That episode was intense and so many things happened.
Bear with me if you’re in for reading my unsolicited opinion.
Abigail
I’m curious to see how far they’re gonna go with her PTSD. They clearly showed she was in pain which is a good thing because a lot of shows don’t deal with it when their characters go through trauma. She is not ready yet to fully face it, but she made a step (if not several) in the right direction during the episode. When she said she was helpless and had never felt like this... wow. It hit near home. Perfect depiction of what people, more specifically people with a personality and a willpower like Abigail’s, feel after a trauma.
Bridey
Wow. Just wow. She is so badass! It was pretty easy to guess that she wouldn’t be just a bodyguard and somehow she would give some perspective to Abigail and help her cope. But I truly love that character anyway. Her backstory is classic but efficient. Her missing eye and her choice to not get it fixed makes it more tragic and dramatic, but also gives her charisma. I hope she will stick around and have a real role in the story apart from protecting and helping Abigail. And let’s be real, she could easily be her personal trainer and help her improve and become even more powerful.
Tally
She is growing. She’s still that kindhearted girl who’s watching after her friends and trying to make her unit work, but she’s definitely growing out of the innocence she demonstrated when arriving at Fort Salem. I hope they won’t fall into the “I was nice but it didn’t work out so now I’m cold and broody and cynical” trope, but I don’t think so. She’s the moral compass of the unit and it would be a waste of her character. What I think and hope for is that she will stay the way she is but just lose her blindness toward the army. We saw in that episode that she is starting to question the army in fact. She can’t tell Raelle the truth about Scylla and it’s clear that this is bothering her. This might be the thing that will make her realize she shouldn’t blindly follow orders and idolize the army. Even if Anacostia told her this was for the good of the nation, Tally is still Tally and it’s easy to tell that this answer was not enough for her. She doesn’t understand what’s good about lying to her sister and friend while she’s in pain. I must admit I was surprised she didn’t tell her in that episode. She was probably about to tell her, but then Raelle said Scylla was dead and Tally might have actually believed it was true, or might have thought it wasn’t a good thing to give her false hopes. I just hope that she will eventually tell Raelle the truth and Raelle won’t find out from someone else. Even if she’s the one telling her, Raelle will be pissed, but it would be a shame if Tally didn’t have regrets at some point and decided to make the right thing.
Raelle
Well. She’s a mess. But how could she not? Scylla was her anchor. But I think she will find strength in her unit and it will show her that she doesn’t have to be a loner. It’s very possible that Abigail will need time to believe that Scylla is alive, but Tally might be convinced pretty quickly. In fact, if Scylla can send Raelle another message and Tally and/or Abigail are around, they could start to believe her and once one of them is convinced, the other will probably follow.
Also, what is this “mushroom”? What the hell? At first I thought this thing was kind of beautiful, but then when I saw how worried Scylla’s teacher was I started freaking out. It could be very bad or... very good. Maybe she was worried because this thing could actually hurt Raelle (if it’s actually a “mushroom”, who knows what it could do to her now that she’s touched it and it’s apparently in her body). But maybe she was worried because this thing could give her a special ability? Make her more powerful? It’s probably related to necros since it’s in the crypt. Maybe it’s supposed to give them specific abilities? If that’s so, it could be very interesting to see what happens when an emerging fixer gets necro abilities. There are many possibilities and I’m curious to see what will happen.
Bellweathers
So apparently the Spree is now targeting Bellweathers specifically, even those who stepped away from their witch lineage. Why? As far as we know, they only targeted civilians (which hasn’t been explained yet if I’m correct and is still mysterious because we don’t know why they randomly attack civilians). So why are they targeting Bellweathers now? It could be because their family is very powerful, but they’re probably not the only powerful lineage. Which reminded me this theory I was told about: apparently someone hypothesized that Petra was holding Scylla’s parents hostages to force her to work for her and infiltrate the Spree. What if somehow, they found out that Scylla was a double agent, discovered the whole truth, and they’re now paying back? I mean, it would make sense. The show was slow to start but the plot is thickening and this is very enjoyable.
The unit
The girls had been getting closer for a couple of episodes, but I found it stronger during that episode. They’re falling apart, individually but also as a unit: Abigail is going through PTSD and doesn’t want anyone’s help (at the beginning of the episode at least), Tally is lying to Raelle and feels bad about it, Raelle doesn’t understand why no one seems to be looking for Scylla and then when she gets her message she goes on her own, etc. But at the same time, they’re truly growing closer. Raelle and Tally are trying to help Abigail, but they’re not overwhelming her and even if she lashed out at them, they kept trying. Abigail and Tally went after Raelle without a second thought. They didn’t even consider the risks they were taking on many levels, they just went after her because she needed them. And did you see that scene at the beach? Tally and Abigail running toward Raelle, Tally kissing Raelle’s head when she fell on her knees, Abigail crying with her (she might have been overwhelmed by her own stuff too, but I think she actually felt bad for Raelle). At this point, I think that if one of them goes rogue (probably Raelle), they won’t turn their back on her and they might even... join her?
Other stuff
What will Alder do to Scylla?
Who is that guy that was saved? What is going on with his sister? Alder seems to be very interested in her, why? Is there a reason other than the fact that she’s a potential soldier and she and her family know songs that might be of interest?
When will we have explanations about the Spree’s real intentions and motivations? Why do they target civilians?
If things go sideways, will Bridy be loyal to the army or to Abigail?
Overall I loved that episode.
The title perfectly reflects the episode (duh). Pretty much everything is going down, but we can feel that this is the beginning of something else. Things are shifting and I think it is only a matter of time before Raelle and possibly others go against the established order.
And just a quick note to end that post: I love that they established that these witches were deeply rooted into paganism and descended from it, but it’s nice that they didn’t make it a central part of the show. I’m really interested in paganism and wicca and I have a bit of knowledge about it, but I think it would have been too heavy. Instead, there are just mentions here and there, like that scene were Abigail mentioned “the goddess” but didn’t go any further. I think they found a good balance for that element of the story and they didn’t get lost, which could have happened very easily with such a strong spirituality and folklore.
