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294
Number

290

Timeline

1967

Narrator

Alexandra Moltke

Writer

Gordon Russell

Director

John Sedwick

Broadcast

August 10, 1967
(Thursday)

Recorded

July 21, 1967
(Friday)

Video

Complete: Disc 33
Collection 3: Disc 1

294 Gallery
We have 5 images of Dark Shadows 294

Sarah visits Maggie at Windcliff Sanitarium and helps her escape.

Synopsis

Teaser

There is a terrible secret at Collinwood. It is the secret of one who must forever walk the night. Of one who has already struck terror into the heart and mind of an innocent girl. But there are barriers that have kept the secret from being known. Barriers that have kept the girl from revealing the evil that threatens many others.

In her room at Windcliff Sanitarium, Maggie Evans stares out of the barred window and laments not being able to return home. Sarah calls her name, and Maggie is overjoyed to find the little girl in the room with her. Sarah apologizes for not having found Maggie sooner, and promises to help her go home.

Act I

Sarah relates having made a new friend in David Collins, and his belief that Maggie is dead. She reiterates her promise to take care of Maggie and help her leave Windcliff. Giving Maggie her doll, Sarah instructs her to go to the door and call for Nurse Jackson. The nurse enters the room to find Sarah sitting on the bed singing London Bridge. Maggie seizes her chance and escapes, locking Nurse Jackson up in the process. When the nurse turns back to Sarah, the little girl has disappeared. Meanwhile, Victoria Winters, Burke Devlin and Barnabas Collins visit Seaview. Burke's suspicions toward Barnabas continue to grow.

Act II

Exploring the house, Burke poo-poos Victoria's enthusiastic wish to look through every room. Barnabas waxes lyrical about the beauty of the place bathed in moonlight and candlelight. He offers to search upstairs for clues to whomever might have owned and built the house. Meanwhile, Sarah is escorting Maggie through the woods. Maggie is terrified being outside again, but Sarah comforts her. Maggie wonders how the little girl managed to get in and out of the locked room. Sarah, however, only has cryptic answers. Holding hands, the pair sing London Bridge as they continue through the trees.

Act III

An hour has passed, and Burke suggests leaving. He resents the fact they're having to wait on Barnabas to come back downstairs before they can do so. Victoria points out that Barnabas likes the house more than he. She berates her beau when he intends to ditch Barnabas and let him find his own way back to town. Barnabas reappears, having found a gift for Victoria upstairs: a monogrammed handkerchief. Burke glares daggers in Barnabas' direction.

Act IV

Burke, Victoria and Barnabas stop in at the Blue Whale for a drink. While Barnabas goes to the bar, Victoria and Burke discuss Seaview and the past. Barnabas returns, complimenting Victoria on her taste in the house. She confesses she could feel happy living there for the rest of her life. Burke proposes a toast to the house. Suddenly, the whole room falls into stunned silence as Maggie wanders inside. She takes one look at Barnabas, and promptly faints.

Memorable quotes

Sarah: It's your very best friend.
Maggie: (laughs) You're really here.
Sarah: Of course I am. I'm sorry I took so long, but I didn't know where to find you. I just kept looking. I just kept listening so very hard and I began to hear you. And I found you at last. And I'll help you go home.
Maggie: (happily) Oh, Sarah. (she hugs Sarah)

Barnabas: Mr. Devlin is a man with little patience for the past.

Barnabas: Perhaps the past isn't as far behind us as we sometimes think.

Maggie: You know, Sarah, there's something that I don't understand.
Sarah: What is it?
Maggie: Well, in the hospital room, there were bars on the windows and the door was locked. Now how did you get in?
Sarah: Do you really want to know?
Maggie: Yes, I do.
Sarah: The same way I got out.
Maggie: All right. But when I left the room, I locked you in with the nurse. Now how did you get out?
Sarah: The same way I got in.
Maggie: (laughs) Oh, Sarah. You know, you're a funny little girl.
Sarah: I never heard you laugh before. You should do it all the time. You have a nice laugh.

Dramatis personae

Background information and notes

Production

  • This was the final episode of the original series to be filmed in black and white.

Story

  • Maggie's wardrobe is seen to include stockings that end at mid-thigh. Together with the scene of Victoria getting into Josette's bed in 286, the scene of Maggie on the floor of the Blue Whale makes it apparent that daytime TV producers in the summer of 1967 were becoming less conservative about showing women's legs above the knee. A lot of women back then still wore hose that needed to be held up by a garter belt - hence the mid thigh stockings. Pantyhose became much more popular as more women started wearing mini skirts. But, yes, it does look like the producers were becoming a bit more daring.
  • GHOSTWATCH: Sarah's ghost appears to Maggie.

Bloopers and continuity errors

  • After Nurse Jackson unlocks the door, she keeps the key in her right hand. This means that Maggie has no way of locking the door from the outside, and that the nurse could easily get out by simply using the key that is in her hand.
  • As Victoria and Burke approach the window of the house by the sea, there's the reflection of a man in the glass of the window.
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