger to say that the portrait doesn't resemble her, and they have her thinking she's crazy until Carolyn walks in and asks when Victoria had her portrait done.

Memorable quotes[]

Sam: When I was painting Betty, I was trying to paint her soul, what was inside it.
Victoria: Do you think you succeeded?
Sam: Who knows what's inside a woman's soul?

Carolyn: (on seeing Vicki with the portrait of Betty Hanscombe) Vicki! Where'd you have the portrait done? It looks exactly like you!

Dramatis personae[]

Background information and notes[]

Production[]

Filmed footage of Victoria leaving the house is utilized briefly. In this shot, Alexandra Moltke could pass for a Joan Bennett double.

Story[]

  • This would mark the last time any reference to Victoria possibly being related to Betty Hanscombe would be made. [This is incorrect. Roger comments on the resemblance between Vicki and Betty in 105.] In the series' bible, the woman whom Paul Stoddard had an affair with that produced Victoria is unnamed. However, his mistress could not possibly be Betty as it is explicitly stated Betty died five years before Victoria was born. From this point onwards, Victoria's parentage storyline isn't continued as the focus of the series begins to shifts towards supernatural elements. A common fan theory is that Victoria is the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth, and this is supported by the cast and production team, as well as the official Dan Curtis approved 2003 audio drama Return to Collinwood. The portrait was mentioned in 103 and 104 when Victoria pretended to Roger that she had been discussing it with Maggie.
  • Sam is originally from Connecticut and has never considered himself a "native" of Collinsport. He considers the Collins family, and anyone whose family has lived in Collinsport for a few hundred years, to be the "natives".
  • Frank Garner is at least 10 years older than Carolyn. Carolyn hasn't seen him in years.
  • TIMELINE: It was last night when Victoria found out about Burke's connection with the filigree pen.

Bloopers and continuity errors[]

  • In Act 1, after Elizabeth says, "I simply don't have the answers," there is a long pause. Alexandra Moltke casts her eyes downward, waiting, it seems, for Joan Bennett to finish her lines, which she seems to have momentarily forgotten. Bennett then picks up the rest of her dialogue.
  • Alexandra Moltke flubs a line: "It isn't the likeness...the...the quality of the painting; it's the likeness."

End credits announcements[]

  • Stay tuned for "Where the Action Is," next on ABC.
  • Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.

External Links []

Dark Shadows - Episode 97 on the IMDb

Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 97: Paint her soul

Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 97: 11/8/66

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