Dark Shadows Episode 296 - 8/14/67

Woodard presses Maggie on what she remembers. She doesn't remember anything in the weeks after her disappearance. Dr. Hoffman is surprised to find that Maggie doesn't remember her either. Sam rushes in to see Maggie. They tell him she doesn't remember anything since her disappearance.

Woodard asks Julia to step outside. He says Maggie remembered everything, and then she forgot. Hoffman suggests that she repressed it immediately. He asks Julia exactly what Maggie said, and she tells him that she was terribly frightened and she had to calm her down - nothing more.

Sam tells Maggie to try to remember. She says she can't, and he tells her to try again. He presses her to remember the events of the last night she remembers. She describes a dream in which there was someone with her in her room. He was in the darkness, and he stepped into the moonlight. He asks who it was and she says she can't remember. He yells at her to remember, but she cannot.

Julia and Woodard come back in, and Sam asks if he can take her home. Woodard says he should call the sheriff to station some men around the house. Hoffman says she'll make arrangements to take Maggie back in the morning. Woodard and Sam disagree. Woodard tells Julia that she can treat her in Collinsport. Hoffman reluctantly agrees, but tells Maggie that she cannot tell anyone that she is her doctor. After Sam takes Maggie, Julia tells Woodard that she may be safer now than ever before. He asks why, but she refuses to tell him that, too.

Maggie arrives at home with her father. She looks out the window and is frightened by a man. He tells her that's one of the men the sheriff stationed at the house. Joe arrives and asks Maggie if she recognizes him. They embrace and Maggie tells him how good it is to see him. They kiss and she says it's as if she's been away from him for so long. He says she'll be safe now.

Barnabas sits impatiently in the old house. There's a knock at the door, and he lets Dr. Hoffman in. She tells him that everything is under control. Maggie has forgotten everything he did to her. She said she hypnotized her just in time. He asks how long the hypnosis will last. She says perhaps indefinitely, but she'll see Maggie regularly, and ensure that she continues to not remember. She tells Barnabas that as long as she's around to see Maggie, his secret will be safe. She tells him that he has to trust her, and that no harm must come to Maggie Evans, or she will expose him. She says he has no choice but to cooperate with her. She bids him goodnight and leaves. He hears a rooster, and notes that it's dawn. He says that Maggie is safe tonight, but he can't take a chance on her silence. He says that tomorrow night she must die.

Maggie lies in bed asleep, and is woken by the sound of wolves. She picks up a doll on her bedside table, and doesn't recognize it. She says she'll have to ask her dad about that in the morning.

Our thoughts

John: We no sooner debut in color than revert to black and white? Not to worry - this is just another episode where the video master was lost and it only survives as a kinescope.

Christine: I was just starting to wonder where Joe Haskell was when he showed up at the door. I'm surprised he wasn't at the hospital with Sam to see her. Sam is already back to yelling at Maggie. It's no wonder she's in such a fragile mental state.

John: Would Hoffman really be surprised Maggie didn't recognize her after she hypnotized her? She probably should have been more specific about remembering her when she had her forget everything else...

Christine: I think she was feigning surprise so Woodard wouldn't suspect she had something to do with her newfound memory loss. After all, Maggie knew who Julia was before he left the room.

John: I can't believe Woodard let Hoffman off so easy. He did finally get his first (albeit minor) victory by convincing Julia that Maggie didn't need to return to Windcliff. But he just doesn't seem to get that Julia was responsible for Maggie forgetting the events that occurred after her abduction.

Christine: I thought for sure he was going to suggest Julia had something to do with it when he pulled her outside. Barnabas is probably right to be concerned about Maggie's memory returning. Julia should not feel overly confident that he'll take her threats seriously, and not attempt to take care of Maggie Evans himself.