We should travel out in the open with a whip. The enemy’s snipers will never expect it!
Edit #1 (6/22/2020): Added a link to Youtube that was previously missing.
As with the other articles in this format, you probably won’t be able to understand my position without taking a look at Parts 1 and 2, so be sure to do that before you read this one.
With that out of the way, the last three episodes are a little better and a little worse than the previous three in terms of quality. While there are plenty of moments that could only be described as batshit insane and the ending falls flat on its face, the writers try to make up for it by developing the universe and playing around with some interesting ideas. So, let’s take a look at a roller coaster!
SPOILERS ARE HERE!
Episode 8 – Feet First Into Exercise Hell.
Cool ideas are picked up and dropped at random, which sucks.
“Citydrop” picks up where “Mother Mycelium” left off with a few shots of our main trio sailing through the air. While I initially wondered why they were jumping out of helicopters and not a plane, the general usage of salva is rather interesting because it would render the witches virtually invisible to radar. However, we suddenly learn that there are similar risks when Tally falls and breaks her leg.
Of course, Raelle tries to patch her up like the good friend and comrade that she is, but the show rolls a proverbial grenade into everything when the poor girl suddenly finds out that Raelle knew about Scylla. Their friendship starts to deteriorate, which forces Abigail to pull everyone together for the first sweep through a mock town.
At first, I wasn’t sure why our main trio didn’t have radios or any other kind of gear, but the show keeps things tight and focused to the point where they might not need it. As they sweep through the first street, they’re treated to a sudden surprise in the form of a screaming mine that stuns everyone, which is a rather cool idea. After some of them struggle to disable it, the cadets congregate in a building to prepare for the next phase.
At this point, Tally and Raelle are on the outs, so Abigail tries to make the best of it until the trio are confronted by the Lieutenant that Scylla impersonated in Episode 2. As Raelle heads back to the main camp to sulk, Tally and Abigail are suddenly confronted by some OPFOR in a classroom, and we’re treated to another decently shot piece of hand-to-hand combat that surprised me. I didn’t really think that a show like this could have reasonably decent stunt work!
However, that’s not the most important part of the scene. Once its all over, observant viewers can pause to take a look at an actual timeline on the chalkboard that makes a reasonable amount of sense. Apparently, the presence of witches compelled the U.S. to declare independence back in 1735. After that, the chalkboard lists the following wars as a part of this alternate American history:
The First Mexican War – 1800
The Second Mexican War – 1810-1812
The Civil War – 1840-1842
The World War – 1908-1911
The Hague – 1940
The Chinese Civil War – 1961-1964
Proxy Wars – 1960-Now
The Spree – Modern Era
This may not be an exhaustive timeline, but it certainly captures the imagination. After all, this would mean that the Founding Fathers that we know may have been a part of the second generation of American leadership. How does that change things?
Needless to say, this effort opens up a lot of storytelling opportunities that would be awesome if Disney had the guts to do something with it.
As all of this is going on, General Alder discovers that the U.S. division of the Spree are operating out of Vermont, so she sends in another strike force to do something about it. While they finally figure out that Scylla murdered Porter, the sudden departure of a bunch of trucks leads to a dumb moment where the strike force is killed in action. The senior staff figures out that a terrorist attack on Boston is underway, so they abort Citydrop and force an early deployment to a highway just outside of the city.
In the middle of all of this, Tally and Raelle have patched things up, but Abigail and Libba have not. Keep that in mind because things are about to get odd.
The witches form a line in the middle of the road, but the truck convoy is barreling toward them at high speed. At first, Tally has misgivings about the crisis, but General Alder shoves them aside. The ancient witch orders her subordinates to use windshear in a combined action, which crushes the convoy like a set of tin cans and runs it off the road.
Now, that’s cool, but it starts off a storyline that is rather interesting and thoughtful.
As the trucks slide off the road, Raelle goes after someone who she thinks is Scylla, leaving the rest of her team to pick through the rubble. The apparition was actually a black Spree operative who was driving the first truck, but we get a little bit of insight into Raelle’s state of mind. She despises Scylla for everything, believing that their entire relationship was a lie. That’s perfectly understandable, but we’re soon treated to two more bombshells.
Tally believes that General Alder’s order killed a bunch of hostages that were used as human shields inside the trucks, which sparks a serious controversy. To make matters worse, they lost Libba, which drives Abigail to tears.
The episode ends with something that seems kind of sinister. In the aftermath of the truck strike, General Alder delivers a public statement. While she correctly points out that the Spree were defeated, she covers up exactly what happened to the hostages.
What is she up to?
Episode 9 – This Just Got Dark.
No! Not the girl who was solely known for some of the worst dialogue in the series!
“Coup” explores the aftermath of the battle, but it also continues the streak of insanity that runs throughout this series.
The story begins with a look at the Altai Mountains. Somewhere in that area, the Spree arranged several bodies in a pentagram, opening up a continuation of the mystery that was mentioned in several previous episodes. We soon learn that the dead had their vocal cords cut out, which follows the Spree M.O. to the letter. General Alder and the U.S. Army still aren’t sure why the Spree are doing this, but it seems unconnected to the Bellweather assassinations.
Meanwhile, our main trio is left in a bad place. While Abigail has to give Libba’s eulogy, Tally seems to be haunted by the civilian deaths on her hands, and she starts to wonder why General Alder did what she did. Of course, Sara has far more experience under her belt, and she manages to deliver a clever point on the nature of warfare and the doctrine of proportionality. In almost every war, there is a lot of collateral damage, so it’s important to focus on winning and saving as many lives as possible.
When I first heard this line, I was honestly shocked. I never thought that something so obvious and true would make it onto a channel like Freeform, especially since there are a lot of politically correct people out there who think that wars can never be fought for something approaching a moral cause. If you’d like to learn more about this idea, feel free to take a look at this video about the justification for the Allied bombings of World War II.
On the other hand, General Alder scoffs at a reasonably logical idea of turning Scylla against the Spree. Sure, she presents a decent point about the inability to fully trust her, but one could say the same thing about any potential double agent. All of her ideas can’t be winners, I guess.
Just after that, we cut over to Libba’s funeral. Sure, another fifty-star flag may by flying over the graveyard (DRINK!), but the main point of the scene is Abigail’s eulogy. At first, she reads off of the lousy prepared statement, but she soon proceeds to an equally silly statement from the heart. For some reason, she was grateful to Libba even though she hated her, which doesn’t make that much sense considering what we know.
But wait, there’s more!
After the funeral, Tally suddenly decides to show up at Gerit’s door for a complete and utter fuck session. Hang on to that for later because things are about to get fucking funny!
As all of this is going on, General Alder meets President Kelly Wade (Sheryl Lee Ralph) at a building that is said to be the White House, but it looks nothing like the White House. Apparently, the President is fucking pissed at General Alder’s handling of the attempted terrorist attack, so she fires her on the spot. On top of that, the government is planning to send Scylla to not-Gitmo.
Sara doesn’t take this too well, but let’s forget about that and get back to Tally!
In the name of plot, we’re treated to the sight of Tally on top, but Gerit’s wife, Hilary (Rhianna Jagpal), comes home! Now, normal people might think that this would lead to a soapy breakup, but Hillary suddenly offers to join in! For some reason, Tally is shocked at this, but Gerit makes the point that she was so insatiable that he thought she’d love it!
I don’t know about you, but that curveball almost took my head off!
Oh, and by the way, Abigail seems to be interested in Adil, which sort of makes sense.
Meanwhile, Raelle decides that she wants to see Scylla after all, if only to get some closure for what happened. She’s reasonably dismissive of Scylla’s declaration of love and leaves after a little while, but it’s not going to be the end. Not by a long shot.
With all of the trio’s storylines out of the way, the cadets gather around to watch the President’s speech about a potential replacement for General Alder. Petra hungers for command as President Wade begins her address, but something is off. Much to the bewilderment of her staff and the witches, President Wade suddenly states that she has confidence in Sara, and we quickly learn that she is being mind-controlled by Alder herself.
Of course, Sara releases her control just after the address ends, but the damage is done. Anacostia witnessed everything, but she and our main trio don’t really know what to do.
Your mileage may vary, but my draw dropped along with that twist. I know that the writers kind of threw it out of left field, but it seems rather plausible and does make one wonder how often that “puppeting” was employed in the alternate history of this world. I’m sure we’ll learn more about it in the final episode, right?
Right?
Episode 10 – Wait, What?
Oh, you’re bringing this up now?
“Witchbomb” just kind of happens, which is a shame because it’s supposed to be the season finale.
In a nice touch, the episode opens with a scene that acts as a bookend for the opening of Episode 1. In the middle of a soccer game, one of the players releases a familiar balloon. Only this time, it doesn’t do what the audience might expect. As the unidentified Spree walks off the field, the crowd is left to chant that an ancient enemy has returned.
Okay, that’s a good start. Who is it? What do they want?
Unfortunately, we never really get an answer. Instead, the story cuts between the final days of basic training and Scylla’s approaching departure to not-Gitmo.
We start off with a gathering that acts as another bookend. In the main hall, General Alder congratulates the graduates and tells of how they will serve a great nation in the United States Army. However, our main trio is stuck wondering what to do, which is perfectly understandable. After the ceremony is over, the graduates all head outside to receive their assignments to deployment or War College. In an odd twist, every woman in the graduating class appears to have gotten into the officer school aside from Raelle, Abigail, and Tally.
Abigail is naturally shocked at the revelation, but we soon learn that Khalida requested our three mains for a special rescue mission back in the Tarim Basin. Just before they set off, one reasonable and one crappy moment mixes up the tone a bit. Just after Raelle is finished packing for the op, we are introduced to her dad, Edwin (Hrothgar Mathews). Raelle’s father seems like a good man who just wants to give her some encouragement, a letter from mom, and a good luck before she ships off, which is a nice touch when compared to the woke female characters out there. At the same time, Petra gets Abigail into War College on her own, pointing out that she doesn’t really care about her friends.
So much for acting like a team or a family, huh?
As all of this is happening, Anacostia is forced to empathize with Scylla, which may make some people wonder if the Drill Sergeant might turn. They spend some time arguing over how the Army just eats up young witches and bonding over their missing parents, but it’s not really important until later.
Anyway, we suddenly learn that Abigail changed her mind and didn’t want to abandon her unit. Yay!
After a sweet moment where Raelle reads her letter, General Alder leads the trio into the Tarim Basin, and we’re left to wonder why any opposition doesn’t just use snipers to blow all of them away. However, we’re not supposed to think about that. The ladies are confronting General Alder.
Strangely, General Alder was ready for them. At first, she rightfully states that the three of them barely made it through Basic, which would’ve made since if the show had even bothered to focus on depicting a semi-realistic army. However, her little monologue gets sidetracked by her asinine justification for mind-controlling the President, which effectively amounts to a declaration that she did it because plot.
Way to go, writers! You totally capitalized on a semi-brilliant idea! Wew!
Soon after they drop that thread, the team happens across a Tarim Elder, who was hung from the neck. They don’t even bother to wonder if the whole area is booby-trapped, but nothing bad happens anyway. They have a cavern to get to! Don’t think about it!
In an odd case of whiplash, we get some interesting information from Sara. Apparently, she wasn’t actually born in the Thirteen Colonies, but emigrated there from Europe. That’s interesting, but don’t think about it. They found the Tarim, and Anacostia is letting Scylla go!
Wait, why is she letting Scylla go? Wouldn’t she be court-martialed for that? Don’t think about it. We’re reverting back to faker-than-fake army rules now.
At long last, we get to the reveal of what has been going on all this time. Apparently, the Spree were trying to warn the U.S. about a new faction called the Camarilla. They don’t really explain who they are, but they appear to hate witches quite a bit. At the edge of a nearby forest, they demonstrate this by burning several hostages alive.
Who are they? No one knows!
So, a hand-to-hand fight begins for reasons, but is suddenly cut short after a rather rad usage of not-Force lightning by General Alder. The Camarilla respond by attacking Sara’s gaggle of crones. One of them dies, and Tally offers to take her place.
Unfortunately, tragedy strikes when Raelle and Abigail get stabbed by the enemy, but they mysteriously explode just as they die. Tally, General Alder, and the rest of the survivors are left in shock as they leave the field, but the writers wind it up by showing Raelle and Abigail as they walk through a strange mirror-esque world that we haven’t seen before.
The entire season ends on the strange choice of a cliffhanger. Scylla made her way to a safe house for the Spree, and we learn that Anacostia followed her there. Scylla heads inside, and we learn that her plotline was focused on bringing Raelle back to her mother, Willa (Diana Pavlovská), who is a supposed leader of the Spree.
Well, that happened!
So, that’s the end of our examination of Season 1 of Motherland: Fort Salem! Am I going to do the same thing for Season 2?
Maybe.
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