#louis edmonds

OK here we go.

This is why I'll always be secretly Team Roger Collins no matter how much the damn man snarks and flaunts about the set and basically (how dare you) takes over every scene he's in. I mean, Jeez, he can out-mode Frid and Selby at the same time. This isn't a normal mortal we're talking about...

But I'm talking about THAT SCENE IN 1897.

The scene where he's with his son's body.

David has lost his fight against Quntin's possession. Barnabas has vanished in the past trying to save him. Julia has vanished in pursuit.

There literally is no hope.

And then in the present, his son's body stops working.

Liz won't stop crying. She's checked out. Julia and Barnabas could have helped hold everyone together, but they weren't there. Stokes is gone for parts unknown.

Carolyn, whom he loves as much as his own daughter, she can't take it. She runs away. She leaves.

Roger speaks to his son's body out loud, not knowing if the boy's spirit can hear him or not, that he acknowledges his struggle and his tie with Quentin's possessive ghost.

And then,

he wishes both David AND QUENTIN peace.

Think about it. Quentin possessed his son and killed multiple people--tried to kill him. Worked very hard to crush the rest of the family. How many of us would think ahead that extra half-inch?

Yesterday, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard overheard her brother Roger Collins having a conversation with the portrait of wicked witch Angelique. When Roger told the portrait that he murdered not only Angelique herself but also Liz’ daughter Carolyn, Liz stormed into the room. Roger then strangled Liz and stuffed her corpse under a window seat. Today, he is in the room fretting about what to do with…

"If I could but kiss the hem of your gown, then would all heaven open to me." "Perhaps. But certainly the gates of better society would close."

Louis Edmonds and Joan Bennett in Dark Shadows (1966) S1E4

Her first night at Collinwood, Victoria is shaken when she hears Roger approach her door and sees the knob turn. In the hall, Elizabeth demands that Roger come downstairs with her. Downstairs, Elizabeth chastises Roger for attempting to enter Victoria's room, uninvited, and threatens to throw him out of the house. Roger informs her that Burke is back for revenge. Their raised voices bring Carolyn into the room, and Roger sends her to fetch Victoria. Roger grills Vicki about Burke, and she is insulted by his accusations. Later that night, Vicki is awakened by wailing sobs that emanate from somewhere in the house. In the foyer, Vicki sees ten year-old David who utters three words, "I hate you!"