“Motherland: Fort Salem” Exclusive: Lyne Renée Talks General Sarah Alder, the Arrival of Nicte Batan & Teases Episode ‘Mother of All, Mother of None’
General Sarah Alder has been a strong, commanding presence throughout the entire series of Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem. In the sophomore season of the supernatural drama, everyone has been debating whether or not Alder is a good person. In an exclusive interview with PopWire, Lyne Renée talks about her powerful character, what the arrival of one of her biggest enemies means, and previews what’s ahead.
“Through Season 2, we get to dive back into her past and get a better glimpse at what really made her into who she is today,” Renée tells us. “Alder is very complicated. She’s been on this earth — or this alternative earth — for more than 300 years, and when someone is in a leadership role like that, it’s evident that she’s going to be coming across harder than other people. Season 2 gives you that insight into how she got to be the leader she is today. I think it’s a wonderful glimpse back to follow the story and make more sense about her.”
In the latest episode of Motherland: Fort Salem, the Bellweather Unit captures Nicte Batan (Arlen Aguayo-Stewart) and brings the Spree creator back to Fort Salem. For General Alder, reuniting and coming face-to-face with one of her biggest enemies has her extremely worried. “It means that everything is about to be exposed, and I think there are things that will be exposed that she doesn’t necessarily want to have exposed,” Renée says.
“We’re at a point in the series where the stakes are very high. As we have seen in the season, Alder is getting a lot of people against her. She’s getting cornered, basically. She’s almost — I wouldn’t say afraid, because I don’t think Adler ever gets afraid, but you know when a porcelain statue has little cracks that start to appear? The problem with that is that they will crack further and reveal maybe more than she had anticipated.”
During her time as a captive on base, Tally Craven (Jessica Sutton) is brought in to interrogate her. It’s an intense scene that makes Alder very anxious. “In the beginning of the season, Alder specifically says to Tally that she should always seek the truth,” she explains. “And having Tally in front of Nicte, for her, it’s almost when something works against you.
“In that very moment I think Alder is a little apprehensive in going ‘What will be revealed?’ because she didn’t want Tally to go into that interrogation room. Nicte bringing her in at that point, I think Alder is scared to lose control because she’s no longer the one interrogating Nicte. You can see that Alder is getting very nervous into where that will lead to.”
In Motherland: Fort Salem‘s penultimate episode of the season, titled “Mother of All, Mother of None,” the Belgian actress says that just like that porcelain statue, we will see more little cracks coming with her character and the leadership role that she holds. “Everybody has always been in debate — is she good or is she not good? I think this episode will lead to those new truths and will deliver truths that will put Alder in a very tricky situation.
“You don’t always make the right decision, right?” Lyne Renée continues. “There are always things that you do in life that will then work against you. I think in this episode we will find out whether that will happen or not. This episode is definitely where everything in the story is going to take a turn. Everything will get exposed — and this will bring up the question: will this be the fall of Alder?”
Motherland: Fort Salem airs Tuesdays at 10pm on Freeform.