Motherland: Fort Salem Review: A Tiffany (Season 2 Episode 3)

Raelle hones in on her newfound skillset, Abigail tries to create new work, and Tally experiences an upsetting flashback. Meanwhile, Anacostia and Scylla make a breakthrough on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 2 Episode 3, “A Tiffany.”

Expectations are increasing more and more for Raelle, Tally, and Abigail as they try to master their skills somewhat, all the while dealing with Matrimonial Season. Abigail’s frustration during this time is understandable because of how aggressive The Imperative is coming off.

It’s common knowledge that Abigail is the last of the Bellweather line who can provide offspring, but Abigail isn’t into being forced into doing something. An arranged marriage does not fit into Abigail’s idea of a perfect marriage, and it’s nice to see her not back down from her stance.

It’s hard not to feel bad for Abigail. She’s had expectations of what War College is supposed to be like since being a young girl, and now that things aren’t going as planned, it’s all overwhelming. She’s being pushed to the edge with the current amount of stress she’s dealing with, and her attempting a new work by herself is her leaping.

Determination should never outshine knowledge and rational decisions, but all things are out the window for Abigail and her risking her voice proves it. While she may be perfecting her weather working perfectly in training, that doesn’t mean she should be advanced in the skill already, unlike what she may think.

Hopefully, Adil can talk some sense into Abigail before she becomes too far gone because him sticking around and watching her kill herself doesn’t seem logical. He is anti-war and does not agree with the army’s stance, and he certainly doesn’t agree with her risking her life just to figure out new destruction magic.

Adil loves Abigail immensely, but in the end, that could be what ruins everything for him and Khalida. Based on Abigail’s actions so far, I sense some possible foreshadowing. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that by the end of the season, Adil will have shared his secret of becoming invisible with Abigail.

Now, I’m not saying that she would immediately go to Alder with the new work, but part of me believes that she would betray Adil and share it with the military. Right now, all she believes in is extreme measures, so if she thinks that sharing that information will help them take down the spree, then I believe she won’t give it more than three thoughts. Love or not, the military runs through her veins.

Alder’s presence is still annoying as ever as she continues to get away with doing whatever she pleases. In season 1, we see her mimic the president on live television, giving herself the authority to do whatever she sees fit to extinguish the spree. Now, she’s put influence over the president again, forcing her to sign in new laws that force all women of inscription age all over the country to get tested for powers.

It can’t be said that Alder mimic’d the president this time around, but there’s no mistake that she used some sort of magic to change President Wade’s mind at the immediate moment. Her actions speak volumes to how Alder believes that nobody can stop her from doing what she see’s fit and how she isn’t scared of who might see.

Alder using magic on the president, clear as day right in front of Petra, is not a good idea and one that may come back to bite her in the rear. The Vice President may not be aware of what happened in front of his eyes, but Petra is, and all it does is add fuel to the flame inside her.

However, while I might like Petra more than Alder, that does not mean that I trust her entirely. She’s part of the training being conducted with Raelle at the moment, and it hasn’t lost my mind that she didn’t like Raelle until after she brought Abigail home safely. Petra must still be watched closely instead of giving blind allegiance.

The Mycelium storyline continues to get more interesting as the season progresses. We now know that She (Mycelium) is connected with Raelle and has formed a symbiosis. With this symbiosis comes a network of voices that reside in Raelle’s larynx, allowing her to sing seeds that have never been heard before.

Raelle is an unbelievably powerful individual and was so before the Mycelium, but could there be a specific reason why the Mycelium chose her out of everyone? Was she chosen, or did all of this happen because she touched it and allowed it to keep in contact with her skin, allowing it to be absorbed?

Anacostia and Scylla’s team-up is still one of the best decisions made for the season because their good-cop bad-cop chemistry is superb. The school testing reveal is insane because who knows how long it’s been going on for, where the tests are concentrated, or what do they do with the children revealed to be witches. 

Things have the potential to get ugly real quick for Anacostia and Scylla now that Jack has made them, which means he’ll more than likely become a full-time hostage. It’s not a smart move for Scylla to get caught so early on in their investigation because now they’re going to be on the Camarilla’s radar no matter what. 

The writers for Motherland: Fort Salem do an impeccable job of weaving storylines together and connecting them in just the right ways. It genuinely makes me curious about what they have up their sleeve for the rest of the season.

The only critique I would have for this episode is the lack of time spent on Tally’s storyline. I’m sure Penelope will begin to play a more extensive picture later on in the season, but right now, I’m more focused on Tally figuring out the truth about Nicte.  

What did you think of this episode of Motherland: Fort Salem? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Motherland: Fort Salem airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on Freeform.

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