The Dark Shadows Daybook: March 12

By PATRICK McCRAY

Taped on this date in 1968: Episode 451

Millicent continues to behave erratically as Joshua and Bathia try to rend the curse from a possessed Barnabas. Joshua shocks Victoria by pressing for her release. Bathia eventually is immolated by the spirit of Angelique.

Bathia, it was nice knowing ya! Actually, it was! 451 begins the wrap up of 1795 with bold and uncompromising writing by Ron Sproat and Jonathan Frid’s Shakespearean knack making you think that actual blood will fall from a thundering sky, no matter the material. But Anita Bolster’s turn as Bathia Mapes is what sells it. A seasoned performer from Dublin’s famous Abbey Theater and the Broadway stage, DARK SHADOWS signaled one of her last appearances. One of our most avid readers uses “Bathia Mapes” as their online pseudonym -- or do they? It might be a gesture of camp, but it might not. Mapes only appears for a brief moment in the series, but between the performance and the script, she’s as memorable at the last episode as she is in 451, three years earlier. A hawklike crone, she seems to be such the keen match for Angelique that we never see her death coming. As if we needed any more reason to fear Angelique, Bathia’s death provides. Mapes is at a Stokes-level of formidability, and if Angelique can posses Barnabas and turn a potent sorceress into a pillar of flame, her powers know no limit.

She could even convince Roger to abandon life as a confirmed bachelor.