Feb. 23, 1965
Pa and Chris speak of Dan, who has encephalitis and are worried that he may not live. Chris is thinking about going to Texas to see Don. Chris is also thinking about persuading David to tell Ellen about Dan's condition. He does, and they go see Dan in the hospital. While there, Dan is delirious and calls Ellen "mother," not knowing that she is his real mother. At this point, Dan is not yet played by Jeffrey Rowland.
This summary comes courtesy of Robert Wargo.
In the weeks following this episode, tensions between Ellen Lowell and Franny Brennan would grow as Franny soon discovers part of an old letter written by the late Betty Stewart in which she admits that she adopted little Dan and wants this fact kept secret. Franny tries to enlist the help of Mary Jackson, David's ex mother-in-law, in her battle to keep David from marrying Ellen.
Donald's beloved wife Janice has just died, but he doesn't seem willing to return to Oakdale right away. He is still resentful toward Nancy for her coldness toward Janice. Ultimately, Donald does decide to return to Oakdale. Soon after returning, Don reestablishes his on-again/off-again romance with Ellen, but Ellen is close to accepting David's wedding proposal.
Tom is back home with Bob. However, the custody battle over Tom is far from over. Lisa, seeing newly-returned Sylvia Hill as a threat to steal Tom's loyalties, sues for custody of Tom and takes him to Chicago to live with her new husband-to-be John Eldridge. Tom wants no part of his new stepfather and flees to Oakdale.
Sylvia Hill, now in remission from lupus, returns to Oakdale and resumes her relationship with Bob. The two even become engaged. This does not sit well with Lisa, and she verbally attacks Sylvia, accusing her of trying to "take over" as Tom's mother. Being a very unselfish woman, Sylvia breaks her engagement to Bob because she doesn't want to arouse excess resentment in Tom.
Lisa leaves Oakdale to marry and live with her new husband John Eldridge. Her adventures in Chicago with the Eldridge family become the focus of the short-lived ATWT spin-off Our Private World.
Judith Wade's insistence on steering Neil's career goals would nearly break up two marriages. Claire Cassen once again feels neglected by Doug, who is spending what she thinks is an inordinate amount of time with Neil. This resentment comes to a head in an incident in which Judge Lowell suffers a heart attack during routine medical tests administered by Neil, who panics and flees from the scene. Claire is angered by this spineless behavior and threatens to leave Doug if he continues to support him.
A distraught Neil lashes out at his mother Judith for pressuring him to be a doctor even though she knew his heart wasn't in it. Judith, in turn, blames Penny for her role in pressuring Neil to stay in medicine. Feeling betrayed by Penny, Neil begins divorce proceedings. Chris, who is representing Penny, warns Doug that he can't keep his paternity secret about Neil forever because he may be forced to bring it up in cross-examination. So Doug finally tells Neil that he is his biological father. Neil, upon hearing the news, rejects Doug and vows never to speak to him again. Penny and Neil do reconcile, as do Doug and Claire.