
Michael Ranson must face his fears from a dark past and perform surgery on Sheriff Robbins to save his life. In the operating room, Michael is unable to perform the surgery and later confesses to Terry about the guilt he's felt ever since his wife died. The floodgates open as Michael tells Terry how his wife was in an accident and died when Michael had attempted to operate on her. Meanwhile, Terry spies on Maggie for Angela and at the same time, makes plans to marry Michael. A cartel gangster attacks Richard Channing while Angela plans to crush Chase with the help of Calvin Kleeger, the Falcon Crest wine distributor. Kleeger informs Chase that with Angela out of Falcon Crest, he will no longer serve as distributor unless Chase offers the winery as collateral.

Chase loses a lot of battles in this one. Blinded by his own integrity, he really takes a battering. Robert Foxworth is excellent, particular his rage-fuelled speech at the very end. Meanwhile, Richard’s cold-blooded manipulations of Julia and Melissa are shocking/delicious. Margaret Ladd breaks our hearts a little bit when she makes an unsuccessful play for Michael. _Jan-Mar 1984: CBS Friday after Dallas. Against Matt Houston (ABC); The New Show (NBC)._ 8/10