Well this was a table-setting episode if I ever saw one. Not that that was a bad thing, there was just a lot of setup for the rest of the season that the bombastic season premiere didn’t provide. While it may not have been the most exciting episode Salem has ever done, it definitely created plenty of anticipation for future episodes.
Let’s get the bad (read: boring) out of the way first: John Alden. He’s still just kind of there, only now he’s a killing machine. It was a smart move for the series to bring him back to Salem so early in the season, but we’ll have to wait and see how long it takes for Mary to learn of his presence. The quicker the better, says everyone. We did get to see him slit Petras’ throat, though (that’s the guy who likes to pull out his own eyeballs to show other people visions), so that was cool. Unfortunately he is still the weak link of Salem.
The opening of the episode picks up right where last week’s premiere ended: with the townsfolk discovering the bodies of the elder witches hung (by their own intestines) in the town square. It was a bold move to have them burn Mercy and her “army” up right at the beginning, but it was as thrill to watch. The CGI of all of the witches burning was pretty good for WGN standards as well. It is a little perplexing why none of the witches in the crag woke up and ran when they were getting doused with oil (especially since Mercy was shown to already be awake), but it was a brutal way to start the episode.
Clearly, Mercy couldn’t have been permanently killed, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when she was revealed to have survived the burning. What was surprising was her decision to return home to her father in the final scene. Honestly, I don’t remember much of her father from the first season (back when she was “possessed”), but this might give Mercy some more depth to see her relationship with her father. It’s an interesting idea but we will have to see how it plays out in the coming weeks. As usual with Salem, the makeup department was on point with her charred flesh.
Mary had quite a lot on her plate this week. It gave Janet Montgomery the opportunity to show a lot of range, but also kind of blurred her motivations. After Tituba tells her she must kill Isaac to prevent him from blabbing about her participation in the Grand Rite, she shows sympathy for Isaac at the 11th hour and spares his life. It was an interesting decision for Mary, but her character is still a bit of a question mark. Sometimes she seems like she’s all in for this whole Satan worshiping thing, then other times she shows moments of compassion that seem completely out of character. That’s what makes a good anti-heroine though, and Mary is one of the better ones we’ve been offered in recent memory.
Anne actually had something to do this week, and it seems like she will be directly involved with Coutness Marburg! First, Anne teleports herself (intentionally?) to Boston to see Cotton. Not five minutes later, Marburg shows up to interrogate Anne inside her soul. It was a pretty nifty set piece, with Marburg’s various teleportations mid-conversation were interesting to watch. We learn that Marburg is incredibly old (and was also Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft, ghosts & magic) and that she is very interested in Mary, since she performed the Grand Rite. Lawless was confined to just two scenes this week (which is one more than she got last week), but she made the most of them.
While not exactly an exciting episode of Salem, “Blood Kiss” set the stage for what could prove to be some interesting future episodes. I’m still a little unsure why Cotton is still a part of the show, but color me intrigued!
Random Notes
- “For once, cease your shrieking, harpy.” I’m not sure why, but the word “harpy” is such a funny insult, but I like it. I might start using it more. Also, Tituba is totally a harpy.
- George Sibley is still alive! And he is being taken care of by Mary’s son. Gotta say, that needle going under George’s toenail was hard to watch. Mary’s son is quite the little deviant!
- Hawthornes intimidates Anne by calling her an orphan. He also doesn’t want the corpses of the pox-ridden to be thrown into the crags. Fascinating.
- There’s a “bring out your dead” scene! Did anyone not see this and immediately have Monty Python and the Holy Grail flashbacks?
- I can only assume Lucy Lawless speaking to Anne telepathically about how she “smelled a witch” was an homage to a similar scene between Danny and Halloran in The Shining.
- The Countess referring to Increase Mather as a “pestiferous, pus-headed killer” was the highlight of the episode for me. Seriously, this show has some spectacular insults.
- Apparently male witches like to make out with their mothers, as that happened twice in this episode (one instance involving a 6-year-old child). Gross.