‘Motherland: Fort Salem’ Recap: ‘Up Is Down’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

When we last settled in to discuss the wondrous show, Motherland: Fort Salem, we spent a little time pondering upon how our trio of witches would handle the disturbing events they experienced in the last episode. For the Spree’s surprise attack at the Bellweather wedding, was horrific to say the least, since it gave these soldiers-in-training their first taste of real war and that can have a lasting impact on a young mind, one that’s never been around death. And really the big question hanging over the next episode in this fascinating series, is whether or not said episode would take the time to explore the fallout of that disastrous event and thankfully it did, in fascinating fashion.
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For ‘Up Is Down’ wasted no time in diving into the direct psychological impact of seeing such horrors. For Abigail was a shell of herself in this particular tale, since the death of her cousin and the horrible manner in which she died was more than her mind she could handle. But of course, she was expected to be a good solider and continue along with her training. But she is also a human being, one whose emotions cannot be contained. And it was simply powerful to watch her struggle with a touch of PTSD since she is the boldest character in her unit and what truly made this exploration worth our while, is the sheer fact that it extended beyond Abigail. 

Because Raelle was trying to figure out whether or not Scylla was still alive, and the unknown tore at her day and night. To the point where she was pushing her superiors to give her an answer, and she even went so far as to swing by the Necro Academy and speak to Scylla’s instructor in the hopes of getting closure. And unfortunately for Raelle, she did get that, in a bad way, when said instructor informed her that Scylla died in the storm. Which is news that quite frankly broke this brave and talented solider, to the point where she started to believe that Scylla was alive and trying to contact her and that remote possibility motivated her to fly to the lighthouse in the hopes that she would find Scylla waiting for her. But instead she only found her unit, who were quick to support her in a desperate time of need.

Yet while all of these moments were powerful and intriguing for certain, what would this show be without a little mystery? And thankfully that was present here as well. For the Necro Squad came to discover that the victims of Spree attacks were actually witches, of the Bellweather line to be exact. Something that brings up all kinds of implications related to revenge and of course, we would be remiss to not discuss the powerhouse closing moment of this tale. Wherein we learned that Raelle is right after all, and Scylla is indeed alive. But the only downside to what should be a delightful revelation, is that she is a captive of the Witch Army, and the General it would seem… has some questions for this spy.

If anything, it’s best to declare this particular tale as the best that season one has offered up to date. Because it put together some stunning revelations and more importantly, it featured some incredible performances from the cast. Because everyone was on point here, and you truly felt the pain and the worry of everyone that went through hell at that wedding, and that allowed for some powerful moments to play out, the kind where you definitely felt sympathy for Abigail and Raelle. And now that they’re starting to attempt to deal with their pain, it should be interesting to see how they handle the new challenges facing them, such as the discovery that Witch families are being targeted by the Spree, and that Scylla is alive and well. Until next time.

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