‘Motherland: Fort Salem’ Recap – ‘Happy Yule!’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 304 of ‘Motherland: Fort Salem’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.

One thing that fans of the Freeform series, Motherland: Fort Salem, can agree upon, is that season three has been nothing short of a non-stop thrill ride. Because from the moment we returned to this universe, through last week’s episode, we've been treated to non stop intensity. The kind that has featured some powerhouse moments and big twists and turns, leaving all of us waiting for a moment to catch our breath and process the madness that’s been going on and well… as it turns out, the writer’s room of this dynamic show, understands the fact that we do indeed need processing time and some idea of where this final season might be headed. Which is why they made sure to build a little downtime into this week’s episode.

For ‘Happy Yule!’ is a story that slowed things down a great deal to give us what we needed, and it accomplished that feat, by plunging us into the Witch World iteration of the holidays. Wherein Yule rituals took place, and our heroes came to finally learn that they might not face harm in the Cession after all. In fact, all they might need to do to find their freedom and get back into the fight… would be to convince the Cession’s ruling council of their intentions and their worth. A feat that shouldn’t be a problem since the council happened to be well-known for being supremely fair in nature and eager to help when the cause happens to be just and true. And while they comfortably waited within the walls of the Marshal Safehouse for a meeting with the council, they were treated to quite the surprise. 

In that, we came to learn alongside them, that President Wade survived the attempt on her life courtesy of some fine trickery on the Army’s part. Because there was worry that the Camarilla would try something drastic, so a golem was put in her place to create the illusion of death. Allowing for POTUS to work behind the scenes with General Bellweather on their next moves and after that reveal… everyone just had a little fun again and enjoyed the moment and the season. Which in turn allowed for us to take a breath, and really wrap our heads around the evil the Camarilla is eager to impart on witches, and how great the stakes are for our heroes in this final season and well, once we processed everything, the show made a point to refocus what the end of this journey should look like.

Because there was a looming dread over this tale, one that was grown by the fact that the newly installed President Silver more or less declared war on Witchcraft and promised an America free of magical defense. To the point where he installed oversight officers at Fort Salem and of course… his lackeys were causing trouble as well. Torturing witches in their spare time and generally being evil and of course… there were concerns about Raelle’s fate posed here as well. Making it clear that this series is barreling toward an epic finale. One where witchkind will be fighting for their very right to exist when all is said and done and where not everyone might make it out alive, since there are no guarantees that Tally’s vision of the future can be altered.

Which means that for the audience, we should enjoy this lovely little break from the intensity while it lasts. Because what lies ahead may be nothing short of non-stop action and heartbreak and darkness as the Witch Army fights their greatest foe one last time. A task now complicated by the fact that they are installed at the highest levels of government and well, in the end, this was simply a delightful episode. One that took the time to really celebrate what we love the most about this show, which is the downtime with the characters. Since it allows for us to continue to learn what makes them tick and lets the actors shine and well, now that the Yuletide season is behind us, it’s time to start counting down the minutes until next week’s tale and all the conflict that awaits our intrepid heroes. Until next time.

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