I'm really noticing at this time that characters one should see are missing (such as the children who should be in this episode) and the length of time between some of the characters appearances.
But the children had already been carted off to the Worthington Hall. If Trask had picked them up, he would no doubt have nabbed Rachel at the same time, but it was Tim who collected them, so Mrs. Trask had to make the extra trip out to Collinwood for Rachel.
Yes! After seeing the 1897 women mostly in pretty blues, greens and pinks in soft fabrics (save for Magda in her jewel tones-- and how appropriate is that?!), Minerva shows up in textured blacks and a hat that looks alarmingly like road kill. The look suits her severe and cruel personality.
I sort of liked the textured black on the cape that Minerva was wearing. And I thought Judith's dress was strange. Those ruffles on the back of her sleeve look like fins. Is it a Victorian bathing suit?
The Trask family, taken as a group, is a fine creation. We've got the Reverend, scrounging for rich students and then abusing them when he gets them. I suppose he figures he's covered under the good old Victorian maxim "Spare the rod and spoil the child," or maybe he saves the best quality abuse for orphans like Rachel. Then we've got Mrs. Trask, coming to fetch Rachel so that Trask can, if he should choose to do so, resume sexually abusing her. There's something very weird in that. Minerva abuses Rachel herself - emotionally, anyway, not sexually, so far as we know, but golly, who can say for sure? - so maybe she figures the fun (of whatever sort) that she gets out of Rachel is worth the fun (of whatever sort) that the Reverend gets out of Rachel. Minerva says that Simon Brier was the best man in the world - or something of the sort. So Simon was better than the good, custard-loving Reverend? A side question: among the actors who have left the show by now - Mitchell Ryan, Joel Crothers, and all the rest - whom would you choose to play Simon Brier? And then (returning to the nuclear Trask family) we've got Charity, engaged to be married to Tim Shaw. For heaven's sake, couldn't the Trasks find her a more eligible suitor among the families of their richer students? Or is it more important to keep Charity at the school for fun (of whatever sort)?