‘See’ Recap: ‘The Family Dinner’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘See’.
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When we last settled in to discuss the wondrous and fascinating Apple TV series, See, we talked at length about how the story in question, spent a lot of time examining how reunions aren’t always a pleasant experience. For it really did a deep dive on how they can evoke old memories that bother us and can be quite sour in nature and well, there’s good reason to revisit that particular examination today. Because as it turns out, the writers’ room of this series, saw an opportunity to continue to dive deeper into such a concept. Because the reunion really can be quite the dynamic and supremely sour experience for certain, depending on who is attending and what their intentions are, and the endless possibilities that can come out of that, is precisely why the reunion took the center stage once again in this week’s episode.
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A feat that the ‘The Family Dinner’ accomplished, by having Baba Voss and his troupe of travelers arrive in Pennsa at last. Which meant he would finally be reunited with his family and Haniwa could hold her mother and brother and again and at first… the joy of reunions was explored in this tale. For the Voss family was indeed able to embrace and celebrate in the wonder of reunion and of the bonds that a true family shares. But alas, that joy simply wasn’t meant to last. For Queen Kane quickly interjected herself into the moment, as she had a right to do since she too is technically family, but her strange mindset and outright rudeness helped the reunion to quickly sour when the family dinner in question came around. For not only was Baba Voss forced to dine with Maghra’s new husband, but he was forced to learn what the queen had planned for the future.

Which was indeed supremely upsetting because she was putting someone that he held near and dear in great danger. Since there was a plan to have a peace summit between Trivantes and Pennsa and who better to negotiate prosperity than Princess Magrah herself and of course, Baba had little faith in the plan, and he firmly believed that the Pennsa delegation would suffer on this journey as well. A concern that grew with every waking word the Queen spoke since she hinted greatly at trying to flex muscles she didn’t have at the conference, an act that would lead to the war she’s been clearly planning for ages now. If anything, this really was more than Baba could bear in the moment and that motivated him to leave the meal early, to sulk and seethe and really in the end, this segment did a wonderful job of hammering home the fact that sometimes, the rotten apples in our families can indeed make a wonderful reunion an emotional chore and sadly, the only way to put an end to that, is unity against them. Something that is impossible in Pennsa since the pain in the rear in the Voss family, is royalty. 

But all deeper analysis aside, there was good reason for Baba to be worried and concerned and angry about everything he heard in this tale. For back in Trivantes, war preparations were getting underway since Edo saw this peace conference as a grand opportunity to teach the queen and her delegation a lesson. In fact, he appears to be so eager for war, that he might have been behind the horrifying headless message that was sent to Lord Harlan at the end of this tale and that, along with the queen’s aforementioned plans, made it appear as though Baba’s fears that his family will suffer will come true. But not all is lost. For Maghra is making moves behind the scenes to curtail her sister’s wild plans and if that means that Queen Kane must be removed in some form or fashion to keep the peace… well then so be it. But those moves will have to come quickly. For Kane is clearly losing her mind and is going to great lengths to execute whatever wild plans are in her broken brain quickly… as evidenced by that supremely unsettling ending. 

If anything, this really was quite the incredible episode when all is said and done. Simply because it offered up quite the epic moment since that reunion is something that we’ve been waiting for, for ages now. And while the queen might have sullied it with her utter madness, the significance of it cannot be ignored. For this family is and will forever be stronger together and when they are unified, they can accomplish wonders and that’s a good thing for the future of Pennsa. Because let’s be honest, the queen has her new kingdom on a collision course with disaster once more, and she clearly has no qualms with deadly failure and renewal, and it will take a strong force to stop her and the Voss family… might be that force in question. Which means that the wait for next week’s episode is going to be a difficult one. Since we are all now eager to see if Baba and Maghra can stop the machinations of mad monarch and find peace in the process. Until next time.  

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