Episode 43: The Man Who Learned Too Much

Bill Malloy these days comes across as the man with all the answers; or at the very least appears to know the proper solutions, and the means of applying them, to save the Collins family from ruin in the face of Burke Devlin’s determined vendetta.

Knowledge can be a blessing; freeing you from short-sighted doubt as well as fear of the unknown. Knowledge can also be a curse; setting you apart from others while leaving you torn over sudden and unforeseen divided loyalties.

So what do you do when you’ve learned too much about the very people you rely on the most? If you’re Bill Malloy, you skip out on work for an afternoon and go to the Blue Whale where you can find a nice quiet table to drink things over for a while.

At the Blue Whale, Sam Evans voices another confession to Bill Malloy, this time while sober:

Sam: Bill, you see before you a man with a disturbed conscience.

Bill: That I can believe.

Sam: It’s something that’s been tormenting me for years.

Bill: Oh, about, uh, ten years?

Sam: Yeah, about that. It could’ve been more could’ve been less. Time is not important.

Bill: I think it is, Sam. I think it’s the most important thing there is.

Especially if your soap opera runs on thirteen-week cycles where a sudden dip in ratings can spell the difference between continuation and cancellation. As a stopgap measure, Dan Curtis has brought in Francis Swann as a second writer to pick up the story pacing and in the process make a slight departure from the series bible Shadows on the Wall by introducing elements and outcomes that differ from what was originally outlined by Art Wallace. The result is a break in both story and character continuity that ultimately creates more questions than answers.

Initially, Bill Malloy was a more peripheral presence on the show. He’d pop up occasionally if not to warn Elizabeth Stoddard about Burke Devlin’s bitterness, then to remind Burke himself that he’s aware of his animosity toward the Collins family and of his plans for revenge, like in episode 21 when he arrives announced at Burke’s hotel room. At that point Malloy was convinced that it was Burke who caused Roger’s accident, and calls to mind the threats he made the day he was convicted of manslaughter.

By episode 39, however, Malloy has a different spin on the situation. In story time it’s only a day later, but now when he talks with Devlin, Malloy suspects that it was Roger and not Burke who should have served that prison sentence. Bill is willing to make a deal to get Burke to stop causing trouble for the rest of the family.

The question that arises is how after ten years does he reach that conclusion? If he suspected Roger, then wouldn’t this have been something he thought all along, all these years? And if not, how does he just out of the blue change his mind and side with Burke? This leap of faith is never explained.

After getting Burke to agree to his plan, Malloy then excuses himself, saying he’s got some people to talk to. One assumes Malloy is preparing to have this out with Roger. At least that way perhaps we can find out what caused him to be struck with this newfound revelation. Instead, Malloy shows up at…

…Sam Evans’ house. By chance Roger just happens to be there, and Bill walks in on them while the two are engaged in what Roger describes as a “friendly argument.”

So that’s another question about the present sea change in story direction: How does Bill Malloy make the connection between Sam Evans and Roger Collins when Burke himself has been struggling to put those pieces together? In talking with Maggie Evans in episode 28, after she describes how ill at ease her father has been ever since Burke’s return to Collinsport, he begins to make the connection between Sam, Roger, and the accident ten years earlier.

Burke just isn’t able at this point to determine what this all means. Yet straight away Bill Malloy, who until episode 39 hasn’t even interacted once with Sam to observe his moods since Burke arrived back in Collinsport, somehow knows of his involvement.

Lately it seems that Bill Malloy is everywhere; once a supporting character, he is presently in most every episode and is appearing on nearly all of the sets in use during a given episode as well as interacting with practically every other character in the cast. If Diablos had been on the show at this point early on, Bill would surely have been on an express elevator ride down to the underworld home office for a consultation. Having taken the lead and placing himself in the center of the Burke Devlin story, Bill Malloy has now become the de facto star of Dark Shadows.

In the beginning Dark Shadows was supposed to have been the story of Victoria Winters, who as of this episode has been instead demoted to secretarial duties in fielding a call from Carolyn while Joe is present and signaling to Joe whether he wants to talk with her…

…he doesn’t, nor is he pleased to learn that that she had lunch with someone else that afternoon, which places yet another roadblock in their already speedbump-riddled relationship.

Today’s episode instead is the story of Bill Malloy. Unlike in previous episodes, we are given some backstory on the Malloy character where it is hinted that Elizabeth Stoddard may have been the love of his life, but that he had lost out to Paul Stoddard. There is in fact some truth to that; it shows that Francis Swann had bothered to consult with the series bible:

“When Bill had initially come to work for the firm, a young man of twenty-five, his earliest impressions had been colored by the intense admiration he felt for young Elizabeth Collins, who so valiantly and efficiently had stepped into her father’s place as head of the firm. If one were to ask him, he would probably say he fell in love with her the first time she dressed him down for an error in calculation.

“That long ago, he had hopes of marrying her, but he soon learned that her devotion was completely to the dual problems of running the affairs of the business and helping to raise her young brother to manhood.

“Realistic enough to recognize a stone wall when he saw one, Bill turned his thoughts in other directions, and married at the age of 28. His was a happy marriage…although childless…and the only serious argument he ever had with his wife was during the period of his great concern over Elizabeth’s involvement with Paul Stoddard, the young adventurer who achieved the goal Bill had abandoned many years before.” (Shadows on the Wall, p. 30)

This would at least explain why Malloy appears so willing to risk everything, even his very livelihood, if it means helping the people he cares for the most by having to hurt them in the process, as epitomized by what he confides to Maggie early on today: “This concerns someone else. I mean Elizabeth Stoddard… I’d sacrifice anything, if it would help her.”

With the story of Victoria Winters being temporarily pre-empted by the story of Bill Malloy, let’s take a moment to see if we can determine the origins of the Bill Malloy character, the possible source Art Wallace drew upon in creating the character.

Dark Shadows is set up in Maine, yet hardly any of the characters speak as if they come from within a thousand miles of there; instead you hear accents that convey indications of the South, the Midwest, and the West Coast. Bill Malloy is just about the only character who sounds like he really could have originated from the place where Dark Shadows is set.

Peyton Place is like that too. Set in Massachusetts, most all of the actors speak their dialogue in a variety of brogues far removed from where their roots are said to be… except for one. The character of Eli Carson, father of Elliot Carson, with his salt of the Earth sense of integrity and fair-minded common sense, fulfills the function that Bill Malloy provides on Dark Shadows; by exuding a demeanor that’s more down home, each keeps their respective show anchored with a realism that makes things more believable in terms of where each story is said to be taking place.

Below is a short seconds-long clip of Eli Carson speaking a line of dialogue; the actor is from California, but with the way he forms his words is at least approximating the region the show is said to be set in:

Frank Ferguson (right) with Tim O’Connor in episode 33 of Peyton Place.

This is likely the originally intended function of the Bill Malloy character, a token link to emanate the purported Down East locale in which Dark Shadows has chosen to set its run of stories.

Despite the above-noted pre-emption, this episode does nonetheless manage to signal a way forward in the story of Victoria Winters. In a charming series of scenes, Vicki and Maggie are on the way to becoming good friends, with Maggie even inviting her over to her house some night soon for dinner with her and her father.

This would mean the first instance of Vicki enjoying a social contact outside of Collinwood. The aborted dinner date up in Burke’s room at the Collinsport Inn didn’t really count; she only agreed to go there on the promise of learning what Burke’s detective may have turned up regarding her past, and when this proved to yield nothing new she quickly decided she wasn’t hungry after all.

Yet whatever this may lead to in her search to find out more about her past will have to wait until the story of Bill Malloy plays itself out. There’s a matter to be settled between the Collins family and Burke Devlin; Malloy is on the case and is determined to solve it – even if it kills him.

Dark Shadows extras:

There are two extras at the Blue Whale in today’s episode. At left is Tim Gordon, who first appeared as a Collinsport Inn restaurant customer in episode 24. At the end of the bar is Larry Swanson.

Background audio:

The series: The Dan and Lela Show; the main players: director Lela Swift, executive producer Dan Curtis; the setting: television studio control room; main prop: the control room microphone; opening scene: teaser…

Lela: Dan, I just got a look at who you hired to play John Harris.

Dan: You have a problem with it?

Lela: You bet I have a problem with it!

Dan: Well save it for the opening theme. I’m not going to have you complaining all through another episode.

[waves]

Lela: Dan, how could you hire someone who looks like Patrick McVey?

Dan: What’s wrong with Patrick McVey?

Lela: He looks like a goblin is what’s wrong with Patrick McVey!

Dan: Lela, Patrick McVey is a fine actor. I want you to treat him with respect…

[Act I begins, Collinsport Inn restaurant]

Dan: Lela, I want you to stop complaining.

Lela: Dan, I can’t work with someone who looks like Patrick McVey.

Dan: Lela, I’m warning you. Patrick McVey is in the studio now for the rehearsal. I don’t want you sabotaging his performance. Now I want you to stop complaining.

Lela: Dan, I can’t stand the sight of him!

Dan: Lela, for Christ sake. If you want to complain, do it during the commercial break, and off the microphone.

From somewhere in the studio the boom mic is faintly capturing Patrick McVey’s reaction:

Patrick McVey: I don’t know what’s wrong with that lady director. I’ve never encountered such hostility in my work before. I’m not sure I can go through with this… Dan hired me because we’re golfing buddies at the same club. He said, Come on my show and play a banker… I’m beginning to have second thoughts about it. I’m really beginning to regret accepting the offer…

[Toward the close of Act I]

Dan: I just heard Patrick McVey’s reaction. I’m going to have a word with you over the commercial break, Lela.

Lela: Dan…

[Act II begins]

Dan: Now Lela, I am telling you, you are not going to sabotage another actor’s performance. I won’t allow it. I want you to behave yourself and be professional…

[Middle of Act II, scene at Blue Whale begins]

Dan: Lela, Patrick McVey is coming on Dark Shadows, and there’s nothing you can do about it! Now I’m sick and tired of your complaining about him!

Lela: But Dan, I can’t stand to look at him!

Dan: Well you have to work with him, Lela, so that’s your problem.

Lela: Patrick McVey looks like a goblin, with those horrible tea-mug ears.

Dan: Lela, I am asking you to stop complaining. He is in the studio now, and doesn’t want to hear your hostility.

Lela: Dan, you don’t think I know what you’re up to?

Dan: What do you mean, what I’m up to?

Lela: Hiring one of your golfing buddies?

Dan: So what if he’s a golfing buddy? He also happens to be a fine actor with a résumé that’s outstanding. Let me tell you something, Lela. On my show I can hire whoever I want to. I can even hire one of my caddies. What do you think of that? You want to work with a golfing caddie? Now stop complaining. Jesus Christ!

[Toward the middle of Act IV]

Dan: …Well, I managed to get Lela to stop complaining. Now if I can just get Sy Tomashoff to dress the outside of that foyer set… That set’s been bugging the shit out of me. We’re trying to go for realism, and he’s got a blank wall outside the front doors… I had a word with him about it, and he’s trying to tell me no one’s going to give a fuck about something like that…

[Middle of Act IV, Collinwood foyer set, Vicki opens the front door for Joe Haskell]

Dan: Well, it’s still a blank wall outside.

Lela: Dan, he put some more plants outside.

Dan: He put some more plants outside? Well big fucking deal! It’s still a blank wall outside…

[Scene switches back to Blue Whale]

Lela: Dan, I still can’t work with Patrick McVey.

Dan: Lela, save it for the closing theme.

Lela: But Dan, it makes me sick just to look at him.

Dan: Lela, Patrick McVey is one of the nicest guys. How can you say something like that about him?

Lela: I don’t care if he’s a nice guy. He looks like a goblin, with those      awful –

Dan: – tea-mug ears. Yes I know, Lela, so you keep saying. Jesus Christ, Lela. Patrick McVey is such a nice guy…

[end credits]

Dan: Jesus fucking Christ, Lela! What are you trying to do, sabotage another one of my supporting actors off the show? Jesus fucking Christ, Lela!

Lela: Dan, I cannot work with someone who looks like Patrick McVey. He looks like a goblin.

Dan: You keep saying that over and over. Jesus fucking Christ, Lela! I want you to stop complaining, and for tomorrow’s episode I want you to treat him with the respect he deserves…

Until next time, this has been The Dan and Lela Show.

Postcards:

Maggie: This information that you think Pop has; it concerns somebody else, right?

Bill: Yes.

Maggie: Well then it must be either Roger Collins or Burke Devlin.

Bill: Why do you say that? Did your father mention either one of them? Or both?

Maggie: Well not exactly, but they’ve both been at the house and nobody else has. I mean it stands to reason that it has something to do with Burke coming back to Collinsport.

Bill: Then you have noticed something different about your father since Burke came back.

Maggie: Well sure. Well for one thing Burke gave Pop a commission to do his portrait. Maybe Pop was just celebrating.

Bill: Oh, it’s more than that, much more.

Maggie: What do you think it’s all about? What do you think it could be?

Bill: Has he said nothing?

Maggie: Oh, he said plenty if you really want to know. I tried to call Roger Collins to ask him about it. And Pop, when he found out about it, blew his top.

Bill: Then maybe it wasn’t just the liquor talking in him.

Maggie: Mr. Malloy, what’s it all about?

Bill: I’m not a man given to idle speculation, Maggie. And I won’t say anything until I’m sure of my facts.

Maggie: Well, does it have anything to do with the accident for which Burke Devlin was sent to prison?

Bill: It could be.

---

Vicki: Mr. Malloy?

Bill: Oh, Miss Winters. Guess I walked right by you, and wasn’t looking.

Vicki: That’s alright. I was wondering if you’d happened to see Carolyn this afternoon.

Bill: No, but I could’ve looked right at her and not seen her, I’ve had so much on my mind.

Vicki: I’m afraid you’re going to have more on it. Mrs. Stoddard wants you to call her.

Bill: Ayuh. I intend to. Soon as I get the information I’m after.

Vicki: Well I gathered it’s pretty important.

Bill: So’s what I’m doing. Important for her and maybe even more important for her brother. If I can ever find him.

Maggie: Have you tried the Blue Whale?

Bill: You think he might be there?

Maggie: Well, more likely than here.

Bill: I’ll do that then. Excuse me, Miss Winters.

Vicki: Mr. Malloy, what’ll I tell Mrs. Stoddard?

Bill: Well, tell her I’ll be in touch with her. But I don’t think she’s gonna like it.

---

Bill [looks up from his drink]: Oh, it’s you, Joe.

Joe: Mr. Malloy, you okay?

Bill: Physically I’m in good health if that’s what you mean.

Joe: Mrs. Stoddard’s trying to get in touch with you.

Bill: So I’ve heard. Did she say why?

Joe: No, she said it was important.

Bill: Uh huh. Well, I’ll call her… when I have something to report.

---

Sam: I have a premonition that something terrible is going to happen at Collinwood.

---

Bill: Your instincts were right. You should take Carolyn out of that place.

Joe: It’s not so easy. I don’t have very much to offer her.

Bill: You have yourself to offer. Now don’t make the mistake I did. And don’t laugh at what I say. I was young once, too, and I felt the same as you. So I put off the offering. And while I was waiting, somebody else came along with a lot of smooth talk… and that was the end of Bill Malloy!

Bloopers/Story Continuity:

In two different scenes the occasion of Bill having gotten Sam drunk is referred to as “last night” when episode 40 took place on the same day as episode 43.

Two other alleged bloopers could be in dispute. In the diner while talking with Bill Malloy, as Maggie takes up the dishes from a nearby table a half-eaten donut falls from one of the plates, which Maggie neither picks up nor appears to notice. This could be argued as a touch of realism; waitresses do this all the time, and the task of cleaning up would be left for the hotel floor sweeper-upper.

The other alleged blooper is when Bill Malloy is stepping out of the diner after having been talking with Miss Winters, whose glass of soda is nearly full; the scene then fades out for a commercial break between Acts I and II. When the scene resumes, Vicki’s soda glass is mostly empty. Blooper spotters argue that hardly any story time had elapsed during this fading out and back in. However, beforehand Vicki did mention that she had walked all the way into town and was thirsty; it being summer, what could be more refreshing than a few quick long sips of cold bubbly soda?

There are no line flubs this episode, and even the boom mic shadows are hardly in attendance. If the writing staff hadn’t decided to trade day for night, this could arguably have been the first blooper-free Dark Shadows episode.

Food & Drink in Collinsport:

While stopping in at the diner to discuss with Maggie the situation involving Burke Devlin, Bill Malloy has a cup of coffee, the price of which in 1966 was a dime.

When Vicki drops in at the diner and says that she’s thirsty from having walked all the way into town, Maggie treats her to a soda.

When Maggie brings Vicki a second soda, which she insists on paying for, Maggie has also poured a glass for herself.

When Sam drops in at the diner to see his daughter, he helps himself to a free donut.

At the Blue Whale, Bill Malloy is working on a tall glass of whiskey and water on the rocks when Joe Haskell walks in to check on him.

Bill insists that Joe have a drink with him and he finally agrees to have a beer, which he can’t bring himself to drink.

Sam has dropped in for a drink of whiskey in a shot glass, by which time Bill has a refill on his tall whiskey and water on the rocks.

On the Flipside:

Over the closing theme ABC announcer Bob Lloyd says, “Stay tuned for Where the Action Is, next on ABC.”

Following in the 4:30 p.m. time slot the day episode 43 of Dark Shadows was broadcast, Wednesday August 24, 1966, was season 2 episode 247 of WTAI.

Dick Clark: “Where the Action Is is brought to you by…”

TV commercial announcer: “…Anacin for relief of headache pain. Remember…”

TV commercial announcer: “…aspirin with buffering has only one pain reliever…”

TV commercial announcer: “…but Anacin contains a combination of ingredients…”

TV commercial announcer: “…to relieve pain, fight depression, calm jittery nerves…”

TV commercial announcer: “Take Anacin for fast, fast, fast relief!”

Among the musical guests were the Sandpipers, a California folk trio best known for their 1970 hit Come Saturday Morning. In 1966, they scored a minor top 40 hit with a cover of Louie, Louie, the B-side of which was a cover of the Lennon/McCartney song Things We Said Today, which they performed on this episode of WTAI.

Full audio of complete Sandpipers WTAI performance:

Dick Clark: “You’ll see why these people are applauding in a second. There they are as a matter of fact… Great sounds of the Sandpipers!”

You say you will love me
If I have to go
You’ll be thinking of me
Somehow I will know

Someday when I’m lonely

Wishing you weren’t so far away
Then I will remember

The things we said today

You say you’ll be mine, girl
‘Til the end of time
These days such a kind girl
Seems so hard to find

Someday when we’re dreaming
Deep in love, not a lot to say

Then we will remember
The things we said today

Me, I’m just the lucky kind
Love to hear you say that love is luck
And, though we may be blind
Love is here to stay
And that’s enough

To make you mine, girl
Be the only one

Love me all the time, girl
We’ll go on and on

Someday when we’re dreaming

Deep in love, not a lot to say
Then we will remember
Things we said today

Love is here to stay

And that’s enough
To make you mine, girl

Be the only one
Love me all the time, girl
We’ll go on and on

Someday when we’re dreaming

Deep in love, not a lot to say

Then we will remember
The things we said today

Dick Clark: “The Sandpipers, here on Where the Action Is.”

Parallel Collinsport, 1966:

In parallel real-world Collinsport, Joe Haskell would surely be spending long afternoons and evenings in the Blue Whale drinking about Carolyn while the jukebox plays a tune like How Long, Baby? by Irish music group Them…

How Long, Baby?

(M. Gillon aka Tommy Scott)

How long, how long baby
Can this love of ours go on?
How long, how long baby
‘Cause I know, I know you’ve been doin’ me wrong

You’ve been seen all over town
Playin’ the field, puttin’ me down
How long can this go on?

How long, how long baby
Must you treat me like a fool?
How long, how long baby
Don’t you know, you’re breakin’ the rules?

Do you think it’s only a game?
The way that you’re actin’
You’ll drive me insane
How long can this go on?

I wanna know, how long, how long baby
Must you tear my soul apart?
How long, how long baby
When you break, when you break my heart

Oh won’t you, change your ways
Come on back, let me hear you say
That we will start anew

I need you so…

(Van Morrison in 1965)

I need you so…

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh

Joe Haskell getting drunk at the Blue Whale in episode 33.

On this day in parallel real-world Collinsport, as Bill Malloy sits in the Blue Whale drinking things over, a song plays on the jukebox, strange but pleasant. The words don’t mean all that much to Malloy, convoluted as they are with all that beatnik folkie jargon, but the chorus is catchy and holds a special resonance for him as he sings along to himself and changing the words around slightly: “It’s all over now, Bill for you…”

It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue

(Bob Dylan)

You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun
Crying like a fire in the sun
Look out the saints are comin’ through
And it’s all over now, baby blue

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense
Take what you have gathered from coincidence
The empty-handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it’s all over now, baby blue

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home
All your reindeer armies, are all going home
The lover who just walked out your door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it’s all over now, baby blue

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you
Forget the dead you’ve left, they will not follow you
The vagabond who’s rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore
Strike another match, go start anew
And it’s all over now, baby blue

Bill Malloy drinking things over here in episode 43.

On the drive back from Bangor, Burke Devlin is in an upbeat mood. A few miles outside Collinsport he switches on the radio, tuning the dial to the local station as the familiar radio jingle plays:

“You found a home

You’ve got a friend

The richest sound

Anywhere around

Is on WCLN –

Radio, Collinsport!”

Burke chuckles to himself several times as the radio plays a song he finds amusing, singing out loud to himself when he hears the line, “And I will make… a fool of you…”

Hey Girl

(Van Morrison)

Let’s go walking where the boats go by

And watch them sail across the bay…

Bar Harbor, Maine: 1960s postcard of the sea wall and beach along Main Street near Bar Harbor Motor Inn (along Frenchman Bay in Hancock County, near Collinsport).

Burke with Carolyn at the Bangor Pine Hotel restaurant in episode 42.

Above songs are from the three-CD compilation The Complete Them 1964-1967 (Exile Productions Ltd.; 2015).

Recommended Reading:

Joan Bennett’s 1970 autobiography (original front and back covers).

The Bennetts: An Acting Family, the 2004 biography (front cover).

From the page I created for Dark Shadows Wiki:

Dark Passages is a novel written by Kathryn Leigh Scott and published in 2011 by Pomegranate Press, Ltd.

Set in the 1960s, Meg Harrison leaves her native Minnesota for New York to pursue a career in acting while working as a Playboy Bunny in New York’s Playboy Club. After changing her name to Morgana Harriott, she soon lands the role of Margie, a restaurant waitress and daughter of a local artist, in the new daytime TV serial Dark Passages. The show will eventually feature a vampire, but the catch is that Morgana is one in real life.

The characters described on the sets of Dark Passages resemble quite vividly those on Dark Shadows and the actors who played them. The diner set where Margie works is greatly similar to that of the Collinsport Inn restaurant on Dark Shadows.

For the back cover, Jonathan Frid wrote the following blurb: “Reading DARK PASSAGES was like being back on the sets of DARK SHADOWS, except with real vampires behind the scenes!”

Recommended Listening:

In this eight-CD box set of composer Robert Cobert’s series soundtrack, every music cue used on Dark Shadows is available, including the full-length original recordings of the guitar instrumentals heard at the Blue Whale.

Since 2006, UK production company Big Finish has been extending the Dark Shadows legacy with audio dramas offering new stories featuring cast members from the original TV series. My favorite is the 2015 audio drama …And Red All Over, in which Mitchell Ryan reprises his role as Burke Devlin to the backdrop of an eerily compelling backstory on how he came to acquire his wealth in business. Also starring Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans, with original series themes and music cues composed by Robert Cobert. A must listen for any fan of the first year of Dark Shadows.

Coming next: Episode 44: You Can Bank On It

— Marc Masse

(aka PrisoneroftheNight)

© 2019 Marc Masse and Dark Shadows

from the Beginning. All rights reserved.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of

the content herein is a violation of the

terms and standards as set forth under

U.S. copyright law.

(Joe getting drunk at the Blue Whale over Carolyn, episode 33)