Summer of 2021 brought fans an epic season of Freeform’s supernatural drama series Motherland: Fort Salem. The 10-episode sophomore season builds on the already complex character arcs for the show’s main characters; But how could anyone forget the revelation of General Sarah Alder’s direct link to Nicte Batan’s conception of the Spree and Alder’s subsequent fall from grace?
In a PopWire exclusive interview, Lyne Renée looks back and reveals the critical preparation for the penultimate episode’s intense fight sequence between her character, Alder, and Cadet Tally Craven (Jessica Sutton) and sheds light on the emotional and physiological impact that the stand-alone scene had on Alder, herself, and her costar.
Titled “Mother of All, Mother of None,” Season 2’s second-to-last episode proved to be a pivotal turning point for Alder’s story, particularly the scene in which Craven invokes an ancient witch folklore called the “Rite of Proxy” and puts a stop to Alder’s execution of Batan (Arlen Aguayo-Stewart). In preceding episodes, Craven’s skepticism of Alder’s past had been steadily mounting as Craven pieced together Nicte’s connection to the Spree and Alder’s involvement in the martyrdom of Valda Esterbrook’s (Wonser De-Gbon) rebel witches in Liberia.
Craven’s distrust finally comes to a head when Alder attempts to execute Batan and resign from her position as General of the United States Army with an untainted image. “I declare Rite of Proxy,” Craven demands in Mothertongue just as Alder raises her scourge to strike Batan. “My life for hers.” The enactment of Rite of Proxy forces Alder to duel Craven, resulting in an emotionally charged fight between mentor and mentee.
Renée and Sutton stunned fans with artful fight choreography. Performing much of the fight sequence themselves, Renée and Sutton displayed a masterful yielding of the scourge. “We did that so beautifully and we were so tired,” Renée tells us. “Of course, we have an incredible stunt team who steps in when we need a break… but I have to say, Jess and I basically sold that fight so beautifully.”
The preparation for such a demanding fight scene is only underscored when Renée tells us that training with the scourge started as far back as Season 1. “We have an incredible lady, we call her the boss lady, Michelle Smith (fight coordinator, assistant stunt coordinator, and Lyne’s stunt double), she trains with us and teaches us how to handle these weapons,” Renée explains. “Thank God, at the beginning of the show, we had ample time to get familiar with these weapons, and then Jess and I, we just basically had to get in there.”
The scene was shot over a period of two full days. Renée explains that this particular scene was not only physically demanding but also emotionally consuming. “That day, oh, my God,” exclaimed Renée. “It was a lot to carry for me because first, you start with a speech, then there’s the fight sequence, then there’s another speech, and the emotion comes in. It was insane.” Actors are often met with the challenge of embodying the stress of their characters when engaging in emotionally demanding scenes, and Alder’s match against Craven was no exception.
After speaking with Renée, one can only conclude that the look of betrayal that strikes Alder’s face in Craven’s moment of defiance was just as real to Renée as it was to Alder, and Renée explicitly thanks Sutton for taking her there: “Jess is such an incredible actor to work with. She gives you so much and as you know the relationship between Tally and Alder this year has been so complex, and to go from being a mother figure to her in the beginning of the season, and then being in front of her and her calling out proxy and defying me was so incredible because even as me as Lyne, I felt defied.”
In the end, Craven is no match against Alder’s combat skills. Fortunately for her, Craven’s unit and members of the Sekhmet Coven also call out Rite of Proxy before Alder can take Craven’s life. The Spartacus moment humbles Alder, leading the General to step down and leave her soldiers with one last valiant speech: “My fellow soldiers, I am sorry I brought us to this place. Our Ancient Enemy has taken advantage of the conflict between us to fester and spread like an infection that threatens to kill us all. On my watch. I was worried that I was leaving you unprepared for the future. But you are more ready to face it than I ever was. Do not make the same mistakes I have. And please, never forget that we are also human.”
Motherland: Fort Salem returns for its third and final season in 2022.
