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The Dinner Guest(s): The 60th Episode

"Do you have room for one more?"

Finally, finally, we get the story almost in full. This is one of the most important episodes of the pre-Barnabas era as it has significance on two fronts: it may answer a vital question regarding Victoria's past and gives us a full detailed account (with an obvious truth left untold) of the night a man was killed with Burke implicated in his death.

The 60th episode opens with quite a grip: Vicky is having dinner at the Evans home (Sam isn't there yet) with Maggie and she finds a relic 25 year old painting of a woman that has more than a passing resemblance to Ms. Winters! Yes, it took 60 exhaustive episodes (that's a soap opera for you) to finally get to this point, but we are here folks. Sam places a name to her, Betty Hanscomb, but Maggie swore he said Hanson, a woman linked to the man killed in the car manslaughter that sent Burke to prison! Sam quickly puts that to rest, tells Vicky that Betty died before she was born, and so it seems this quest for truth is another dead end. I kind of threw my hands up, but I have a feeling this isn't over yet and Betty's not about to just stay in the past. Anyway, at the urging of Maggie a reluctant Sam tells Vicky of the night that Burke's car hit a pedestrian causing all that has taken place.

Supposedly, Burke, Roger, and Roger's wife, Laura, were at the Blue Whale. Burke was drunk, refused to let anyone else drive, didn't see the man, and hit him, driving on without stopping to see if the victim was okay. Roger and Laura testify he was the man behind the wheel. Burke goes to prison. Sam, hitting the bottle, will not speak about it anymore. So we have, at the very least, an account of that night, even if the whole truth isn't out in the open. Burke claims he didn't drive, but was too drunk to remember all the details of that night. A jury of his peers convicted him. End of story.

Oh, but it isn't the end, far from it. The second subplot is important as well. Burke is damn mad. Furious that the investigation is not yielding the results he expected. Malloy, a fine, honest man is dead and no one is paying for his tragic demise. Sheriff Patterson, a man I think is doing the best he can under the circumstances, has three possible locations for where Malloy perished, all of them a short distance from Bill's home, and near the cannery. Burke is persistent that two men, Sam and Roger, would have the motive, would benefit, with Malloy's death yet there just isn't the evidence needed to prove it. So Burke threatens to do something about it, and, sure enough, winds up at the doorstep of Sam's home! That 61st episode sure should be interesting!

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