'Raised by Wolves' Episode 4 Review: Father and Ambrose's need for control causes violent backlash
Spoilers for 'Raised by Wolves' Season 1 Episode 4 'Nature's Course'
Being a leader is no easy thing, especially when the world has been destroyed, people's lives are depending on you and the way forward is so unclear that the only thing you can do is to make it up as you go along. It's only a matter of time before someone asks the question - why are you in charge? Why do we have to listen to a thing you say? You hope you can keep the people under you distracted long enough to keep them from asking that question, to keep them busy just long enough to prove them useful, but you're still improvising and sooner or later, you're going to make a mistake.
Mistakes were definitely made on this episode of 'Raised by Wolves,' as both Father (Abubakar Salim) and His Eminence, Ambrose (Steve Wall) realize that there's been a significant shift in their group dynamics and they need to do what they can to prove themselves useful. Father does this by taking it upon himself to teach Campion (Winta McGrath) and the Mithraic children how to hunt and the results are traumatic for pretty much everyone involved. Campion, in particular, is terrified of the idea of killing an animal, especially after Hunter (Ethan Hazzard) tells him that unlike people, animals don't go to heaven when they die.
Despite his parents' best efforts, Campion has turned to faith. While he's not a full-blown Mithraic, he doesn't know quite what to believe - something that's appropriate for his age, but that leads to a heartbreaking search for an alternative to killing. It all comes to naught and the children are forced to confront the fact that in order to survive, they're going to have to kill. It's a horrific loss of innocence, especially when Tempest (Jordan Loughran) succumbs to the hunger first and does what's necessary to keep her and her baby alive. There is a horror to 'Raised by Wolves' that is never too far from the surface, despite what Campion would like to believe, there is no civilization that isn't forged in blood.
Over on the Mithraic side of things, Ambrose provides a fascinating study of a small-minded man in a position of power. Last episode, we saw just how incompetent Ambrose is under pressure - the Mithraic practices that brought him to his position were written for a more civilized world and not the harsh necessities of Keppler-22b. It's not that Ambrose isn't an intelligent man; we see how quickly he sees past Sue's (Niamh Algar) cover, even as he realizes how vital she is to the group's survival. All of Ambrose's intelligence is focused on keeping himself in power, rather than keeping his people safe and ultimately, that's why his people lose faith in him. Marcus (Travis Fimmel) is able to take advantage of this, but as voices start seeping into his head, a new mystery is added - is there something to Mithraic beliefs after all?
Meanwhile, Mother's (Amanda Collin) discovery of a simulation device takes full advantage of the setting for a novel approach to flashbacks. As we see Mother walk through her own memories, it's reinforced that this is not just a window for the audience into the past but a reinforcement of the memories that fuel her perspective. It's also where we see a truly heartwrenching performance from her. We've seen her play chilling, terrifying, nurturing, angry, and disappointed, but this episode shows her in raw, uncontrolled grief as we find out what happened to the other six embryos.
The not-flashback offers a lot of insight into Campion, as well. He's someone haunted by guilt and someone who will do whatever he can to protect those around him. He's exactly the kind of child who would grow up to be a prophet if the Mithraic scriptures hold any water.
Despite the fact that the series opened with an action-heavy massacre that nearly wiped out the Mithraic, this episode is one of the most traumatically violent of the season. It's also one that takes incredible advantage of the many nuanced layers that have been established in the episodes so far, as Mother and Father's strange suburban relationship parallels are made more clear and as Campion spends some quiet moments with his parents, both in the past and in the present. It leaves you with an uncomfortable chill, wanting to find someone to blame but with no easy answers as to who it could be. It makes the Mithraic practice of clearly denoting the sinners from the pure that much more appealing.
Episode 6 of 'Raised by Wolves' airs September 17, on HBO Max.