It was little surprise that developments worked out poorly for the fugitive witches.
The big question remaining at the end of Motherland: Fort Salem Season 3 Episode 3 was whether they were better or worse off than before.
The problem has been that the Bellweather Trio, especially the two Tarim, weren’t prepared for life on the run.
Raelle at least was aware of the Dodger culture in The Cession. But since Mycelium Mom Willa was treating her condition, Raelle was unavailable to offer her perspective.
Scylla was forced to take the lead because Nicte’s first instinct always was to attack, which is not a great strategy when you’re outgunned in foreign territory. Nor when you have a missing, young team member.
There was no choice but to split up, with Scylla and Nicte distracting the marshals so the others could search for Khalida.
They could have stayed together, but Scylla didn’t have a full pack of Salva for everyone. Still, her and Nicte being decoys while the prize targets, Abigail and Tally, escaped was the right call.
The major obstacle was that Scylla and Nicte both had strong personalities and were bound to disagree.
Also, Scylla was understandably concerned about what was going on with Raelle, and she spent too much effort trying to reach Raelle when she should have been looking over her shoulder for the marshals.
So it was little surprise that Scylla, already on edge, and Nicte, mainly lacking in people skills, ended up brawling, so the marshals didn’t even have to sneak up on them.
They did manage to determine how Horse was tracking them, following their works, and managed to divert him once or twice. But that was too little too late in the long run.
If the marshals could capture the experienced fugitives, it was no shock that they could pick up the trail and catch up to the newbies, who didn’t know enough to keep moving.
It was a hoot to watch Adil try to levitate on Salva. You would have thought the Tarim had some similar magic.
He was much steadier when he hit solid ground and got his hands on that magical Tarim compass. He seemed surprised to discover Khalida was moving quickly away from them.
But how to pinpoint where exactly Khalida was? If only they had somebody who could see into the future.
Oh, that’s right! They had Tally. Her powers are strong but erratic at best. She issues a warning about the results every time she uses them.
Fortunately, they worked this time. Tally saw that Khalida was at a roadhouse, exactly where you’d expect to find a young pre-teen escaping marshals.
But we’ve all suspected Khalida is an old soul in a young body. Who can say how much magical knowledge she has that hasn’t been accessed yet? She could become a significant factor in the upcoming war with the Camarilla.
The roadhouse was precisely what one would expect to find in The Cession. There was no Patrick Swayze, but there was a big surprise instead.
Where else would a resurrected Sarah Alder pop up but a Cession road house slinging shots to her former soldiers? That made perfect sense.
Even freakier was what brought Alder to the roadhouse. She sought the dive’s singer Elayne, who didn’t know she was a witch but had been working with stolen songs for decades.
Somehow this collector of magical tchotchkes had gotten her hands on the first song (remember the witches singing it way back when?), and Alder wanted to get it back.
Why? It’s probably crucial to the upcoming war with the Camarilla. So the fact it’s in the pocket of the captive Tally probably isn’t a positive development.
Elayne had some skills. It was amusing to watch the fugitive witches dance to her song, snapping out of it when the music ended.
Tally fell back into her former stuttering self out of the shock of seeing Alder alive again. Before long, they were back working together, rummaging through Elayne’s trailer for the missing song.
Unfortunately, the witches got caught, except for the disappearing Alder. And who killed Elayne and removed her voicebox? Is there a Camarilla among the marshals? Also, whose side are the marshals on since Horse took his captives to a mansion, not jail?
Anacostia and Izadora brought President Wade up to speed about all the Camarilla hidden in her administration.
And when Wade moved up her address to out them, you knew she wasn’t long for this world.
Somehow, the Camarilla snuck in using the old camera-crew trick again. After that explosion, Wade sure looked in bad shape.
Does this mean Camarilla V.P. Silver will be moved up immediately into her role? If so, things are looking worse for the witches.
Hearst’s star continued to fall among the Camarilla. After he gimped back to his office/hideout, Kara reprimanded him for making the Camarilla look bad with the chemical plant fiasco.
He appeared to relish her abuse.
After that, he performed a bizarre ritual in his evil-looking lab. Is that what the captured witches have to look forward to?
To revisit Alder’s resurrection, watch Motherland: Fort Salem online.
On whose side are the marshals?
What part will the witches’ legacy play in the upcoming battle?
What will Alder’s role be?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
