Dark Shadows Episode 441 - 3/4/68

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Trask stands outside his room, and decides to return to prove he's not afraid of the witch. He lights a candle and walks through the room, shocked to find the dead body of Maude lying on his bed. He approaches the body when there's a knock on the door. It's Nathan Forbes, saying it's urgent. Trask covers the body with a sheet and lets him in.

Forbes says he has a letter he needs to have delivered to Millicent Collins. Trask says it can wait until the morning. Nathan sees an arm hanging out of the bed and excuses himself. Trask tells him she was there when he returned, and she's dead—strangled. Nathan goes to her and sees that it's Maude. He says he tried to warn her, and Trask asks about what. Forbes asks why her body was put here. Trask says he doesn't know, and Nathan says when the authorities find out, people will talk, and his image in the community will be changed. Trask asks what if they don't find out. Nathan asks what he has in mind. Trask says he will not be the subject of gossip, but he'll need Nathan's help. Nathan says he's willing to do whatever he can, if the price is right.

Trask says he cannot pay him, and Nathan says he wasn't thinking of money. He asks what Trask wants, and suggests he wants the body removed without being seen—breaking the law. Nathan says hell do it as soon as his letter is delivered to Millicent.

Nathan tells him as soon as that's done, he'll be back to move the body. Trask gives him his letter back and says he'll take care of the body himself. Nathan says since he doesn't have a choice, he'll be back with someone to remove the body.

Millicent deals out Tarot cards. She talks about punishing Nathan. Naomi enters and asks who she's talking to. Millicent says she's talking to Nathan, who will get her message through the cards. She describes it to Naomi, explaining that the card representing her will not rest until the lover—the card representing Nathan—is dead.

Naomi answers a knock at the door. Reverend Trask says he's there to see Millicent alone. Naomi says she's sure Millicent won't mind if she stays, and Millicent agrees. He says he has a letter for her, and Naomi asks who it's from. Trask says she'll know when she reads it. Millicent says she wants to know, and Trask says it's from Lieutenant Forbes. Naomi takes it and tears it up. She says Trask isn't going to repay his debt to Lieutenant Forbes testifying against Vicki at Millicent's expense. Trask tells her she should not have done that, and leaves. After Naomi leaves, Millicent picks up the pieces of the torn letter.

Trask is asleep in bed when a woman's voice calls to him. He asks if it's Abigail. In a dream he is led to the old house to find a secret. He opens a door to expose Maude's dead body.

She asks why he let them throw her body into the water. She says that soon everyone will know she was dead in his room. Trask calls for Abigail. She appears to him, and he says he didn't put the body in her room. She says she doesn't know what he means, and he asks what secret she refers to. She says only he can destroy her wicked secret, and if he doesn't destroy it, it will destroy him and many others. She points him to the old house, and tells him that's where he must go to learn the secret of the witch.  The disembodied hand appears, beckoning him, when he wakes with a start. He realizes that he must go to the old house.

Our thoughts

John: Nathan, you idiot! You held ALL THE CARDS! You had Trask with a dead body in his room, and talking about moving it. All you had to do was get someone else's attention and Trask was done for. Of course, you were also an idiot for making a deal to move the body for his delivering a letter. How about something a little more important, like getting the wrongly convicted Vicki off the hook?

Christine: Nathan is not the kind of guy that will do something to help others, but I would have expected him to ask for more than simply delivering a letter, and also would have expected him to call Trask on his threat to move the body himself. 

John: Once again, it's nice to see Naomi showing some of the strength we've grown so accustomed to seeing in her not-quite-direct-descendant Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. I loved how she sent Trask on his way, his objective seemingly unfulfilled. I wonder what Nathan will do when he finds out.

Christine: Barnabas has an interesting ability to influence people's dreams. He did it today with Trask and has also inspired bad dreams for Maggie and David. 

John: Well, I think it's safe to say the scariest thing we now know about Reverend Trask is that he has dreams about Abigail.

Christine: A note on the Dark Shadows tarot readings: Millicent states, as the Countess has before, that the tarot cards never lie. The cards may not lie, but the reader's interpretation may not be very reliable. Millicent claimed that the card that represents her at the top was the High Priestess, but she is actually pointing to the Queen of Cups. The Countess also claimed this card was the High Priestess representing Josette in Episode 368. Either card would not be a good representation of Millicent. She'd be better represented by The Fool. I do find it interesting that the show goes to the trouble of showing the card layouts in detail and then does not provide accurate descriptions, though it's to be expected that the readings are all misinterpreted as doomsaying messages for the purposes of drama. While it may be trivial, I expect we'll continue to see the symbolism of the tarot played out in the series, which may have inspired someone to create a tarot deck based on Dark Shadows.

This is the Queen of Cups, not the High Priestess.