‘Motherland: Fort Salem’ Recap – ‘The Price of Work’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 302 of ‘Motherland: Fort Salem’. To revisit the season three premiere, click here.
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While the arrival of the final season of a television show is often met with a touch of sadness, since it means the end is nigh and the story will come to an end… there are reasons to celebrate the fact that a series is about to say goodbye. In that, there is a freedom that comes with the end being in sight, the kind where a television show can take incredible chances storytelling wise and do something powerful and stunning. Or it can outright just let loose with the narrative and move it at a breakneck and stunning pace, complete with resolution and progress at a level that no one expected. All because there’s nothing to lose and nothing to hold a writer’s room back and for proof that is the case, look no further than last night’s episode of Motherland: Fort Salem.
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For ‘The Price of Work’ is a story that wasted ZERO time in moving forward the plot. For instance, a question posed at the start of this story, specifically whether or not President Wade was aligned with the Camarilla, was also quickly answered in this tale. For a lovely dinner at the Bellweather estate, wherein the president and her attaché were Petra’s honored guests, allowed for the army to keep a close eye upon POTUS and even get up close and personal with her courtesy of Petra’s mother. All in the hopes of answering that question and well, in the end, it turned out that the president was indeed free from influence from the evil that threatened the future of the Witch Army, and it was quite amazing to see the show resolve this so quickly. 

Not to mention a grand fight between the once proud Bellweather Unit and the monster that is Hearst took place. Something that one might have expected to happen late in the season. But the reveal that the goop that was being used to harm the Mycelial Network, was being produced in the Cession, where Abigail and her friends had just arrived… proved to be the perfect opportunity to go after the Camarilla and attempt to stop their operations and well… this ragtag unit of soldiers, one without Raelle (more on that in a moment) were quite impactful in their work. Since they disrupted the operation, defeated a great deal of the enemy and they even managed to arrest and wound Hearst and bring him back to their camp. Which was also, just a wonderful surprise, one that really moved things along, and it made sense as to why.

Because this series is obviously, eager to get us to the finish line, and wrapping up matters such as this or putting the bad guys on the defensive… helps to set the stage for the end of the story. But also… so the show can get right into the other elements about this world that it wishes to explore. Since our heroes met the Marshals of the Cession. Whom just so happen to be Indigenous Americans and are quite in tune with magic, which gives them the ability to easily spot a witch. Also, so Raelle and her connection to the network can be explored further, so we can finally understand her purpose and her destiny when it comes to all of that. Which was set up here by having her plunge back into its waiting fungal arms. And by getting into that now, the show can undoubtedly once again… push through such matters in a satisfying manner so we can race to the finish line and enjoy what we are really all here to enjoy.

Which is of course… a final showdown with the Camarilla and the Witch Army. One that settles century old scores and judging from the fact that this series is absolutely wasting zero time in addressing any lingering plot issues and working to wrap up any new ones in a quick and dynamic manner… that’s definitely what we are going to get. But while we wait to see that come to life, we can in fact, bask in the wonder of a well-paced, satisfying tale. One that put a bad guy on the run and answered burning questions… and also let our heroes begin to come into their own as soldiers and featured a few surprises as well. Such as that necromancer moment and well, you cannot ask for much more than that from a show that is in the midst of saying goodbye and it will be quite amazing to see what other surprises await us as the third and final season of this delightful show, continues along. Until next time.  

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