236

Maggie is brought to the Old House by Barnabas, who reveals that she is to become Josette, the recreation of his lost love.
== Synopsis ==
: My name is Victoria Winters. A distant moon, cold and bright against a black sky, looks down on Collinwood and the country around. What it sees is not reflected in its unshadowed gaze; it remains, as always, an unblinking eye impassive to the terrors that stalk the Earth below. Indifferent to life and death alike, it watches as a young woman gasps a final breath. And perhaps it sees from its cold corner of the sky the fate that lurks beyond the final gasp and waits, and waits for the last silence.
Maggie begins to choke and gasps for breath before she falls unconscious, seemingly dead. The nurse races out of the room to call Dr. Woodard, but when they return to the hospital room Maggie has disappeared. Outside, in the night, a dog begins to howl.
Act I
Dr. Woodard reports Maggie's disappearance to Sam and Joe; the entire hospital and the grounds are currently being searched. Woodard fears the possibility that someone might have taken Maggie. Joe decides to search Eagle Hill Cemetery where Maggie was found the last time she vanished. Woodard confesses that Maggie might have gone into shock, which is why the nurse could not detect a heartbeat. Sam breaks down. Meanwhile, Maggie is wandering through the woods following the howling of a wolf.
Act II
Woodard offers Sam some tranquilizers, which he adamantly refuses. At that moment, Burke arrives (having called the hospital to check on Maggie's condition) and learns of her disappearance, and that no one knows if Maggie is dead or alive. Joe returns from searching the cemetery, but he found no trace of her. Burke points out that someone must know of Maggie's whereabouts because that someone called to warn Victoria the night of Maggie's first disappearance. That someone, Burke suspects, is Willie Loomis. Burke and Joe leave to question Willie while Sam remains behind with Dr. Woodard at the hospital in case Maggie returns.
Act III
Burke and Joe arrive at the Old House, and after knocking several times, Barnabas answers the door. They inquire about Willie whom Barnabas claims he sent on an errand to Bangor earlier in the evening and he isn't expected back until tomorrow. Burke tells him that Maggie has disappeared and that Willie might know where she is. Barnabas feigns ignorance as dismisses the theory that Willie was the one who informed Victoria of Maggie's initial whereabouts. He has convinced the two men and they are preparing to leave when Burke hears a board creaking somewhere within the house. Barnabas asserts he is alone, bidding the men goodnight and offering his help. Once he is sure Burke and Joe have gone, he calls to someone to come out. Maggie emerges from an inner room and moves willingly to Barnabas.
Act IV
Upstairs, a bedroom is beautifully furnished and the Portrait of Josette hangs above the mantle. Barnabas brings Maggie inside and tells her it is her room. He goes on to say that it is exactly how it was left "long, long ago." Maggie wanders in a daze toward a dressing table and sits to look at her reflection. Barnabas calls her "Josette" and that, from now on, it will be Maggie's name. In time, he promises, she will begin to think and act like Josette, ultimately becoming her. Barnabas offers Maggie eternal life as Josette, but as he tries to kiss her hand, Maggie pulls away. Her memory is beginning to return. Barnabas urges her to forget the past and focus on the future. He offers her a gift: Josette's wedding gown. One day soon Maggie will become his bride as it was "always intended to be" for him and Josette. Maggie begins to cry as Barnabas gives her another present, an antique music box. He plays the melody for Maggie, and slowly her identity begins to be replaced with that of Josette Collins.
== Memorable quotes ==
: Barnabas: This has crossed the seas as I have crossed the centuries, all for your sake.
== Dramatis personae ==
* Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins
* Mitchell Ryan as Burke Devlin
* Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans
* Robert Gerringer as Dave Woodard
* David Ford as Sam Evans
* Joel Crothers as Joe Haskell
* Frances Helm as Nurse
== Background information and notes ==
=== Production ===
* This episode was recorded out of broadcast sequence. The previous episode to be recorded was 233.
* First appearance of Josette's room and music box.
=== Story ===
* Barnabas explains the origins of Josette's music box, which he brought back with him from the Orient.
=== Sedatives ===
* Dr. Woodard offers Sam Evans tranquilizers.
== Bloopers and continuity errors ==
* In Act I, after Dr. Woodard says he doesn't think Maggie had the strength to walk to Eagle Hill (Joe wants to look for her there), Sam says, "Well, she had the strength not to walk out of this hospital." Obviously he meant she had the strength TO walk out. [It sounds more like he says, "Well, she had the strength enough to walk out of this hospital."]
*When Dr. Woodard is explaining to Sam what happened he says, “The nurse and I walked into Maggie’s room; the room was empty. And that room that the nurse had left open just a crack was wide open.” He obviously meant the window was left open.
* The rustling of a microphone can be heard in Act I while Sam and Joe are talking to Dr. Woodard--it continues through the scene. 
*When we see Maggie walking at the end of Act I someone snaps their fingers two times and this appears to be the cue to play the howling dog sound effect.
* The teleprompter can clearly be seen outside the hospital room door after Burke enters in Act II. 
*When Sam, Burke, Joe, and Dr. Woodard discuss Maggie's earlier being found at Eagle Hill Cemetery, Burke suggests that Vicki had had a hunch the person who called Sam's house that night to urge them to look for Maggie at Eagle Hill was Willie. Vicki never said that.
*Late in Act II there is a loud squeak when Burke and Joe leave the hospital.
* When Burke and Joe are talking to Barnabas in the Old House drawing room, light reflections that seem to be from the camera/TelePrompter can be seen in the front window.
* In Act IV, as Maggie is sitting at Josette's vanity and looking into the mirror, there is a shuffling noise on the set, and you can see someone's reflection moving in the mirror behind her. The camera tries to make a quick shift to the right to block the reflection but is unsuccessful.
*During Act IV when Barnabas moves to the chest the shadow of a boom microphone can been seen moving across the bed in Josette's room.
* "Fashions courtesy of Ohrbach's" appears twice in the end credits - once immediately after the cast credits and then again toward the end.
== End credits announcements ==
* Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.
==External links ==
Dark Shadows - Episode 236 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Every Day - Episode 236 - Extreme Makeover
The Dark Shadows Daybook - Episode 236
Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 236: The future, for the first time
Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 236: 5/22/67
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