S02.E05: Brianna's Favorite Pencil

[Cranberry]

Quote

The Unit competes for a chance to commune with the dead during Samhain. Scylla and Anacostia search for Camarilla leadership by attending a Halloween gala and make a horrifying discovery.

Original air date: July 20, 2021

 

[UnoAgain]

I wonder how Abigail will suffer this week? 

[UnoAgain]

So the show is going reverse Danerys with scylla's redemption.... Makes sense I guess.. Enjoyed the episode.. Still haven't gotten the full story on the martyrdom, does look pretty rough for Alder, tho I'm hoping it's not that cut & dry. Did feel for Raelle when her not dead mom didn't show up.. I wonder if the dad knows but has kept it from her, guess we'll know more next week... Still enjoying the little bits of M and Gregorio we get.. I appreciated Alder pushing Talky back a bit, I know she's a protagonist and we all want answers but barging into a superior's space and demanding answers is madness... Sorry for Bonnie.. Her husband was a scumbag, still her husband and father of her kid, wonder if that girl grows up to hate witches... Anacostia was awesome as usual

[Cranberry]

I'm glad Adil's not dead (although I didn't expect him to be!) and that he and Abigail are united in their goal. Glad to have the old, determined Abigail back, and I can't wait to see her get her revenge. Adil knows some pretty cool old "work" too, right? The two of them together could be quite powerful.

You'd think Raelle would at least wonder if her mother isn't actually dead (especially after finding that photo of herself that Scylla had somehow obtained). Maybe that'll occur to her next week.

I don't really understand how the martyrdom storyline ties into everything, although I assume it ultimately will have something to do with the Spree's origins.

I can get behind Scylla murdering people who would stone a little girl to death. I find her fun to watch in general.

Anacostia was, as usual, a total badass. She looked great in her party attire!

I'm looking forward to next week. It's always cool to see more of the girls' home lives. I especially want to know more about the Cession.

 

[Joana]

They should totally make a spin-off with Anacostia and Scylla being awesome badasses because I'd watch the hell out of it. I'm strangely finding Scylla more and more appealing. Her love story with Raelle wasn't that interesting to me, I prefer her on her own.

I too expect Raelle to start questioning her mother's death soon.

And they should really speed things up with the martyrdom storyline because it's getting tiresome. 

[dungeonwriter]

How did Scylla take Bonnie's face to trick him? Wouldn't Bonnie remember having her face burned off? 

Tiffany being led to be stoned was horrifying, so I like Scylla as an avenging angel. Still doesn't make up for her mass murdering people. 

 

[Joana]

20 minutes ago, dungeonwriter said:

How did Scylla take Bonnie's face to trick him? Wouldn't Bonnie remember having her face burned off? 

I don't think she needs to. Remember that senior soldier she impersonated to sweet talk Raelle into trusting her? She very much had no idea someone was pretending to be her. Apparently they can just take other people's faces at will.

I don't know why she burned the face of the Camarilla leader, though. It just gives her the kicks? 

[UnoAgain]

52 minutes ago, Joana said:

I don't know why she burned the face of the Camarilla leader, though. It just gives her the kicks? 

Like I said earlier ( reverse)  Danerys

[overtime]

I'm a big fan of Scylla and have been since the beginning of Season 1—she livens up the show a LOT imo, and she and Raelle's relationship is a real anchor. In a show that's so morally gray, I appreciate Scylla for what she is. There are so many shows out there that are standard good guys vs. bad guys and I think it's so interesting that Motherland resists that route. The complexity—around Scylla, around Alder, around the Spree, around the Army—is what is so compelling. I don't think the show is trying to make you forgive Scylla for her murders, in fact to me, they go out of their way to make it clear that is not the kind of redemption they're going for. Scylla is not going to wake up and renounce her cause any more than Anacostia is. However, I felt this episode highlighted more than ever that both of them are going through a reprioritization, without compromising their core beliefs.

Pairing Scylla and Anacostia up this season was so smart and finally we got to really see the fruits of that labor. The gala stuff was so good, absolutely love what they did with it. Scylla risking her life for the young girl isn't her straying from anything—she's always been about protecting witches, even when that's through terroristic methods. The scene where she toys with the Camarilla audience and harnesses their rage to buy Anacostia and Tiffany time, not knowing if it would work, was glorious. As was the twist at the end of the episode with Shane and her talk with Bonnie. Just great stuff, and allows you to subtly see where Scylla's head is at. 

The Samhain stuff was alright—the lore was cool but I felt like a bit too much time was spent on it. It took a long time to get to the real point of it and to move the plot along, and for Episode 5 of a 10-episode season, that part of the episode felt too slow. I really am enjoying the Alder/Tally/Nicte storyline, but at some point they need to get to the point there. Though as someone who finds the unit-bond stuff to be one of the weakest parts of the show and finds trio's individual storylines much more interesting, I did appreciate how they all got their separate moments in this episode (also poor Raelle, and I'm excited that this looks like a turning point for Abigail).

[Cranberry]

1 hour ago, Joana said:

I don't know why she burned the face of the Camarilla leader, though. It just gives her the kicks? 

We saw her inhale the smoke, so I'd assume it's for some purpose we don't know yet -- maybe she can take some of his memories or something. Necros appear to have access to a lot of weird/creepy magic.

[AnimeMania]

I am not sure why the train derailed. I thought the Camarilla spores only killed witches, why did it grow so crazy killing everyone on the train. I seems highly unlikely that Raelle's Mother would have survived the restaurant attack if the spores are that aggressive.

Was I delusional was there a little love connection happening between Tally and Gregorio?

Not sure how I feel about a murderer telling people how to get over their loved ones being murdered.

[UnoAgain]

Just now, AnimeMania said:

Was I delusional was there a little love connection happening between Tally and Gregorio?

Connection for sure.. From the first episode I was clocking it... Dunno if anything happens this season.. But seeds have been planted

[GaT]

On 7/21/2021 at 11:02 AM, Joana said:

And they should really speed things up with the martyrdom storyline because it's getting tiresome. 

A lot of things about this show are getting tiresome IMO

On 7/21/2021 at 1:04 PM, dungeonwriter said:

Tiffany being led to be stoned was horrifying, so I like Scylla as an avenging angel. Still doesn't make up for her mass murdering people. 

Nothing is going to make up for mass murdering people, & they don't even seem to be trying. Has it been mentioned at all this season? We're up to episode 5, that's halfway through the season. if they were going to explain it, you would think it would have happened episode 1.

[UnoAgain]

1 hour ago, GaT said:

A lot of things about this show are getting tiresome IMO

Nothing is going to make up for mass murdering people, & they don't even seem to be trying. Has it been mentioned at all this season? We're up to episode 5, that's halfway through the season. if they were going to explain it, you would think it would have happened episode 1.

To the ppl who love the character.. It happened already... When she was in the mall for the vigil... Her somewhat pained face and anacostia saying she felt remorse was it... Is it enough.. Not to me.. I'm hoping she at least mentions how she killed Porter.. I imagine her reunion with Raelle will be emotional so maybe it'll happen then.. Either way.. The show has her killing bad men.. So they want us to get on the train

[Cranberry]

I enjoy the character and I don't think she's been redeemed by any means. We're seeing the beginning of a change in her. Her past actions were clearly weighing on her at the vigil, when her victims started becoming real people to her as she saw their friends and families mourning them. She shrugged off Anacostia's speech, but it clearly bothered her. Her advice to Bonnie this week about finding something beautiful and real to hold onto so that hate wouldn't eat her whole was clearly a warning based on experience. But like overtime said above, the writers don't seem to be going with a typical redemption storyline here. I'm not sure they even want us to forgive Scylla. Thankfully, one doesn't have to think a character is a paragon of virtue to enjoy watching them.

One of the things I like about this show (that simultaneously drives me a little nuts) is that it's not afraid to take its time. It feels like a lot happens in each episode, but information and world-building are doled out slowly. Character development is a progression; we've watched each and every character (and their relationships to each other) change a lot over the course of a season and a half, but it all felt realistic. It's unrealistic to expect instant redemption for any character, and I'm surprised anyone would expect that from the writers, to be honest. 

[tennisgurl]

I am actually kind of disappointed that Bonnie wasn't actually a witch playing a very long con against her asshole husband. That wouldn't have probably made a lot of sense, but it would be pretty wild. Oh yeah, what kind of person would murder an innocent child...oh yeah Scylla, you did that. Several times. I do think they are handling exploring Scylla a lot better than I thought they would, its not the instant redemption where her love for Raelle instantly redeems her and all her crimes are forgiven that I was worried it would be. She is still pretty firmly with The Spree and hasn't exactly admitted to how evil her actions have been, but she did show some real remorse when she saw the victims of her attack at the mall, as real people and not just "necessary" civilian deaths (even if the shows tendency to lump in memorial services with domestic terrorist hate groups is very questionable) and then this week warning Bonnie about giving into hate the way that she has, before it eats her the way its eaten Scylla. It helps that the actress is really good, I think a worse performer never could have made this story work at all. That, and having Anacostia as her scene partner, she's always awesome and makes every scene better just with her presence. 

The Halloween lore was interesting, I would really like to explore what a lot of holidays are like in this world. Halloween seems like its pretty similar, with costumes and trick or treat, but also with more actual magic and an almost religious tone among witches. I always love the shows world building, its one of its best aspects. I actually wanted more of it, I feel like we just got a bit of the Halloween witch traditions so the ghosts all showing up ended up feeling rushed. 

I didn't really think they would kill Adil off, especially offscreen, but with the universe conspiring to make Abigail miserable, I was relieved to see him again at the end. Also glad that her ghost cousin didn't actually come back from the great beyond to make her feel worse, but to give her a tough love pep talk and inspire her to join with Adil to kick some witch hunter ass. 

Alder usually has her reasons for why she does the really messed up things that she does, but that flashback really does not look good. At least Tally might have a bit of a vibe with Gregorio to look forward to!

[Zonk]

"How long do we have [for the conversation with the dead person]."

"Until the candle burns out."

"That doesn't seem long enough." - She says with a massive candle in her hand that should burn for like 24 hours. Look I get it, it's never enough when talking to a dead loved one, but what did you expect? Them staying forever, you having sleepovers and dinner parties with them? It's a one night thing. That much should be clear.

 

Did Tally really need to burn her dead person conversation for confirmation for something that was already confirmed? I mean in the flashback the following conversation took place:

Batan: "You stole my work!"

Alder: "Sergeant Batan! It had to be done. You know that."

Batan: "They already surrendered. Your heart is black, Sarah."

All the while there was screaming in the background. That plus all the other information Tally had gathered. How dense can you be? There was only one logical conclusion as to what happened.

There must have been somebody better to dig up more dirt on Alder.

 

So how does that lighter work? When Scylla burned the guy in the white tux, I thought you needed to burn somebodies face to turn into them later, which would have been interesting and would have given the lighter a limitation that doesn't make it quite as overpowered. But at the end of the episode, she could just turn into the wife of the racist guy, who was still very much alive. So I'm both disappointed and confused. Why did she burn that guys face?

Speaking of the wife, did she sprint up the stairs, into the bedroom, with that full bag of groceries? Because that scream came like 5 seconds after she talked to Scylla on the front porch.

[DanaK]

I looked up the actor who plays M because I thought I had seen them in something before given their striking looks, especially the bald head. It appears the character, like the actor, identifies as non-binary, which I didn't pick up on. It leads me to wonder how this show's worldview treats non-binary witches, especially those who are born female, especially when it comes to the handfasting stuff. It's clear already they don't care if someone is gay like Raelle and doesn't want to marry a male witch

[Scarlett45]

On 8/6/2021 at 10:23 AM, DanaK said:

I looked up the actor who plays M because I thought I had seen them in something before given their striking looks, especially the bald head. It appears the character, like the actor, identifies as non-binary, which I didn't pick up on. It leads me to wonder how this show's worldview treats non-binary witches, especially those who are born female, especially when it comes to the handfasting stuff. It's clear already they don't care if someone is gay like Raelle and doesn't want to marry a male witch

I think so long as you fulfill your duty to reproduce (I don’t see that witches have huge families) even if you have sons (or one son) you are fine. Of course more children is better, but I don’t think witches are forced. 
 

Likely lesbian soldiers like Raelle are given a magical option of IVF or artificial insemination. Given we don’t have cell phones in this universe yet I'm not sure reproductive technology is as advanced as it would be in our timeline for civilians.