'Motherland: Fort Salem' Episode 4 Review: Sex, Reel and Scylla's miraculous escape take the spotlight
Spoilers for 'Motherland: Fort Salem' Episode 4 'Hail Beltane'
'Hail Beltane' is a swift affair. It passes by so quickly that much of it feels like a blur. A Wiccan culture in the form of Reel — a traditional Scottish/Celtic dance, that sees a generous amount of sex afterward, a Raelle-Scylla (Taylor Hickson and Amalia Holm) confrontation and the Tally-Gerit (Jessica Sutton and Kai Bradbury) bonding take the spotlight in turns. The episode picks up from the events in the final minutes of 'A Biddy's Life' as it sees Porter fall to his death after his meeting with Scylla.
It is revealed in the opening minutes that despite Raelle's desperate attempts, Porter did not survive his fall. While the witches attempt to persuade General Sarah Alder (Lyne Renee) to cancel Beltane to ensure the safety of the cadets, she refuses. Meanwhile, Raelle starts having visions of Porter's final moments and it shows Scylla's involvement, who when confronted tells Raelle "to not go down this path".
As far as the Tally's storyline goes, her relationship with Gerit is taken a notch higher on Beltane night. And it isn't just them as the whole of the gathering engage in raunchy and intense sex throughout the night. Except for the Necros, who are studying Porter's death and his final minutes. They prepare the body to be bought back to life and in an unexpected turn of events, the male witch agrees that he indeed committed suicide denying Scylla's involvement.
Except for the final minutes, a major chunk of the episode is all about some fun before the cadets come back to the harsh reality of dealing with deadly threats on a daily basis. The end sees Scylla being attacked by one of the spree who's infiltrated Fort Salem, giving Scylla a final chance to prove herself.
At the moment, there are still enough questions as to what Scylla's real mission is and why she needs Raelle it be included as part of it. 'Hail Beltane' does a good job of masking the action behind the whole fun and sex, and it is safe to assume that training and action will be the focus in the upcoming episode.
If the episode was meant to give a look at the Wiccan culture and use it to build a storyline for Tally's relationship and introduce new characters, then it's a job well done.
