Dark Shadows Diary, Episode 29

Episode 29, "The Devlin's Advocate"
Aug. 4, 1966

Liz isn't coping with the reality of David's aggression with the utmost maturity. When faced with the prospect of her nephew having tried to murder his father, she's decided to blame the messenger: Victoria Winters. "I don't care what Miss Winters found," she tells Carolyn just minutes after alienating the governess. She punctuates this opinion by saying that, if something has happened to the missing child, she'd "never" forgive Victoria. This is pro-level compartmentalizing.

Having eluded the piecemeal search party combing Collinsport for him, David finds his way into Burke Devlin's hotel room. For whatever reason, Burke decides to give aid and shelter to the enemy, even though his plans call for making the child destitute in the near future. David finds that he likes Burke more than his own father, but it doesn't stop him from planting the bleeder valve under Burke's sofa cushions the first chance he gets. At this point David's put a lot of work into the idea of framing Burke, so I get why he doesn't immediately turn back. After all, he says he hitchhiked to town from Collinwood (!?)

As the two talk, they discover they've got a great deal of chemistry and begin the slow process of domesticating each other. We learn that Burke, Roger and David's as-yet unnamed mother were friends when they were younger. Burke clearly likes the boy, which is going to make it more difficult to make him a homeless waif. David also likes Burke and looks for an opportunity to retrieve the auto part he hid in the sofa. Burke's no fool, though, and knows David was at the hotel for a reason. He quickly finds the bleeder valve as soon as the boy steps out of the room.

The darkest moment in the entire episode is when Carolyn confronts Liz over her bullshit guilt trips, and admits to having fantasized about murdering her own absent father in payback for abandoning her. Her bleak admission underlines Liz's own nihilism, which prompts her to apologize to Victoria in a "What the hell, we're all going to die, anyway" moment.