Motherland: Fort Salem 3×10 Review: “Revolution Part 2”

“Motherland: Fort Salem” concludes with a game-changing final battle for Fort Salem in series finale, “Revolution Part 2.”

After a double wedding in “But I Don’t Even Have a Dress…,” the unit leaps into a final battle with the Camarilla in “Revolution Part 2.” In addition to wrapping up the series, the finale provides possibilities for more adventures in the future. Though the finale has a couple of good moments, it was ultimately disappointing.

Picking up where the last episode left off, the Camarilla launch their attack on Fort Salem while the unit rushes into action to save the base. Anacostia’s (Demetria McKinney) speech to the unit about how she’s always seen their potential, followed by a hug between her, Raelle (Taylor Hickson), Abigail (Ashley Nicole Williams), Tally (Jessica Sutton), and Scylla (Amalia Holm) is one of the episode’s highlights.

Unfortunately, the moment is ruined moments later when a truck flies into Anacostia during battle, killing her instantly. Though Anacostia can push Petra (Catherine Lough Haggquist), Sterling (Luc Roderique), and Gregorio (Praneet Akilla) out of the way, she is unable to avoid the impact. The death is hard to accept, especially since a highly-trained soldier wouldn’t just freeze as a giant object is flying towards her.

Furthermore, Anacostia was a compelling character and she deserved better. After everything she’s been through, she deserved to live a life surrounded by the people she loved. The show manages to have Izadora (Emilie Leclerc) survive having her throat slit in last week’s episode and Alder is resurrected in the same episode that she supposedly died. Though casualties were likely in the final battle, it doesn’t make sense that Anacostia is the only one who can’t be brought back to life.

Meanwhile, Scylla helps Raelle around Fort Salem as she continues to feel the effects of the Mycelium attack. As the unit battles against the Camarilla, Raelle’s witch bomb knocks out Scylla and Adil (Tony Giroux). While Raelle being sidelined for episodes due to Hickson’s accident was an unfortunate necessity, Raelle not being able to fight alongside Abigail and Tally is a horrible way to end the series’ final battle. Additionally, Scylla and Adil are also sidelined for most of the final episode for no good reason.

With Raelle, Scylla, and Adil sidelined for much of the episode, Gregorio takes a much bigger role in the final battle. His connection with Tally grows even more. While I’m not opposed to the idea of Tally and Gregorio, the writing in this episode tried to make him a love interest on par with Scylla and Adil. While we’ve seen and rooted for the development between Raelle and Scylla and Abigail and Adil over the series, Tally and Gregorio are barely developed, and their moments in the episode are not earned.

To make things worse, Gregorio becomes the third member of the trio momentarily in the fight against the Camarilla in the place of the sidelined Raelle. It also doesn’t make sense that M couldn’t be a part of the final battle. Though they now are security for President Wade, it would have been great to see them also appear in the final battle. In fact, M is nowhere to be seen in the episode and it would have been nice for them to have one more moment with the unit.

Despite all of that, seeing Tally and Abigail team up against the Camarilla is another highlight of the episode. Though the Camarilla temporarily disable the witches with technology that mutes sound, Nicte (Kandyse McClure) saves them with her army of bats. Nicte’s grand entrance and attack on the Camarilla is another highlight in the fight.

During the battle, Raelle limps over to the Mycelium and manages to open a portal inside. The rest of the unit climbs inside, and Tally begins to understand her vision. Raelle isn’t meant to destroy the world but heal it by spreading the first song globally with her witch bomb. Alder (Lyne Renee), having spent much of the episode looking for the final steward of the first song, arrives with the other stewards and her discovery.

Abigail’s ancestor, whose history was lost over the years, was the final steward of the first song. This subsequently makes Abigail the final steward. The reveal is awesome, and apparently provides the explanation for the union of earth and sky that has been teased throughout the season. However, the show had made huge implications that Adil was involved in this union, so the fact that the union appears to be only inside Abigail is confusing.

As Silver (Victor Webster) addresses the nation and attempts to stake his rightful claim on the presidency, Izadora slips a bit of the Penelope (Mellany Barros) rain into Alban’s (Bob Frazer) coffee. The witch plague-infested Penelope absorbs Alban and then manifests in front of Sliver. Silver attempts to apologize to Penelope, but she and the witch plague engulf him as well. Though it would have been nice to see the unit end Alban and Silver, it’s still satisfying to see Penelope get her own revenge on her father.

Back in the Mycelium, the stewards perform the first song and Raelle releases the witch bomb that enhances its impact. Though the effects of the witch bomb are not immediately clear, Raelle’s subsequent healing of Scylla and Adil and the reunion hugs between Raelle and Scylla, Abigail, Adil, and Khalida (Kylee Brown), and Tally and Alder end the sequence wonderfully.

The group reuniting outside Fort Salem and mourning Anacostia provides a necessary moment for both the characters and the audience to grieve. However, it’s unfortunate that we don’t get to see a full-fledged funeral for one of the series’ best characters. Alder’s brief reunion with Nicte, who transforms into her original face (Arlen Aguayo-Stewart), provides a good scene of closure between the two. Though McClure has done a good job as Nicte this season, it’s great to see Aguayo-Stewart return to the role one last time.

With Tally’s sight returned to her, it soon becomes clear that the entire world has been changed by the first song. The Mycelium, speaking through Alder, tells them that the song has turned the entirety of humanity into witches and that the three are now goddess stewards of the Mycelium. Though it’s satisfying to see the trio will be revered as heroes, it doesn’t feel like the song turning everyone into witches is a sensible resolution. Alban getting a witch implant didn’t stop him from trying to kill witches and a lot of both Camarilla and civilians wouldn’t be happy about being turned into witches without their consent.

Furthermore, there’s no real resolution between the series’ central conflict about witches being forced to serve in the army. How does everyone becoming witches affect this and what will the world look like going forward? Though it’s great to see the focus on Raelle, Abigail, and Tally as a united unit at the end, the fact that so much time was spent this season establishing Scylla as a fourth member of the unit makes her not appearing alongside the three at the end strange. Also, it would have been great to see the unit get some much-needed rest (and honeymoons) before immediately being thrust into their next mission.

Though some of the issues of “Revolution Part 2” can be explained by creator Eliot Laurence’s multi-season plan being cut short due to Freeform’s cancellation of the series, there are still other issues that had nothing to do with being rushed. Regardless, the series has delivered exceptional world building and character development throughout, and I would have loved to see more seasons. Even though the finale wasn’t my favorite, I still enjoyed following the journey of Raelle, Abigail, and Tally.

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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