We begin with a hooded figure in a cabin. Three people come and toss gold into a pot to melt, including Jonas, who we last saw leaving the Spree safehouse in the previous episode. The four are Spree, and they appear to be up to something a little different from the group’s usual antics.
Raelle and Tally, meanwhile, have arrived in the Chippewa Cession to spend the break with Raelle’s dad Edwin. They discuss what Esterbrook showed Tally, who has moved away from her trust in Alder and is worried about what she might make Raelle do with the Witchbomb. Abigail and Adil are at the Bellweather winter home in Annapolis ready to put their plan into action, but they’re surprised to see that Petra has invited a whole bunch of men as potential handfasting prospects for Abigail. Abigail’s three fathers are also there, and the sheer scope of her family takes Adil by surprise.
Edwin tells Tally the story of when Raelle was born; he had to get clearance to go onto the base where she gave birth, and was told that – as a civilian – he’d made his daughter weak. Willa stepped out of the room holding a newborn Raelle and said, “Does my daughter look weak to you?” Tally is loving the anecdote, but Raelle is still upset about Samhain and awkwardly excuses herself.
Scylla lets herself into Tiffany’s house and finds a gruesome scene. The Camarilla have murdered the young girl’s parents and cut out the voice of her mother, who must have also been a witch. Scylla and Anacostia disagree over where to take Tiffany for safety. Scylla wants to help Tiffany disappear with the Dodgers until she’s old enough to make her own choices, whereas Anacostia wants to take her to the army to become a Fosterling, as it’s the Camarilla she has to worry about rather than conscription. In the end, Scylla wins, but only because she magically knocks Anacostia unconscious.
Tally thinks Raelle should talk to her dad about Samhain, but Raelle doesn’t want to upset him, even though it’s her who’s clearly upset. Tally notices a truck parked outside Raelle’s house, and was also parked outside the diner they were in earlier. Raelle and Tally sneak up on them only to find out that they’re military sent to keep an eye on Raelle in case of danger. Elsewhere, Abigail protests that she doesn’t want to bring a child into the world right now, given the seriousness of the situation at hand.
Alder, furious that Anacostia let Scylla get the drop on her, removes her from the mission. She tells Petra to rescue any more children the Camarilla might have captive and bring them back to Fort Salem. Once Petra leaves, Alder softens a little, telling Anacostia she needs her back by her side.
Raelle takes Tally to meet Quinn, a fellow Fixer and Willa’s best friend. Also her cheapest babysitter for Raelle. Quinn tells Raelle that she saw Willa write her letters and that there was nothing but love on those pages. Raelle brings up Samhain, which confuses Quinn, as according to her the requested dead cannot refuse the call on the grounds of Fort Salem. Raelle is dismissive, theorizing that it’s more of a suggestion than a rule.
Adil is being gently interrogated by Abigail’s fathers at dinner. He shuts down questions about his suitability for continuing the Bellweather line, saying that’s not why he’s there, and he refuses to engage with the other suitor’s digs at him. Minerva, the head of the Bellweather household, makes her appearance. As does Petra, who is surprised and not best pleased to see Adil.
At the safehouse, Willa tucks Tiffany into bed, gently asking her if she can remember anything about where she was held by the Camarilla. The poor young girl can remember other kids being there, and that it was dark and smelled like dog food, but not a lot else. Willa Links with her and sees, through Tiffany’s eyes, that the Camarilla are holding multiple young girls in cages at a vet’s office.
Tally asks Quinn when the weaponized bottles first started showing up. Quinn says ’94 in Sudan – two years after the Martyrdom – and then in an unrelated conflict the next year in Belarus. As they walk out later that night, Tally starts to put the pieces together, that Nicte had to have taught that work to the people who used it, all before the first confirmed Spree attack in ’97; Tally thinks Nicte created the Spree.
Back at the cabin, Jonas is being strapped to a chair. The hooded figure reassures him that it’s okay to be scared, and that they’ll be with him till the very end. Jonas isn’t afraid anymore. We finally get to see the face of the hooded figure. Nicte Batan, founder of the Spree, in all her glory.
Abigail and Petra argue about the whole dinner affair, watched closely by Minerva, who speaks up to encourage Abigail to follow the fire in her eyes to the ends of the earth and to make her own mark on the world. That night, Abigail takes Adil to Charvel’s grave. Adil uses Work to raise Charvel’s hand from her grave, taking some of her blood to put into a vial while Abigail watches on. She tells Adil it’s time for them to hunt.
Tally is angry that Alder’s mistakes led to the two-decade conflict they’re in with the Spree. Not only that, but Alder has kept quiet about the origins of the Spree altogether, although she must have figured it out by now. Tally wants to do more than just survive; she wants to change things. She convinces Raelle to play guitar and sing, which Edwin overhears; Tally gives the two of them some privacy. Raelle finally breaks down in her dad’s arms, tearfully confessing that she and Willa fought just before Willa left for the last time. Raelle had told her that if she kept secrets from her then it meant she didn’t really love her, and now she wonders if those words were in Willa’s head when she died. Edwin reassures her that nothing could ever break their bond.
Izadora shows Alder and Anacostia a sample of the Witchplague from the train attack. The Camarilla have engineered it to become a self-sustaining hunter which can self-replicate. To make matters worse, apart from total incineration, Izadora has no idea how to destroy it. Immediately after this, Nicte’s plan is put into action. She pours the molten gold down Jonas’ throat, killing him, and the effects of the injury are shared with Alder. She clutches at her throat, collapsing screaming as her throat burns from the inside. After she wakes up, unable to speak, she’s told that she would’ve died if not for her biddies sharing the hit.
The Exarch strides up to the vet’s office unannounced, arousing the suspicion of the Camarilla operatives there, who activate their Work dampening tech. The Exarch’s face burns away, revealing Scylla, who has back-up in the form of Willa, who – out of range of the tech – makes short work of the guards. Once inside, they search for the other girls, only to find they’ve been moved. Scylla finds surveillance photos of Raelle on the wall.
At the Collar house, Raelle is knocked out with a dart – along with Tally and the military protection detail – and is kidnapped by the Camarilla. Tally can only watch as, in her last moments of consciousness, she watches Raelle be driven away.
Tropes Used:
- Badass in Distress: Raelle gets knocked out before she can Witchbomb her kidnappers.
- The Bus Came Back: One of the unnamed military women who gave demerits to Raelle and Scylla in the pilot episode returns as part of the team sent to keep an eye on Raelle. She even says that she remembers Raelle from basic. Ciro, Charvel's betrothed, also returns.
- Chekhov's Gag: Raelle, upon first talking to the military detail, tells them not to expect her to invite them in for coffee and cookies. Guess what she brings out to them at the end of the episode.
- Cool Old Lady: Minerva Bellweather proves herself to be this.
- Extra Parent Conception: Abigail has three fathers who all contributed the best of themselves to make her. Adil is confused as to how this works.
- Forced Sleep: Scylla does this to Anacostia so she can take Tiffany back to Willa rather than let the army get their hands on her.
- Foreshadowing: Nicte watches Alder through a POV shot incredibly close to her, foreshadowing that one of Alder's biddies is a Spree plant.
- Incredibly Obvious Tail: It doesn't take Tally and Raelle all that long to spot the truck that's been following them around.
- Involuntary Shapeshifting: Once again, Scylla's disguise is dispersed by the Camarilla tech.
- The Power of Glass: Willa Windstrikes a glass streetlamp, sending shards into the bodies of the Camarilla guards, which allows her and Scylla to gain entry to the vet's office.
- Rousing Speech: Minerva delivers an impressive one to the Bellweather women, reflecting on the sacrifices she's made, calling Petra out for empty promises, and encouraging Abigail in her endeavor to take the fight to the Camarilla.
- Selective Obliviousness: Despite Quinn telling her that the requested dead can't refuse to appear on Fort Salem, Raelle still doesn't consider the possibility that her mother is alive. Somewhat justified by her guilt over her last conversation with her mother clouding any rational thought she might’ve had otherwise.
- Slashed Throat: The fate of poor Tiffany's mother.
- Underhanded Hero: YMMV on where Scylla falls on the hero vs villain sliding scale, but she does resort to magically knocking Anacostia out to stop her taking Tiffany to the army.
