'Motherland: Fort Salem' Episode 2 Review: 'My Witches' focuses on team bonding, Necros and the imminent threat
Spoilers for 'Motherland: Fort Salem' Episode 2 'My Witches'
After a compelling start, 'Motherland' continues in the same vein as it dishes out another interesting episode in 'My Witches'. The Wiccan culture continues to be explored and the psyche of the cadets gets looked into as well. 'My Witches' also introduces new characters in General Nessa Clary (Linda Ko), Glory Moffett (Annie Jacob) and Libba Swythe (Sarah Yarkin).
The training intensifies for the cadets and we see some interesting tactics in the form of wind strikes, a technique where the witches target a specific object and blow out wind that has the intensity of a hurricane and the speed of a bullet. Adding to this is a skill where they can also deflect attacks deftly with the help of some incantations. Considering these are a new breed of superheroes with some insane powers, the series is just getting started.
One of the teams in the witches militia are the Necros who often are described as "a weird lot". Necros deal with the arcane rules and uses of death. Raelle's (Taylor Hickson) love interest, Scylla (Amalia Holm) explains what Necros do perfectly. "When something dies in nature, you can make something else grow out of it. It doesn’t have to be that it’s coming back into the same form," she opines hinting the Necros abilities.
As far as the team chemistry goes, Abigail (Ashley Nicole Williams) finally manages to get some sort of friendly conversations going with Raelle after their stormy relationship in the pilot episode. The unit travels to Salem town for a celebration where we learn a lot more about some of the new characters. Glory is revealed to be Tally's (Jessica Sutton" love interest.
The other two characters. General Clary and Libba are introduced when the unit trains. Clary has a soft spot towards Tally as she reminds her of her daughter, while Libba and Abigail share a history of being fiercely competitive. Their mothers were rivals at Fort Salem and the duo look intent on continuing the trend.
Tally's mindset gets a bit of an explanation. Note that this was a character who was there out of sheer patriotism. She wanted to put an end to evil and her powers might help her do just that. But her hate for fighting and violence is distinct when we see her reluctance to attack Drill Sergeant Anacostia (Demetria McKinney) during one of the training sessions. However, she does give a glimpse of her abilities when she attempts to rescue the people at Salem Town. However, the teens soon realize the commotion was a prank after a kid blows up a balloon.
The Spree, in the meantime, launches an attack that some of the senior witches try and fend off but are unsuccessful resulting in the death of General Clary's daughter. 'My Witches' also sees the immense pressure General Alder (Lyne Renee) faces. Not just in running a tight ship, but also from the President who wants the witches to thwart the Spree once and for all. Team bonding and the imminent threat are the two highlights of 'My Witches'. Scylla's mystery gets some explanation as it hints that she has some sort of a deal with the Spree and it involves Raelle.
'My Witches' is another solid watch. It manages to induce the same attention the season opener did and sets the tone for a riveting fantasy thriller series.
'Motherland: Fort Salem' airs 9 pm ET on Freeform.