Salem really stacked on the action in this episode. Nearly everyone (except for Mercy) made waves, got into trouble, almost got caught, pointed the finger, or found themselves at the doorway to death. Cotton Mather’s father, Increase Mather, begins to generate mass hysteria and the people’s faith-in him. He is hunting in every corner for signs of witchcraft.
Upon entering the brothel, Cotton and Gloriana are finishing up their sexy time and Cotton hides under the bed from Increase. Uh oh! He leaves his Bible out, but Gloriana pretends it’s hers (yeah right, G.) Increase barges into the room and suspiciously eyes her, but he just knows Cotton is involved. Downstairs, he meets Mab, head of the brothel and closet witch. She tells him she has nothing to hide, but then he goes and finds her secret stash of crystals behind the fireplace mantel. Clever hiding spot, why didn’t I think of that? The Magistrate fears that Mab well tell Increase about the other witches. He forms a plan.
Mary enlists Isaac (a face we haven’t seen in a minute) to take her husband George to Boston, to keep him away Increase. John Alden stands outside watching as Isaac rides away and gives Mary a look that says, “Girl, I still want you.”
Meanwhile at the docks, Mab is being dunked into the water like she’s at a county fair. Only, the pitcher is Increase, and he’s out for blood-or at the very least, the name of another witch. At the very last minute, she does name someone, but it’s Gloriana! Cotton tries to convince his father of her innocence, which just proves he’s got the hots for her, no use in hiding their romantic trysts any longer. Maybe this should be a lesson in shame and truth for Cotton. Increase says that Cotton can perform the examination on the accused-to look for the Devil’s markings, proof that she is a witch or not. Mostly, it just turns into a gross sexualizing of Gloriana, in which Increase asks Cotton to de-robe her so that he can stare at her boobs for an extra minute. Really, Increase? That’s desperate, sad, and I hope you never get laid, even though it’s roughly clear you need to.
Out on the road, Isaac notices George is making a strange sound from inside the coach, but then they get into an accident, causing the couch to tip over on its side and fling Isaac onto the ground. George stabs his belly and takes the toad out. You’d think somewhere, Mary Sibly would be made aware of this through her powers, but all that’s happening at the Sibly residence is another visit from John Alden, who presses Mary up against a wall. The dude will not take no for an answer. He’s clearly still feeling the effects of those vivid dreams he was having.
Anne Hale is a sharp crayon, and I suddenly really, really like her. She’s totally aware of the fact that her father, the Magistrate, is full of secrets. What I appreciate about Salem are the dynamics that can’t be ignored: Where there is a hive, there is hive mind, and you have the hive of witches, who will stop at nothing to make sure no one messes with their Grand Rite, the hive of persecutors like Increase who damn everyone that looks at them twice, and the hive of impressionable onlookers who will take whatever they hear as the truth and ask no questions. Increase tells Cotton that they are truth-seekers. But the method is obviously ass backwards, because “truth” in Salem is about as clear as the grain alcohol they serve in the town bar. Also, was I the only one who thought there would be a giant handprint on Gloriana’s butt when Cotton was searching for markings? Let’s not forget their afternoon delight.
Imagine if someone’s dad showed up in your town, started running around stirring up skepticism and fear, set up camp and took power in his hands, sending one woman into the murky depths of the Salem bay and another into a hay-filled prison cell. The Mather family is terrible, but Cotton is clearly the lesser of two evils in this holy reunion. These men go around using the word of God to get what they want, and now it’s obvious that Increase doesn’t care one way or another if Gloriana is a witch-he simply doesn’t believe she’s good enough for his son. Frankly, he’s just a lonely old man who probably could have hit it off with Mab if he were a legit nice guy.
Out in the woods, Isaac finds George badly injured and George begs him to go get help. He can speak! (Because, duh, the toad is out of his belly now, so the spell Mary put on him won’t work). He asks Isaac to find Increase and say nothing to Mary. Isaac is like, “You branded me as a ‘fornicator.’ Do you not remember that?” Why should he help George now? (By the way, on the WGN Salem website, there’s a new quiz where you can find out what character from Salem you are most like, and I got Isaac. Take that how you will.) Isaac finds John Alden instead of Increase or Mary, and John tells him to do nothing.
Increase ultimately decides not to kill Gloriana, because he realizes the witches tricked him and only named her as a distraction, but she is banished from Salem for her sins, anyway. He gives Cotton some ridiculous speech about how he removed temptation from his path, and then he ends up in the bar and sees Isaac and asks him if he’s the young man who transported George Sibly. I’m really beginning to think Increase has some clairvoyant powers because he seems to know everything-that Cotton was hiding under Gloriana’s bed, that John Alden only came to him to try to convince him to spare Gloriana, that Isaac is struggling with the decision to leave George for dead or get Increase’s help. Ugh, nothing gets past this man! Now he’s on the move with a gaggle of men to try to find George, alive.
Tituba is already on the path though, having cast a spell over the toad, also known as the familiar-which magically shows up at Mary’s bedside. They must find George before the men do.
Tituba arrives in the woods to see that Petrus made it in time-giving George an elixir he says will help aid him. Instead, he begins to foam at the mouth and passed out. It’s too late for Tituba to escape the scene, and Increase arrives, taking note that George is not simply dying, he’s under a spell. Will he accuse Tituba now? Or will Petrus be to blame? What is Anne telling John Alden about her father? What will Mary do to prevent her husband from talking when he wakes up? Will Cotton ever see Gloriana again? Who is going to stop Increase once and for all? Surely, not Mab-she kills herself in her prison cell. That’s two witches down.
Tune in next week for another episode of Salem, and follow me on Twitter @the_hoff.
