After a night of ecstasy, Mary tells Dr. Samuel to burn all his doctoral findings because what she has to offer him is way better. He reluctantly obliges but in the process, burns the Mallum in his fireplace. Mary rubs it in Tituba’s face and has her dispose of Increase Mather’s maggot-filled head. Mary’s floating on cloud nine but she’s about to come back down to Earth very quickly-her son John is missing. At once, Countess Marburg is there to have a little chat with Mary about it. She says that by tomorrow night when the comet shoots through the sky, John will be baptized in some kind of bloody river of Hell. Mary begins sobbing big tears. She must either go to the Crags to baptize him herself or the Countess will bathe in her blood (like she has so many others).
Give me back my son, or this witch war won’t be fun.
In the midst of all this, the Magistrate (the new one), Mr. Hawthorn, comes in and tries to have Cotton Mather banished again. Cotton says he has proof of witches, and the men release him. We all know the Mag is just pissed that Cotton is with Anne Hale now. But Cotton says Dr. Samuel will attest to this: The Crags look like that of the La Brea Tar Pits now, only in this black murk, there is a portal to Hell. The only problem is Dr. Samuel is now under Mary’s wicked, sexy spell, so when they go to him, he says the Crags are nothing, they saw nothing, and that the pox is totally okay now. Cotton will take the Magistrate to the Crags to show him the truth himself, because he can’t fucking believe this!
In the woods, the men traipse over the dead birds, but the Crag is back to the way it was prior to Hell showing up. Cotton is like, “You guys, it’s the witches.” Dr. Samuel explains that his mind has been playing vicious tricks. But somewhere in that man’s little heart, there’s a glimmer of recognition-that Cotton is right-he sold his soul to Mary Sibley and now he’ll have to pay the inevitable price once she’s done with him. What’s up now, Doc?
Mary tries to reason with Sebastian Marburg about her son. Sebastian says he wants Mary, and that he’s super jealous about seeing her do the nasty with Dr. Samuel the night before. Dr. Samuel arrives just as Mary tells Sebastian he can have her. Sebastian is wearing a seriously fierce red leather cape/dress/man suit. Sebastian telepathically delivers Mary a message, and then she tells Dr. Samuel the truth: that Sebastian is one of her and that he can talk freely. It’s an strategically placed move on Sebastian’s part, but why?
Dr. Samuel’s eyes light up like he’s talking to his buddies at a slumber party-ooohing and ahhhing over the mystifying scene back at the Crags where the Hellish black tar was gone and Cotton was taken away like a mad man. Sebastian refers to it as “glamoring” (could this be an early mind-control feature that landed itself eventually in True Blood’s Bon Temps, Louisiana?). Sebastian tells Dr. Samuel that he’ll lead him to the woods for his initiation. Sebastian silently says, “You can’t save everyone.” Mary looks stricken, because she actually likes Dr. Samuel and doesn’t want him to die so they can go back into the Heavens of Cosmic Sex Land.
Two men, one Mary, better make a choice before things get hairy.
Anne Hale is finally able to read her father’s Book of Shadows. He speaks of an event that is going to suck, really bad. That’s because he’s not there anymore to teach her his ways and lessons (because she killed him!) His final words ring out, “Know you are not alone.” Anne puts her best-scared Anne face on.
Out in the woods, Sebastian leads Dr. Samuel out to the woods-noticing he isn’t acting afraid. He makes sure he wants to “go through with this” (not that he has a choice, right?) At the Crag, the “glamoring” is off and we can see the bubbling tar. Sebastian pushes Dr. Samuel down into the Crag where he will surely go straight to Hell (because the Crag is the portal.) And just when I was starting to like this ruffled-collared chap.
We haven’t brought out the broomstick in months, I’ve come down with the mumps.
Here it is. The moment we’ve been waiting for. Mary confronts Tituba about their relationship. She wants to know why Tituba hasn’t been a better friend. Tituba talks about being Mary’s slave since she was a little girl. But what they’re really talking about is Mary’s son. Tituba says she sold him to the Devil, like she was sold. Tituba says Mary needs to harden her heart in order to handle all of this, but Mary won’t. So, the fight is on. Mary could kill Tituba right now if she wants. But as she has her up against the wall with a knife to her heart, Tituba utters the words, “John Alden is still alive.” Mary spares Tituba in an instance. Say what? She goes straight into John’s torture chamber. She has no idea that he hates her so much. She tells him about their son, and that he’s about to be killed. She says he should go ahead and kill her. But we ALL know John Alden won’t. She unties him and he holds a knife to her like she just did to Tituba. Mary is a woman with nothing left; her powers seem insignificant.
I thought you were dead, let’s get back in bed.
This little reunion between Mary and John Alden shows just how grownup Mary’s become and how far gone John Alden has become. But their presence alone somehow creates even larger truths and even more love. John Alden is mystified by the idea that they have a son. His mission is shifting now. She shows him their son’s room and tells him all about John and how she feels and what’s happened over the last seven years. Whatever John Alden thinks of Mary, she begs him to save their son first. It’s clearly an offer he can’t refuse.
Anne’s father is showing her control through his writings. Her face is changing now as she can see the ways she can give and take life-through simply her will. This is her gift and her curse. Suddenly, Anne is out in the woods. Is she going to meet the Devil himself? Yep, that’s definitely the Devil. He’s trying to rape her, which her father told her could not be evaded. But as this happens, Cotton is trotting along on the road in his couch and hears her faint cries. He doesn’t go to Anne. Was her love spell not strong enough?
Look up at the sky, it’ll be your last before you die!
Mary and John Alden are talking about how they’ll ambush the Countess. Mary says she’ll at “the bitch’s ship” while John Alden positions himself. The Countess is cooing over the little boy as they look up into the stars at the comet. The townspeople of Salem see the comet and gasp in horror. To them, it’s a terrible sign. Thankfully, it’ll distract them enough from the witches’ ways. Tituba is now in John Alden’s place-tied up in case she tries anything crazy. And Mary stands at her doorstep crying, because she’s not totally sure how she’s going to get her son back. And how on Earth is depleted John Alden going to help?
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