Motherland: Fort Salem 2×07 Review: “Irrevocable”

Raelle goes through a harrowing experience at the hands of the Camarilla as a rescue mission comes together in “Irrevocable”.

“Irrevocable” picks up right where “My 3 Dads” left off, as Raelle (Taylor Hickson) wakes up in the clutches of the Camarilla. She spends most of the episode strapped to a table as Camarilla leader Alban Hearst (Bob Frazer) spends the episode killing her repeatedly in different ways in order to test the limits of her powers. Alban is a chilling villain, and each death is gruesome and painful to watch. Hickson’s performance does a good job at showing the trauma of the ordeal. The moments of death find Raelle in a bizarre mycelium spirit world, a narrative device that is a bit off-putting but an interesting way to show Raelle’s reactions as each death takes a bigger toll on her.

Scylla (Amalia Holm) and Willa (Diana Pavlovska) immediately begin to search for Raelle upon finding out that the Camarilla has kidnapped her. The two work together well as they find and infiltrate the facility where Raelle is being held. The best moment between the two is a conversation where they discuss Raelle, their choices regarding her, and how much they both love her. It’s an emotional moment that proves how much they care about Raelle while also showing how strong the bond between the two of them has grown over the course of the season.

Meanwhile, Abigail (Ashley Nicole Williams) and Adil (Tony Giroux) use the blood they acquired in the last episode to hunt down the Camarilla. Between a moment of experiencing civilian prejudice towards witches and Adil’s struggle with the pacifist nature of his tribe, they move further towards breaking tradition and doing what needs to be done to protect witches. Adil’s transformation from non-violence to helping Abigail infiltrate and attack the Camarilla while showing off some new abilities is enjoyable to watch.

The facility they end up with is also where Raelle is being held, though they don’t know it at first. Once inside, Abigail manages to finally get her revenge against her cousin Chervel’s killer, in a satisfying but incredibly gory moment. Adil joining the fight to protect Abigail from another Camarilla member is also a great end to the fight. As soon as the two discover that Raelle has been kidnapped and is being held in the facility, they rush to rescue her, running into Scylla and Willa in the process.

Once Willa and Scylla find Raelle, they discover that the Camarilla have given Raelle a deadly substance that acts like a symbiote that is relentless in killing her. Determined to save her daughter, Willa decides to sacrifice herself for Raelle and absorbs the deadly substance herself. Raelle and Willa share a heartfelt moment in the spirit world as Willa says both hello and goodbye to Raelle. While the moment was emotional and heartbreaking, it was disappointing that Raelle finding out that her mother was alive took place a mere couple of seconds before losing her again for good. For as much as they’ve dragged out this revelation for this season, it’s underwhelming that the reveal wasn’t as big of a moment for Raelle and that she didn’t have time to process the revelation or have the chance to have a real discussion with Willa about the decision to fake her death and become a member of the Spree.

Thankfully, the reunion between Raelle and Scylla seems more promising as Scylla, with the help of Abigail and Adil, carry an unconscious Raelle to safety before Adil destroys the Camarilla hideout. Both Abigail’s protectiveness of Raelle and Scylla’s devotion to Raelle as Scylla insists on coming with them are great. It will be interesting to see how Scylla will be integrated back with the rest of the cast in the remaining episodes. The sequence is a satisfying end to the rescue and the episode’s final image of Raelle waking with Scylla at her bedside will lead to a long overdue conversation about everything that has happened since they last saw each other.

While Tally (Jessica Sutton) doesn’t get as much to do as Abigail and Scylla in “Irrevocable”, she still has some strong moments. She begins the episode by comforting Raelle’s father Edwin (Hrothgar Mathews) and later confronts General Alder (Lyne Renee) about viewing Raelle as solely a weapon. Tally’s defense of Raelle is great to watch, and it’s exciting to see her confront Alder. However, her finest moment involves her thwarting another assassination attempt on Alder by Nicte (Arlen Aguayo-Stewart), setting up an impending confrontation between Nicte, Alder, and Tally.

“Irrevocable” is packed with both exciting action sequences, heart-wrenching death sequences and emotional moments. While Raelle finding out the truth about her mother didn’t quite reach its potential, many of the other moments delivered. It will be interesting to see how the confrontations with Nicte and the Camarilla progress and what else lies in store for the Bellweather unit in the rest of the season and potentially beyond.

Author: Jessica Wolff

Jessica Wolff is a graduate of Drexel University with a BS in Film/Video. She has a passion for entertainment and representation in entertainment. She currently resides outside of Washington, DC.

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