S01.E07: Mother Mycelium

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Abigail forges a connection with Adil, a new visitor to base camp, and pushes a devastated Raelle to help him save a life; Tally uses Gerit as a distraction from her increasingly burdensome secrets; Anacostia delves into Scylla's past.

Promo:

Original air date: 4/29/20

[Cranberry]

This week's sneak peeks:

 

 

 

 

[UNOSEZ]

This epi was alright... But it felt fast.. Like we powered thru a few things quickly and didn't flesh out a ton of stuff.. Raelle and Abigail seem to be in a good place ( mainly cuz Abigail is making it good)  but now Tally can't be round Raelle.. And I wanted Rae and Scylla to have a confrontation not some sappy I lurrve you's when they only been together like what a few months tops??... Nice interplay tween Adil and Ability.. But he was gone so quick.. I thought he may teach her something.. But as she's so military minded he couldn't trust her... That said the other girls did show flashes of specialness.. Raelle with the sleep/healing and Tally with the sight so hoping they give fearless leader something as well... Loved the lil girl smacking Adler down... Is she secretly an elder she talks like a person who's used to being in charge... Based on the epi title I guessed that wall gunk would play a large role.. And I think it took the sickness.. As Raelle said she didn't get it.. Tho what exactly is happening there I dunno... 

[Chick2Chic]

20 minutes ago, UNOSEZ said:

Raelle and Abigail seem to be in a good place ( mainly cuz Abigail is making it good) 

I said something on twitter that is more due to Abigail than it being anywhere close to equal.

I enjoyed this ep. It went quickly but I was thoroughly entertained.

I like Abigail and Adil. They have a nice chemistry & the show is totally using opposites attract strongly with them. I hope to see more interaction between them in the future. 

Khalida is a piece of work. I knew something was up with her when she couldn't even thank Raelle for saving her. 

Tally and Gerit also have a nice chemistry but I see nothing but heartache + red flags there. I am not surprised they hooked up again but I see nothing but more pain in the long run for Tally if Gerit can't break off his engagement. 

Raelle was less annoying in this ep. I have to say that her reunion scene with Scylla left me indifferent. The acting was fine but since I don't buy into them being some epic love story, it just feels very OTT teenagery. Anacostia mind reading Scylla that showed us Scylla was the one with the balloon in that early scene (at a mall? can't 100% remember) where all those people fell.to their death was a revelation. I can buy Scylla loves Raelle but all that murdering of innocent people  - even with a hint of regret - is A LOT to try to redeem. I was already unsold when it was just Porter that was Scylla's murder victim. 

 

[Cranberry]

There are four military witch specialties: Blaster, Fixer, Knower, and Necro. Every witch can learn and do some of everything, but they specialize in their best area. We know that Raelle is a Fixer and Scylla is a Necro, and this episode confirmed that Tally is a Knower (a naturally gifted one, at that). I think we can pretty safely assume that Abigail is the Blaster of our crew, and I expect to see her be just as talented in her specialty as Raelle and Tally are in theirs. People have been saying that Raelle is more powerful than she knows, but honestly I think it's the whole unit -- they're each gifted, and they're even more powerful together.

Also, we know that Raelle is great at healing thanks to her natural (inherited?) talent and the skills (illegally?) learned from her mother, but I don't buy that she could cure Khalida that quickly when the world's most talented healers couldn't... and I don't think Raelle buys it, either. There's something going on with that webbing and that kid (who Eliot confirmed in the After the Storm ep is a very important figure in her community -- not a High Priestess exactly, but "up there").

I'm surprised Raelle really got to see Scylla; I was assuming that the Raelle in the jail cell would be a mushroom clone or a hallucination. I wonder what's really up with that mushroom.

I enjoyed Abigail and Adil together. One thing I really like about Abigail is that while she can be abrasive and quick to anger, when people give it right back to her she respects that. I liked that she laughed when Adil pointed out she was just as arrogant as she'd accused him of being.

Tally needs more to do. Maybe we'll get a Tally-centric episode soon. She's the unit member I feel like we know the least.

Cutting a student's throat as part of basic training is... something.

This week's After the Storm:

 

[ursula]

45 minutes ago, Chick2Chic said:

Anacostia mind reading Scylla that showed us Scylla was the one with the balloon in that early scene (at a mall? can't 100% remember) where all those people fell.to their death was a revelation.

Wasn’t this literally confirmed in the Pilot episode? Why did the show frame it like a Big Reveal?

Edited April 30, 2020 by ursula

[Cranberry]

I think it was more a reveal to Anacostia, plus a chance for her to see that moment of wavering and sense regret (something I've never sensed from Scylla myself, but I guess we're supposed to take Anacostia's word for it).

I also wasn't 100% sure it was Scylla in the pilot -- why on earth did she transform from our regular dark-haired Scylla to the blonde, release the balloon, and then transform from the blonde to the redhead while alone in the car instead of back to "regular" Scylla? I'm still assuming "our" Scylla is her true form, as it's the one we see in these flashbacks and the one Porter recognized from before she joined the Spree and learned this magic, so what's up with the redheaded form? Does it mean anything, or was it an oversight or a change to how these disguises work after the pilot? 

(Actually, you know what, it was probably just something they did because they wanted to shock us with the reveal that Scylla was Spree at the end of the pilot, and showing her in the car at the beginning would have ruined that. But I think it just made things confusing.)

[Chick2Chic]

18 minutes ago, ursula said:

Wasn’t this literally confirmed in the Pilot episode? Why did the show frame it like a Big Reveal?

For people like me who forgot 👱🏽‍♀️

That said, the show needs to put in a lot more work in trying to redeem Scylla, if possible, aside from it just being that she loves Raelle. That isn't remotely enough to make even a dent AFAIC. 

[ursula]

11 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

something I've never sensed from Scylla myself, but I guess we're supposed to take Anacostia's word for it

😂😂

 

11 minutes ago, Chick2Chic said:

That said, the show needs to put in a lot more work in trying to redeem Scylla, if possible, aside from it just being that she loves Raelle.

Yeah, I’m totally confused at why they’re framing her as the victim here. So far, she and Adler seem to be both horrible people, willing to sacrifice innocent lives for their causes.

The Dune film makers need to snap that little girl to play Alia Atreides ASAP.

[Cranberry]

I wonder if Scylla knows that witches were killed in the latest attacks. She appears to be very low-level Spree -- they refuse to answer her questions and threaten her for even asking them -- so it's probably safe to say she doesn't know any details of their plots beyond the part she plays in them. Anacostia also snapped her up before anyone learned all the victims were Bellweathers. She might not be as down with the idea of killing her own kind. Not that that makes anything better, but it could contribute to shaking her blind, brainwashed faith in The Spree.

I like the character of Scylla -- not in the way where I admire her, but in the way where I find her interesting -- and I would like to see her redeemed, but they can't be lazy about it. She has to truly feel bad about killing innocent people (which even now, despite her hesitation, I'm not seeing). I hope we do see her faith in The Spree shaken later as we see Tally and Abigail's (and possibly Anacostia's) faith in the Military shaken (something I assume will happen before the end of the season).

[GaT]

I'm completely confused by everything. Why does Spree keep changing their faces? How do we know that Scylla is actually Scylla & not some other girl? 

4 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

Loved the lil girl smacking Adler down... Is she secretly an elder she talks like a person who's used to being in charge... 

She talked way too adult. I wonder if she's an adult using a child's body, like someone in Spree, only doing the whole body instead of just the head.

[UNOSEZ]

7 hours ago, Chick2Chic said:

said something on twitter that is more due to Abigail than it being anywhere close to equal.

Oh its basically all Abigail.. She was out front telling everyone to back off.. As they were all scoffing that Raelle didn't get in trouble becuz she's with a bellweather ( prob only half true as maybe they also took it easy cuz they snatched up scylla)  still the only time she said she was sorry was in the dorm room where she just explained that she already said sorry and I guess apparently was over it... 

 

7 hours ago, Chick2Chic said:

Raelle was less annoying in this ep. I have to say that her reunion scene with Scylla left me indifferent. The acting was fine but since I don't buy into them being some epic love story, it just feels very OTT teenagery

Couldnt agree more... They both sold it.. Part of me was kinda mad how well they were because I knew that meant a possible redemption  and I don't think I want that as scylla has been so smug along the way and helped murder so many... Also we don't see enough of her indoctrination so it feels like she's just happy to be offing ppl to hurt the military more than a rabid true blue believer 

[Grace19]

I'm sorry, Scylla is irredeemable to me. Maybe I can forgive her if she died saving someone else's life, but to expect us to forgive her because she feels guilty is bull. She's making me dislike Raelle. Abigail and Tally loves their team and are willing to protect each other, I've never gotten that feeling from Raelle. I need tptb to show us that she's willing to put her team first before I can begin to care about her.

Love Adil and Abigail, I think they can teach each other a lot of things and they have good romantic chemistry. The little girl is intriguing and I want to know moire about her, her family and people. I ship Tally with Girt, but I don't trust him yet.

There must be a reason the Spree are targeting the Bellwethers and going after women of child bearing age. Their line must be a threat to whatever they are planning and I think it might later tie in to Abigail being powerful/special in some way since her team members are also special.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Grace19

[Featherhat]

8 hours ago, ursula said:

Wasn’t this literally confirmed in the Pilot episode? Why did the show frame it like a Big Reveal?

To me it was more "big confirmation" because a couple of weeks ago we were discussing the possibility of that being a generic Spree mask or somehow not Scylla when discussing possible redemption arcs and if she was a mass murderer (which yep, confirmed). 

I just roll my eyes when she was all "we're the only ones that can liberate witchkind". Yeah by making people more afraid of them than ever and killing them (witchkind as well) in the nastiest ways possible. If Congress takes the military away from Alder then people aren't suddenly going to leave witches and their powers alone. And the Spree want it to be Witches Vs Humans which is going to end badly for everyone. 

Good episode, cutting the volunteer's throat and going through a random and long explanation for why whilst she was dying next to her was brutal. 

Abigail was being the MVP of the Bellweather Unit solidarity and camaraderie. I liked her storyline with Adil, they have nice chemistry and it showed Abigail still learning to deal with her Bellweather arrogance or at least know when to use it and when not to, when to glorify the military and when to shut up. And the fact that war weather weapons cause devastation to civilians. As all weapons and wars do. ANW is doing a great job with the different aspects of this character, especially since this is her first job. 

Jessica Sutton continues to have the most amazing expressions. Poor Tally dealing with her issues and the hook up with Gerit is not going to end well, even if he doesn't love his fiancée. So she's a powerful knower? Wouldn't you know the unit has one of each and (probably) Scylla 2.0 as a Necro.

I liked Raelle okay in this episode. I think the mixing in of Christian prayers and passages with her folk paganism/low magic is interesting. A lot of her power does come from being inherited from her mother but also because it's completely unorthodox so takes everyone by surprise. However I wasn't a big fan of the big Scylla reunion. I've never been on board with this relationship because we saw from the pilot Scylla was a terrorist and I don't think they put enough into it to be all "but I really truly fell in love with you". Also because Raelle continues to be wrapped up in that drama and the Unit takes a back seat to all of that, even when she's going along with them it feels like it's second to everything else in this ep.

I get that Scylla was an orphan in very difficult circumstances recruited by a death cult but "twinge of regret" doesn't count for much when she actually went through with mass murdering. She also hasn't openly expressed any regret to anyone. Not even when talking to Raelle about how much she loves her. 

What was going on with the Colonel Doctor and the mushroom insect? 

Adler continues to be Adler and definitely not to be trusted with powerful songs from other witches and cultures.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Featherhat
spelling

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Raelle is powerful but I think that some of what has been perceived as her being powerful is really Raelle not being able to fully control her powers yet. As the healing teacher told her, Raelle is too motional so she isn't fully in control of what she's doing in those moments.

I still don't care about the Raelle/Scylla stuff. Hopefully her interaction with Scyllla in the torture chamber isn't going to turn Raelle against the military.

On a related note, Adil provided a much needed viewpoint about what the military is doing. So far all we've heard is that the military is fighting against the Spree, which seems like a good thing based on that mall scene from the first episode. But Adil is giving another point of view about what this war is doing to people who are caught in the crossfire. I don't think Abigail realized quite how much she's drunk the Kool-Aid about the situation until now. 

I'm glad the male soldiers are back because as much as I like the female-centric show, Raelle's friend is a good counterpoint to her gloominess and Tally needed to have some kind of conversation with Gerit.

[UNOSEZ]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Tally needed to have some kind of conversation with Gerit.

She still does.. All she did was smush him to forget all her other problems including how she's feeling about him.. Overall I hope she's more centered in the upcoming episodes.. She's been off to the side for a bit now

[Kurenai24]

To find a space where people see Scylla and Raelle as I do is such a rarerity for me.

I agree that Raelle was less annoying in this episode but unfortunately I'm still waiting for character development ...and why is Abigail the only one giving out olive branches and being a friend when Raelle doesn't need to.

In this episode I finally see the good acting that fans have been praising Amalia for, unfortunately I don't care about the character and I don't appreciate the fact that the show is trying to show her as a victim when she is a murder/terrorist; show me that both sides are bad, but do it equally, b/c trying to act like Alder and Anacostia rightfully punishing/torturing Scylla is bad, all the while making light of Scylla's actions is not fair or equal representation of "both sides are bad"

It definitely feels like Tally has been put on the backburner at least until her confrontation with Raelle. Either way I feel bad that she won't have a chance against Raelle (and the mighty plot to always make Raelle right). I'm rooting for her and Gerit tho.

It was funny to see a majority of everyone in the hashtag on twitter say 'Abigail you ruined the moment' with her last scene with Adil. I think they have nice chemistry that can only grow from here, that is if this is a long lasting romance for Abigail (i.e an endgame ship). I'm also wondering if her closeness with Adil, would be something Alder would keep an eye on, would Alder think that Adil being close with Abigail potentially puts those Tarim songs closer to Petra ...someone who's vying for her position and/or will Alder try to use Abigail/the Bellweather unit to get those songs.

Also when is Abigail gonna show off what she's good at, both Raelle and Tally got to do it multiple times and Abigail gets stuck with doing basic hand to hand combat in one episode (great scene) but I want Abigail to shine with her magic too.

I'm loving these side characters, and how they pop up from time to time, it's really reminding me of Harry Potter, I'm hoping these characters get prominent roles in the future since it's obvious the Bellweather unit will be going against the spree, the military, and humans, and they'll need all the allies they can get.

[ursula]

6 hours ago, Featherhat said:

She also hasn't openly expressed any regret to anyone. Not even when talking to Raelle about how much she loves her. 

I was shocked when she kept insisting on her innocence to Raelle. It was just more lies and manipulation. I expected her to say “I did these things for a reason... I tried to protect you...” and not flat out lie and insist on her innocence. The show is trying to frame her capture as some kind of injustice when Scylla is a mass murderer. 

I am convinced more than ever that the show is leaning on Scylla and Raelle being a f/f relationship to excuse Scylla’s actions and root for the relationship.

[Chick2Chic]

55 minutes ago, ursula said:

I am convinced more than ever that the show is leaning on Scylla and Raelle being a f/f relationship to excuse Scylla’s actions and root for the relationship.

I hope not but I can see it cause they really aren't writing any type of redemption for Scylla, instead seeming to rely on viewers buying in to their epic love for each other as Scylla's complete redemption arc. That's not going to work for me. If there's a season 2 (I've no clue on the ratings), TPTB need to do MUCH better cause I feel like it's too late now to even start a redemption arc that won't feel rushed or inept.

[Cranberry]

I don't think their sexuality has anything to do with it. I can name many problematic straight "OTPs" where we were just supposed to forget the guy was an attempted rapist (Chuck Bass) or a full-on rapist (Khal Drogo) or a serial murderer (Damon Salvatore, also a rapist btw) or a stalker and statutory rapist (Ezra Fitz) or whatever. It's never right, but it is common on TV shows (I found a bunch of lists of "toxic TV couples" when I was checking some facts to make this post) and has been for a long time.

(Also, I'm pretty sure all those guys were changed through the love of a good woman, so yeah, sadly this is all looking pretty par for the course to me.)

I agree that they haven't written any actual redemption for Scylla yet, though. I buy her feelings for Raelle, but that's not enough.

On an unrelated note, here's a little feature on the Linking ability that confirms some stuff we were assuming here.

[ursula]

48 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

I don't think their sexuality has anything to do with it. I can name many problematic straight "OTPs" where we were just supposed to forget the guy was an attempted rapist (Chuck Bass) or a full-on rapist (Khal Drogo) or a serial murderer (Damon Salvatore, also a rapist btw) or a stalker and statutory rapist (Ezra Fitz) or whatever. It's never right, but it is common on TV shows (I found a bunch of lists of "toxic TV couples" when I was checking some facts to make this post) and has been for a long time.

(Also, I'm pretty sure all those guys were changed through the love of a good woman, so yeah, sadly this is all looking pretty par for the course to me.)

Equating Scylla with rapists seems like  a weird way to defend her or the ship... If the only way a ship can make sense is by holding it up against other toxic ships then  that’s a problem. I shouldn’t have to mentally run down all the problematic relationships I’ve seen on screen before I can root for what is, apparently, this show’s OTP.

[Cranberry]

Where did I say that I was trying to defend Scylla or the relationship or trying to make it make sense? That's the opposite of the point I was making.

Here's my point: You think we're being asked to excuse Scylla's actions and root for this ship simply because it's an LGBT ship. I think we're being asked to excuse Scylla's actions and root for this ship because we've been conditioned through years of TV watching to believe the love of a good woman is enough to redeem a villain. We've seen it time and time again in straight ships, including all of the toxic ships I mentioned above. Writers seem to think that's all we need.

I disagree with them.

[ursula]

12 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

You think we're being asked to excuse Scylla's actions and root for this ship simply because it's an LGBT ship. I think we're being asked to excuse Scylla's actions and root for this ship because we've been conditioned through years of TV watching to believe the love of a good woman is enough to redeem a villain.

This argument presumes wrongly that both reasons are mutually exclusive.

[Cranberry]

I don't see any evidence for the idea that we're being expected to ship them just because they're both women. 

[ursula]

 

11 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

I don't see any evidence for the idea that we're being expected to ship them just because they're both women. 

...good for you?

ETA: and I don’t mean that sarcastically, but in the sense that the “evidence” has been pointed out and discussed at length in several episode threads so if you personally don’t see it, other viewers have and will keep having a problem with it. However, it is great you don’t have that concern impeding your personal enjoyment of the show.

Edited May 1, 2020 by ursula

[Cranberry]

I've seen lots of evidence that it's a problematic ship, yes, and I haven't denied that. I haven't seen any evidence that we're expected to root for them simply because they're both women -- not in the show, or in any of the interviews.

However, even assuming that were true... in how many movies and shows have we been expected to ship the opposite-gender leads just because they're opposite-gender (even when one or both are terrible people)? Why is that suddenly a problem with a WLW ship? 

 

[ursula]

 

31 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

However, even assuming that were true... in how many movies and shows have we been expected to ship the opposite-gender leads just because they're opposite-gender? Why is that suddenly a problem with a WLW ship? 

A tad disingenuous because it’s not suddenly a problem. It’s always been a problem. I’m not going to pretend to be OK with a problematic ship just because it ticks a diversity box. (Which has been my point all along -  that the creators/writers are banking on this.)

Using WLW as an excuse to pass off a problematic ship is just as bad as all the reasons that were given for problematic straight ships in the past including, female empowerment because redeeming a ‘bad boy’ is a power fantasy for women, I kid you not. WLW is just the most recent in a long string of faux-woke excuses for a toxic, badly written (because a ship can be toxic and well-written... Raelle/Scylla is not) ship and character.

Again, if you don’t see any ‘evidence’ of this, good for you.

Edited May 1, 2020 by ursula

[Cranberry]

8 minutes ago, ursula said:

 

I’m not going to pretend to be OK with a problematic ship just because it ticks a diversity box. 

I don't think anyone is asking you to, but we've already established that we're not going to agree on that, so there's no use continuing to beat that dead horse.

Here's something I'm curious about: What makes the ship "badly-written" to you? What would you change to make it a well-written but still toxic ship (as you've established those do exist)?

[ursula]

2 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

I don't think anyone is asking you to, but we've already established that we're not going to agree on that, so there's no use continuing to beat that dead horse.

 

I’ve literally said “good for you” twice now, accepting that you’re not going to see any evidence against your own opinion. Now you’re angling for a new way to prolong this discussion... I think it’s clear who’s beating a dead horse here...

[william0102]

I personally don't care if they redeem Scylla. There's been so many het relationships that I'm "supposed" to root for no matter what, that I can't even begin to name them. But if they can hook Buffy up with her rapist vampire, then why not Scylla and Raelle? I mean every human that falls for a vampire is basically falling for a serial killer. 

Back to the question at hand, do I think the writers are relying on it being an lgbt ship to redeem Scylla? No. Literally look at any sci-fi fantasy show and that's the plot. Phoebe and Cole. Edward and Bella, etc. I think the problem is the show has too much info it needs to give, and too much plot, to give accurate beats for viewers that have problems with Scylla, or Tally not having much to do. I think they've introduced a major plot point character in every episode: Petra and her friend who lost a daughter/the leaders at the Hague- who are gonna go against Alder. We had the guys episode with the witchfather who may or may not be bad, but he's written just cryptic enough that you don't know if he's helping Spree or a red herring- we also got Gerrit and Porter that episode. We got the morgue doctor lady who has the funky wall that took on the plague/is part of the op to interrogate Scylla. We got the episode where the special witches actually showed up, and last episode with the little weirdo child waking up and denying Alder. IDK how many episodes there are this season, but it's a ton of storylines and characters, so needed beats are being missed all over with each of the main leads.

[Featherhat]

From various "After The Storms" and other media it seems like they're going for the "redeemed by the love of a good woman" trope, which is interesting in a female relationship but not a storytelling device I enjoy by any means.

The trouble for me is that we found out in the pilot that Scylla was Spree and had a mission to recruit Raelle and saw her do various shady/smug things after that and never really got the chance to see her falling in love with Raelle on her own terms. It wouldn't be the first show to skip over that part when telling this story, but it is the most vital. But they have 10 episodes to cram a huge amount of story into. 

They're also leaning heavily on "The Spree have a point" and "poor Scylla recruited when she was a young orphan" neither of which I fully buy right now. The Spree would burn the world to destroy Alder/Bellweathers/witch military and Scylla stops being able to use that as an excuse when mass murder starts. ATS also seems to say Scylla is a true believer as well. 

I have shipped my share of toxic relationships in the past but I need something more than what they're giving me, which is a version of insta!love and because the story says so.  Rushing it to pack all of this into 10 episodes isn't working for me and worse looking at that list of couples, it feels like she's the Aria of the group where 90% of her scenes would be able/with Fitz and 10% with the girls and it was the opposite ratio with the other 3. Combined that with the grossness of Fitz , instant relationship and *no way*. 

Maybe it would have worked better if the audience had been shown the Spree reveal at the same time as the other characters so it would be a shock. They could use the red headed girl disguise more when talking to the balloon etc. 

I do think they're leaning into the lesbian couple shipping a bit but there's a lot of other stuff going on as well. I mean we're also supposed to be rooting for Tally/Gerit I think even though that's extremely complicated right now. 

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Featherhat

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Raelle & Scylla Are Reunited

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[tennisgurl]

I cant help but notice how Scylla left out a few slightly important details when she saw Raelle, like the whole domestic terrorist thing, or how she was told to seduce her to get her to join their evil terrorist organization, or that she murdered Porter (whos death is still clearly a sore spot for Raelle) to keep her cover going. Yeah she might not hurt Raelle, but what about all those innocent people at the mall? What will Raelle think of her when she knows the whole story? I can tell they're going to do the whole "turns good because of love" story with them, but if they really want me to root for Scylla and for Scylla/Raelle, they are really going to have to do a lot more. Her falling in love is a decent start, but she needs to show some actual remorse for the terrible things she and her organization have done to innocent people. Just being in love isn't enough, they need to give us a lot more than her looking hesitant for a minute before her terror attack and her dead parent backstory. 

So we find out (possibly) what The Spree actually want to accomplish, some kind of war between non magic people and witches, which seems like it would just be bad for everyone. Like, did they just see one of the X-Men movies, and think that those conflicts sounded like fun? They seem to be heading towards a thing where the witch military and The Spree are both the bad guys, and while the witch military is clearly really messed up, its hard not to see The Spree, who deliberately kill civilians in horrible ways in an attempt to start a war, as the greater evil. 

I like Abigail and Adil together, they have really nice chemistry, and I think they can learn a lot from each other in an opposites attract kind of way. Abigail especially is actually starting to question the consequences of the militarizes actions, at least enough to listen, and its just great to see her being happy again after what happened to her cousin. She seemed so much lighter talking to Adil, laughing and joking about her own arrogance and cereal and such. Then of course she killed the mood when Adil showed her his cool song power, and she almost immediately started talking about how awesome this would be if they could weaponize it. Oh Abigail, not the right audience! 

Tally is the one right now who has the least to do, but hopefully she gets more meaty material when Raelle finds out that she knows what was going on with Scylla. Tally does have chemistry with Gerit even if the whole arranged five year marriage thing really complicates things. I guess they could just wait a few years and then he could marry Tally for a few years? Could he just ask to marry Tally instead? Tally's a witch, that should work too right? Or do they only do this for the upper crust? Its really strongly implied that all witches are encouraged to get with other witches, but maybe some witches can stay in their marriage for as long as they want? This marriage stuff is so messed up. 

What was the language that Adler and the witch father were speaking? It was fun seeing the guys again for a bit, especially Raelles buddy Byron, who actually can make Raelle stop angsting for five seconds. I continue to think that Alder and the witch father have some kind of history and are a little closer than just comrades in arms, even when it isn't time for magic sex. I dont think that many people call her Sarah. 

Raells sort of Christian/pagan hybrid magic is really interesting, I would like to know more about religion in this universe. Are most people some form of pagan, while the Aramaic religions are more of a minority? I continue to really like the world building we get, and I would love to get more.  

[william0102]

On 5/1/2020 at 3:23 PM, tennisgurl said:

 

Raells sort of Christian/pagan hybrid magic is really interesting, I would like to know more about religion in this universe. Are most people some form of pagan, while the Aramaic religions are more of a minority? I continue to really like the world building we get, and I would love to get more.  

The world building is one of the most interesting things about this show. Are non-witches pagan, or just the witches? Is the rest of the country some form of protestant/christian- and is that why people at Fort Salem are so untrusting/put off when Raelle does her healing? How did the Cession even happen, or are we supposed to assume that like slavery, the people in charge weren't as diabolical because they hated witches more?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Abigail & Adil Kiss

Khalida Challenges General Alder

 

[Kurenai24]

On 5/4/2020 at 3:38 AM, william0102 said:

The world building is one of the most interesting things about this show. Are non-witches pagan, or just the witches? Is the rest of the country some form of protestant/christian- and is that why people at Fort Salem are so untrusting/put off when Raelle does her healing? How did the Cession even happen, or are we supposed to assume that like slavery, the people in charge weren't as diabolical because they hated witches more?

The cession happened b/c the natives had magic which could keep Alder alive and they bargained it for land and the government agreed.

And I don't think we're suppose to assume that people were less diabolical and therefore slavery was shorter but rather that witches took precedence, a species vs species thing instead of race vs race.

 

 

[william0102]

^Yeah that was poor phrasing on my part, but in my defense it was 2:30 in the morning. All I meant was that witches were at the top of the list when in comes to white people being douche nozzles.

And thank you for that info about the Native Americans. I like that they have the whole after the storm thing with the creator/actors' thoughts, but when it's pieced out over different forms of media, I just miss things- especially since I use twitter/ig/etc less these days because of quarantine.

[Kurenai24]

On 5/6/2020 at 5:40 PM, william0102 said:

^Yeah that was poor phrasing on my part, but in my defense it was 2:30 in the morning. All I meant was that witches were at the top of the list when in comes to white people being douche nozzles.

And thank you for that info about the Native Americans. I like that they have the whole after the storm thing with the creator/actors' thoughts, but when it's pieced out over different forms of media, I just miss things- especially since I use twitter/ig/etc less these days because of quarantine.

No problem, and you're right there is a lot of information being given on so many platforms, just found out about the exclusive content being put on comicbook.com

[DanaK]

On 5/7/2020 at 6:24 PM, Kurenai24 said:

No problem, and you're right there is a lot of information being given on so many platforms, just found out about the exclusive content being put on comicbook.com

I can see expanded information being put in different places other than the TV show, but it seems to me that important plot information should be in the TV show

Good episode overall. It feels like there's a heck of a lot of world building that we're not getting within the confines of the TV show. As others have said, the world building is very intriguing and I want to know more, especially about the history. At the same time, the actual show is coming off a little too much like teenage angst, though obviously Freeform is aimed at late teens/young adults (maybe skewing towards women at times). As an older adult, I don't entirely like the mixture

Edited June 26, 2021 by DanaK