Wicked witch Angelique has returned from the dead, murdered her twin sister Alexis, and assumed Alexis’ identity. Angelique’s widower Quentin had already welcomed Alexis as a more or less permanent guest at the great house of Collinwood. Quentin’s new wife, the former Maggie Evans, has left him. Angelique wants Quentin back, but has decided that she cannot overcome his obsession with Maggie unless Maggie returns to Collinwood, where she will be able to fight her directly. So she has cast a spell on Quentin to inflame his feelings for Maggie. Angelique expects this will cause him to bring Maggie home. Once she is there, Angelique will be able to complete her evil plan, which the writers don’t seem to have come up with yet.
Angelique’s spell goes awry. At the beginning of the episode, Quentin slashes a portrait of Maggie; at the end, he believes he has killed her, and is getting ready to hang himself so that he can join her in death. In between, he goes off and tells his friend, mad scientist Cyrus Longworth, how miserable he is. Angelique and Cyrus have a conversation about how sad Quentin is.
The performances are all good, but the only one that serves a purpose in the story is Christopher Pennock’s as Cyrus. Cyrus has devised a potion that changes his appearance so drastically that even the people who know him best do not recognize him when he is under its influence. This is supposed to be a Jekyll and Hyde story in which the innocent Cyrus is being consumed by his evil alter ego, “John Yaeger.” But it is all too obvious that Yaeger is just a disguise Cyrus puts on when he has decided to commit acts of rapine and slaughter. Today, Pennock really makes Cyrus seem like a well-intentioned nerd. When he puts the potion back in his safe and resolves never to become Yaeger again, we can believe that he is a better person when his hair is red than he is when it is dark.
Also, he and Lara Parker have a fun moment when Cyrus and Angelique are talking about Quentin’s feelings. He gets carried away with a mad scientist rant about the horrible evil that dwells at the base of every human heart, prompting her to give him a puzzled look. It’s an effective comic take.
This episode marks the last appearance of Paula Laurence as Angelique’s aunt, Hannah Stokes. As Hannah, Laurence imitated some of the most recognizable mannerisms Parker incorporated in her portrayal of Angelique. This helped longtime viewers believe she was related to Angelique, and when she had scenes with Alexis the contrast showed us that Parker really was playing a different character. But the show isn’t big enough for two Angeliques, so Hannah’s days have been numbered for a while.
Dark Shadows Commentary 
If I recall correctly (and it’s entirely possible I’m mixing her up with someone else), Laurence was brought on as a temporary replacement for an ailing Thayer David, so her days may have been numbered from the start. If so, it was pretty clever of her to find that hook to hang her performance on; replacement actors on soaps rarely find their feet that quickly.
Reminds me of a time I was cast to play three small roles in a production of Julius Caesar with a very short rehearsal time and a limited costume/makeup budget, and I had to find a quick and dirty way to make them all completely different in both my mind and the audience’s – a hook to hang each role on. So I based Messala on Joe Haskell, Popilus Lena on Roger Collins, and Caesar’s Servant on Matthew Morgan. I got so deep into it that we were in dress rehearsals before I realized Popilius was carrying around an invisible brandy glass. But it worked!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not sure whether Thayer David was ailing or just busy with HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, but yes, Aunt Hannah is definitely a substitute for Tim Stokes.
I wish I’d seen that production, it sounds like it would have been hilarious to anyone who recognized what you were doing.
LikeLike