773

Minerva drinks the poisoned tea and dies; Evan then hypnotizes Tim to forget and accuses him of Minerva's murder.
== Synopsis ==
: It is 1897 and Collinwood lies under a strange spell. On the grounds of the great estate in a house by the sea, a young man controlled by the spell watches a woman play solitaire knowing that when he sees the queen of spades he must kill her.
He stares at Minerva while she drinks her tea. Minerva calls Tim a murderer and asks why he wanted to kill her. He says it was because she played the Queen of Spades. Evan hypnotizes Tim again and erases his memory. Tim wants to know what happened then Evan accuses Tim of murder. Tim denies it telling him he didn't do it. Evan tells Tim that he killed Minerva and threatens to call the police. In the meantime, Charity tells Rachel that she has ended her engagement to Tim. Charity predicts that Tim will soon propose to Rachel, but Rachel doesn't know why she would think so. Evan informs Charity that Minerva is dead.
Tim goes to Rachel and tells her the whole story. Rachel suspects that Evan may be the guilty party and promises to help Tim. They arrange to meet at the abandoned Peabody farm the next day.
Evan goes to Rachel's room in pursuit of Tim, but she plays dumb. He doesn't believe her, and locks her into her room. Tim goes to the farmhouse and finds a coffin in the cellar.
== Memorable quotes ==
: Charity (to Rachel): In a way, I think the two of you might be very happy. Perhaps together you'll be able to work out some of the problems that each of you obviously has.
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: Evan: Miss Drummond, I know you're in there, and I only hope for your sake that you're alone.
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: Rachel: You've got stay here and fight.
: Tim: Do you think I've got a chance to fight? You think so? Will Reverend Trask testify for me? No, he'll be the leader of the rat pack to string me up and hang me.
== Dramatis personae ==
* Nancy Barrett as Charity Trask
* Kathryn Leigh Scott as Rachel Drummond
* Clarice Blackburn as Minerva Trask
* Don Briscoe as Tim Shaw
* Humbert Allen Astredo as Evan Hanley
== Background information and notes ==
=== Production ===
* Kathryn Leigh Scott returns to the cast after an absence of 21 episodes.
=== Story ===
* In the narration at the beginning, Nancy Barrett refers to Trask's school as being in "a house by the sea," possibly suggesting the building is what will be the house that either Vicki and Burke plan to move into or the house Nicholas Blair rents in the future.
* Aliset Ainsley's father is the leading banker in .
* The first night Tim and Rachel escaped from Worthington Hall, they hid in a abandoned house known as Peabody's farm. It is near Collinwood.
* TIMELINE: Rachel will meet with Tim tomorrow morning.
Category:Dark Shadows episodes
== Bloopers and continuity errors ==
* Tim pours what looks like plain water into Minerva's tea cup. At the end of the previous episode the liquid being poured was brown. In the reprise of this episode it is clear.
* As the scene with Charity and Rachel begins when the camera is focused on the tea cup whispering can be heard. 
* When Evan is at Rachel's door, Humbert Allen Astredo mistakenly calls her "Miss Shaw." He also calls her "Mrs. Drummond" (rather than "Miss") in their conversation. He also seems to call Tim "Jim" at one point.
* Evan clearly suspects that Tim escaped through Rachel's window, yet he locks her in her room with the window still open. He also tosses the gun on her bed when he goes to grab her but then locks her in the room without retrieving the gun. (Completely true regarding the gun: can any reasonable hypothesis be proposed for this very odd action?)
* How does Evan know to arrive at the school at the precise moment that Mrs. Trask dies? Devil told him
== External Links ==
Dark Shadows - Episode 773 on the IMDb
Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 773 - The Persecution and Assassination of Minerva Trask as Performed by Tim Shaw Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade0773