After only two weeks I feel the urge to declare "Salem" the best new show on television. Sure the critics hate it but I dont care. Will the love affair continue? Only time will tell. I do know that during this week's episode entitled "The Stone Child" toads were suckled and corpses were ground. Where else can ya find that on television? Nowhere!
The episode opens with Cotton once again at the Salem whorehouse. He sure spends a lot of time there. He wonders if he's killed an innocent man by pressing Giles to death. Why yes, he was innocent. Thanks for worrying but oops it's too late. John rudely barges in and threatens Mather. They then decide to go to the woods where John saw the witches cavorting. But before they can leave, John is arrested.
Issac takes Cotton into the woods. There he finds a hole in a tree. Inside is a severed hand with strange writing on it. Meanwhile Mary tells Hale to visit the seer to find out who was spying on them in the woods. We of course know it was John and Issac (but the witches do not). Later John and Mather are discussing what he saw. John finds something in a witch books. He apparently witnessed the Grand Rite (which is the most significant of all witch ceremonies). Mather says body parts are needed for such things. He suspects the witches are using the dead bodies that are dumped in the ditches outside of town. They are doing something called "corpse grinding". I dont know what that is and I dont want to know. John goes to the crags and finds Giles body. He wants to give him a proper burial.
Meanwhile Mercy, the poor demon possessed girl that we saw last episode, is now chained to a cross in the church. Does anyone in Salem find this peculiar? The town's women come and pray for Mercy's soul but no one matters to give her water or food. Bridget Bishop stands up to Mary but saying the Selectmen are just using Mercy's mental disorder in order to keep everyone frightened. Bridget, ya might want to keep a low profile around Mary. Just a thought.
Mary visits John in jail. She tells him to leave town or he will be hung. He says she should leave as well. She says she cant. I'm guessing it has to do with that pact with the Devil. John also refuses to leave. In fact he's running for town council and wants to be a Selectman.
While feeding her pet toad (dont ask), Mary tells Tituba that she only has to deliver 9 more souls before the full moon in order to complete her Grand Rite.Then what happens? Is she free? Mary says she knows where the next soul can come from. She smells death in one woman's womb when she was visiting Bridget the midwife. She later returns in the form of a demon while the woman is in labor. The child is stillborn. Bridget is blamed. There is a trial. To determine her guilt, they parade Bridget in front of Mercy (who is still hanging on the cross). Mary psychically makes Mercy vomit blood and nails all over Bridget. Well that hammered the nails in her coffin. Bridget is hung in a dramatic scene.
Meanwhile Petrus (the creepy seer in the woods) uses a lizard who's eyes were stitched shut to see who was in the woods. The outline begins to appear but we dont get the full image. I think it's going to be Issac.
Anne Hale doesn't know the her father is a witch (yet). She also doesnt like the shenanigans going around time and may be sweet on John. Uh, that's three strikes against her.. Mary gives Anne a freaky voodoo doll that appears to come to life. And end scene. I really hope Anne isnt killed by that doll. There arent a lot of people in Salem so ya might want to slow down on the killing if you expect to make it till the end of the season.
Goodies vs Baddies:
Goodies- John and Anne (she's next on Mary's hit list)
Baddies- Mary, Tituba, Hale, Petrus
Not Sure- Cotton (I guess he has a bit of both, he has good intentions but he's killing innocent people).
Favorite Quotes:
"Hell hath enlarged herself."- Cotton
"You remind me of someone I once knew."-John. "What happened to them?"-Anne. "I wish I knew."-John
"Results are all that matter, Mr. Hale!" Mary is a witch with determination.
"The devil is patient and so are his servants."- Mary (I think)
"I felt the presence of evil and I saw a foul hag and she was touching my belly."- mother of stillborn child.
"Witches are drive by two things-- lust and death."-Cotton Mather.
Grade: 4 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). Another excellent episode. Toads for everyone! Bonus points if you knew the into music is by Marilyn Manson.
TV: Heavy On Sci Fi, Horror & Adventure; Light On Reality
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