Salem Episode 11 Recap: Smackdown In The Woods

io9.com

Yes I know I'm A Bad Ass

We're nearing the end of season 1 of "Salem" with only two episodes to go. In "Cat and Mouse" Mary and Increase continue to circle each other. I'm not sure who will be the victor.

John Alden spends most of this episode locked in a cell. He remained fully clothed throughout (which is a big change for him). He usually has at least one shirtless scene per episode. Mary tries to break him out of jail but he refuses.

Hale has a heart to heart with Anne. We also see a flashback of him as a boy. His parents were burned as witches. He also tells Anne she is a witch. Now she cant tattle on him to Increase... or can she?

There were no sightings of Tituba this week. Bummer. Mercy's teenage witch pals are being tortured in the House of Pain. Increase throws scalding water on them. All things considered, they're holding up pretty well. Speaking of Mercy, she is one freaky chick. She spends much of the episode in the body dump. At night she snuggles up to a corpse... eeeewwwww.

Mary comes up with what she thinks is a good plan. They will let the selectman decide John's fate. This results in a tie and Mary will cast the tie breaking vote. Not so fast says Increase. George may not be able to speak but he can spit. He spits on John as a sign that he is guilty. John will stand trial.

Mary and Mercy plot to kill Increase. Of course Mercy will do all the dirty work. Mary has that poor girl wrapped around her pinky. Mary has Mercy claw her back. She then tells Issac that Mercy attacked her. She also spikes Issac's tea. Off Issac and Increase go to the woods to find Mercy. Mary casts a spell which causes Increase's "sin girdle" to tighten. He finally manages to remove it. Next Mercy shows up and tries to stake him. She is injured, Increase is injured and poor Issac gets a bone shank to the chest. Will Issac survive? And that Increase is harder to kill that he looks.

Cotton finally "mans up" and decides he will defend John during the trial. Looks like he finally grew a backbone.

Do you think Increase has been onto Mary all along (and he's just waiting for her to confess to save John)? I'm not entirely sure what's up with Increase but he is one sly gray fox.

Grade:4 Monsters (out of 5). Great setup for the final two episodes. Bonus points for the killer tree vines. There were no sightings of Todd The Toad this week. I fear he is dead.