Alder sends Tally on a mission to eliminate Nicte Batan. Tally claims that isn’t a problem for her, even though she thinks it’s wrong, but demands to have her unit alongside her. She leverages her and Raelle’s abilities against Alder, who acquiesces, and Tally goes back to her room to get ready. Petra is there waiting for her. She’s changing the objective from a kill mission to a capture mission, because she wants the truth to come out too, and warns Tally that Nicte will try anything to get into their heads.
Abigail and Adil are sitting quietly in the Spree safehouse, reflecting on what Adil had to do in the previous episode, when Scylla walks in. Abigail mockingly asks Scylla if she thinks Raelle is just going to forgive and forget, but Scylla isn’t interested in playing games with Abigail. Raelle dismisses Abigail; she and Scylla have things to talk about. Raelle tells Scylla that, while her mom was deployed, they’d pick a time to be thinking about each other. She’s feeling completely betrayed that her mother would let her family grieve her for no reason. Scylla promises she didn’t know that Willa was Raelle’s mother until she showed up without her, telling Raelle that Willa was devastated that she couldn’t reach out, but Raelle points out that her mom should’ve given her that choice.
Abigail reassures Adil that what they did saved the lives of multiple children, as well as Raelle, but Adil thinks that Khalida will struggle to see it that way. Scylla tells Raelle that, helped by Willa, her priorities have shifted. It’s not about conscription, or liberation, or taking lives to make a point. Now her mission is to go after the Camarilla. Raelle and Scylla stay up all night talking, gravitating closer and closer until they’re sat at opposite ends of the bed while Raelle fills Scylla in on her Mycelium powers. The helicopter arrives, and Raelle advises Scylla to hide, but Scylla refuses. She’s not leaving Raelle again.
Tally comes in through the front door and Raelle and Abigail throw themselves into her arms. Adil is to take the children back to base, and Tally is to collect Raelle and Abigail for the Batan mission. Scylla chooses this moment to make herself known as Raelle explains that a lot has happened since the last time the unit were together. Much to Abigail’s chagrin, Scylla is going to be joining them on the mission, as she knows more about Spree Working than any of them. Tally and Raelle point out they need Scylla’s help, that Scylla helped save Raelle’s life, and Abigail gives in with some light threats to Scylla’s life.
Once they arrive on-site and have been dive-bombed by bats, the group quickly get split up, distracted by seemingly out of place familiar things in the woods. Raelle sees an armchair that becomes her house, and suddenly both her parents are reunited and cooking dinner for the family. Scylla’s voice over the phone tries to tell Raelle this isn’t real, but Willa slams the phone down, before killing Edwin and attempting to slice Raelle’s throat. We snap back to reality, where Scylla is trying to pull Raelle’s hands away from her own throat; hands which are gripping a knife that is starting to cut her skin. Scylla manages to snap Raelle out of her delusion, confessing that she escaped hers because she’s used this Working before on a larger scale, and the two run off to find Tally and Abigail before they kill themselves.
Tally’s delusion begins in Alder’s office. Alder has summoned her there to talk about her behavior. Tally is nervous, and gets even more so when Alder gets closer and closer to her, talking about their connection; she feels it and she knows that Tally feels it, too. Alder caresses Tally’s face, leans in close… and tells Tally that she will rejoin her biddies. The scene changes and Tally is strapped down into a chair as Alder tells her that this is what she’s always wanted. The strap around her neck tightens, choking her, and Alder speaks with Raelle’s voice, telling her to let go. We see that, in reality, Tally is strangling herself with her scourge. She’s snapped out of her delusion by Raelle and Scylla.
Abgail, in her mind, is creating the most magnificent Weatherwork ever seen in front of her entire family. She loses control of it, resulting in the deaths of her family, and falls to her knees to accept her fate as the tornado approaches. In reality, Abigail actually is creating multiple tornadoes that are headed right for her. Scylla attempts to block the worst of it while Raelle and Tally scream at Abigail to wake up. Eventually, they get through to her, and the tornadoes fade away. The core four locate the rest of the strike team, but they’re too late; they’re dead, and Raelle notes that if Scylla hadn’t started the chain of pulling the unit out of their delusions, that would’ve been them, too.
But Nicte isn’t done messing with the girls just yet. As they head towards the cabin where Nicte had made her base, the girls start throwing verbal barbs at each other. It gets worse inside the bat-ridden cabin, though, as Scylla finds Jonas’ body and recalls how she begged him not to go on his suicide mission. Abigail says that he got what he deserved, and so will Scylla; Raelle defends Scylla, leading to an argument between her and Abigail about family and powers. Abigail says that Raelle’s name is worthless and that the only thing that makes her special is the Mycelium, whose power isn’t even hers. Raelle, on the other hand, tells Abigail that she has a huge ego and that the only value she has to Petra is her womb. Tally, told to stay out of it by both and watching as the other three start throwing punches, leaves them to it and goes off to find Nicte on her own.
Tally figures out Nicte is using the bats to sing her songs and spread her Work, right before Nicte herself steps out of the trees, and Tally’s eyes widen as she realizes she’s alone. Tally tries to bargain with Nicte and promises that if she comes back to Fort Salem with her then she’ll be treated fairly and her side of the story will be heard. Tally realizes Nicte is in a weakened state unless she releases the others from her Work. Nicte tells her she’s right, and releases them before lunging at Tally. In the cabin, Raelle and Scylla are throwing words like “murderer” and “puppet” at each other, much to Abigail’s delight, and the Work wears off right as Raelle is about to deck Abigail square in the face. They hear Tally scream and run towards the voice.
When they find Tally, it’s holding a rock and standing over Nicte’s unconscious body, unharmed but shell-shocked. She pulls out a muzzle given to her by Petra, giving Nicte an uncharacteristically hard glare as she pulls away, and Nicte’s panicked attempts to speak when she comes to are prevented.
That night, while Abigail and Tally drag Nicte towards the helicopter, Raelle stops Scylla. She tries to apologize for what she said in the cabin but Scylla reassures her that nothing that was said matters. She says that she can’t go back to Fort Salem, being a fugitive, but that she’s going to find Tiffany a home with a Dodger family. Raelle shyly asks what Scylla is going to do after that, perhaps hoping it’ll be something to do with her, but Scylla appears to be very determined not to overstep any boundaries and simply says that she’s going to continue hunting the Camarilla. Raelle steps closer like she’s going to kiss her, Scylla holds her breath, and then Raelle ducks out and walks away.
When they reach the helicopter, Tally and a reluctant Abigail thank Scylla for her help. Raelle asks her unit for another moment alone with Scylla and extends an invitation to her. Take Tiffany to the Cession, stay with Edwin, have pancakes in the mornings. Raelle thinks it would be good for Scylla as well as for Tiffany. Besides, that means that Raelle knows where to find her. Scylla nods, a hint of a smile on her face, and Raelle walks towards the chopper.
And then, she pauses. Turns around. Runs back to Scylla. And Raelle kisses her. Scylla kisses her back, and their hair blows in the downdraft generated from the helicopter rotors, and the music swells, and it’s the start of something new for them. No more secrets, no more lies, just the two of them and the possibility of a fresh start. Raelle tells Scylla to stay safe, a sentiment which Scylla echoes, and Raelle smiles out of the window of the helicopter as Scylla melts back into the forest.
Abigail and Raelle apologize for their fight in the cabin, saying that while they have to live with the fact that they’ve thought most of the things they said before, their sisterhood will always win out. They look to Tally, who is engaged in a Death Glare battle with the muzzled Nicte, tells them all that matters is that they’re together. As soon as she says this, Nicte starts struggling desperately, eyes locked on Tally.
Alder is surprised and displeased to see Nicte alive against her orders. Petra reminds her that she has an audience. Alder steps forward, announcing the capture of the founder of the Spree, and everyone does the foot stomp. Everyone except Tally, who is levelling her with an icy look. Nicte looks panicked. Abigail and Raelle notice Tally’s odd behavior and, as soon as Tally starts towards Alder, Abigail lassos her with her scourge and brings her down. Anacostia, who has spent enough time with Scylla to know that things aren't always what they appear, pulls out a lighter. Tally’s face is burned away to reveal a smug Nicte Batan. While the real Tally is freed, and enveloped in a unit group hug, Nicte greets Sarah and notes that she looks surprisingly well given the recent assassination attempts.
Tropes Used:
- Almost Holding Hands: In the helicopter, Scylla and Raelle’s fingers brush together, but Abigail’s glare puts a stop to whatever might have happened.
- Almost Kiss: At one point Raelle steps towards Scylla, looks down at her lips… and then walks away.
- In Tally’s delusion, Alder gets very, very close to her. According to Jessica Sutton, Lyne Renée told her to expect a kiss during the scene.
- The Atoner: Scylla tells Raelle that her priorities have shifted; she’s no longer interested in taking innocent lives to prove a point. Throughout the episode she does her best to protect Raelle as a way to show how sorry she is and how much she’s changed.
- Baddie Flattery: Nicte compliments Tally on her bravery and her Sight, lamenting that she’ll have to snuff it out.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Raelle gives Scylla one at the end of the episode when she turns around and runs back to her.
- Chilly Reception: Abigail, to put it lightly, is not happy about the idea of Scylla helping them.
- Death Glare: Abigail to Scylla for almost the entire episode.
- Grand Theft Me: Nicte swaps bodies with Tally, against the latter’s will, to try and get close enough to Alder to kill her.
- Hate Plague: One of Nicte’s tricks is to turn the core four against each other by heightening and bringing to the surface every bad thought they’ve had about each other, however brief, which results in a physical fight between Abigail, Raelle and Scylla, while Tally walks out on them.
- Held Gaze: Tally’s delusion includes bucketloads of this between herself and Alder.
- Raelle and Scylla engage in multiple gazes throughout the episode.
- It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Less so by now, but Raelle still says that she wishes she didn’t have to carry the power of the Mycelium alone.
- Love Theme: Raelle and Scylla’s theme plays during their kiss scene, but the version we hear is different to what it’s been up until this point, signalling the start of their new beginning; it’s more sweeping and orchestral and generally epic-sounding.
- Nightmare Sequence: The unit’s delusions start off as their wildest dreams, but quickly morph into this.
- Not Herself: "Tally" sure is acting strange in the final act of the episode, glaring at Alder. Likewise, "Nicte" is whimpering in fear… Raelle and Abigail do manage to pick up on it in time, though.
- Oh, Crap!: Tally has shades of this when she comes face to face with Scylla for the first time since turning her in. She has an even bigger one when she finds herself alone to face off against Nicte.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Raelle and Abigail exchange confused looks when Tally doesn’t join in on the foot stomp.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Pretty much Tally’s exact reaction when the Hate Plague takes effect is to give up on the others and wander off by herself to find Nicte.
- Ship Tease: The beginning of Tally’s delusion is a big one for her and Alder.
- Shower of Love: Implied between Abigail and Adil.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Abigail is not happy at all to be working with Scylla. She warms to her a little by the end.
