Dark Shadows Diary, Episode 22

Episode 22, "The Joy of Painting"
July 26, 1966

If today's episode has a lesson, it's that Maggie Evans looks adorable no matter what time of day it is.

Even though we've barely got the first four weeks of DARK SHADOWS under our belt, the Maggie Evans introduced in the pilot has little resemblance to the character now appearing on the show. The blonde, brassy waitress transformed into Collinsport's sweetheart so slowly that I barely noticed it happening. The first week of the show featured some impressive story telling, so heavily produced that it was shocking to think those episodes were created with no intention of ever airing them as reruns. Continuity for a daytime show was less important than in primetime. While it meant a lot of programs were lost to limbo, it also gave writers the opportunity to tinker heavily with their stories as they were still being told. Not even comicbooks can get away with that.

Burke Devlin pays an early morning visit to the Evans home and finds Maggie there alone, looking more chipper than anyone living in Collinsport has a right to look. Proving that she's a step ahead of both Victoria and Carolyn, Maggie knows her father's increasingly erratic behavior was prompted by Devlin's arrival in town. He's is up to no good, but that doesn't stop her from being a gracious host.


Sam and Roger accidentally collude after bumping into each other at the diner, but Roger has stopped trusting anybody since his wreck. "We're the only two who really know what happened 10 years ago," he tells Sam, implying that their secret is motive enough for murder. Neither man elaborates on said incident.

Sam returns home and, after four weeks of episodes (which is about three days in Dark Shadows Time,) finally meets Burke. Naturally, he doesn't much want to hang around with the guy he helped frame for manslaughter, but it's not like he can come out and say that. Burke offers him $1,000 to paint his portrait, establishing villainous etiquette for Collinsport. He's not the last guy to ask Sam to paint his portrait as a smokescreen to hide his real plans. He's a little more upfront that that other guy, though ... his intentions to hang his portrait on a wall at Collinwood are less than ambiguous.

Carolyn drops by the show briefly to remind us that she's the center of the universe. She tries to convince Roger not to call the cops about Burke's alleged involvement in his wreck. She's also feeling a little guilty, she's to blame for enabling Devlin to act ... if he's really responsible for the incident.