Freeform’s witchiest new show Motherland: Fort Salem is finally here! In the pilot we are introduced to our recruits and learn a bit about their backgrounds, we are introduced to the Spree, and one of the recruits gets some action! ‘Say the Words’ was written by Eliot Laurence and directed by Steven A. Adelson.
“We are the Spree” | The episode kicks off at an indoor shopping mall. A blue balloon floats through the mall and, when instructed by a girl, it pops. Everyone in its vicinity begins jumping over the railings in a mass suicide. The girl who controlled the balloon gets away, and as she does she burns her face off, revealing a different face underneath. She is part of the Spree.
Conscription Day | Time to meet our recruits! Raelle Collar (Taylor Hickson) is getting home from school and heals a neighbor with a nasty rash. Her healing skills are something she learned from her mother. After she sees what the Spree did on the news her father gives her a charm that once belonged to her mother and had been passed down to all the witches in the family.
Abigail Bellweather (Ashley Nicole Williams) is saying a sex-filled goodbye to a boy and telling him she can’t see him again after she takes the oath. She then goes to her mother who tells her not to let their family down. Being a Bellweather seems like a big deal. Tally Craven (Jessica Sutton) is watching the Spree attack on the news with her mother who is telling her she doesn’t have to say the words when the call comes.
At 12:00 the call comes, and all three girls say the oath to join the Army, and the oath turns into a medal with their name on it. This day is called Conscription Day, and it is very important to the witches.
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Fort Salem | All the new recruits travel to Fort Salem for their training and in hopes of moving on to War College after. They are greeted in a hall by General Sarah Alder (Lyne Renee). General Alder is the witch who made the Salem Accord with the United States government 300 years ago allowing witches to live and form the Army. She is still alive and very important. Raelle doesn’t seem too impressed by any of this, she is not stomping along in approval like the rest of the recruits.
A little later the recruits meet their Drill Sergeant Anicostia Quartermain (Demetria McKinney). She welcomes the recruits to the Cersei barracks and tells them they will all be in units of 3, and they will all either pass or fail as a unit. Guess who’s in a unit together? That’s right, our three ladies!
Raelle, Tally , and Abigail meet for the first time in their room, and already there is tension between Raelle and Abigail. Tally is super sweet and innocent and informs the others that she grew up on a matrifocal farm in NorCal, meaning there were no guys, ever. So yes, Tally is still a virgin. Abigail uses this opportunity to tell and also show Tally what happens to a witch’s mark after they have sex, it gets shiny!
A little later the girls perform a small ritual where they reveal to each other why they are there and who they’ve lost. Raelle reveals how her mother died in a firefight in Liberia the year before. She thinks her mom was tired and ready to come home when she died.
Later, all the recruits are in training, working on their vocal tones and harmonizing when Raelle sneaks off, but not before Abigail and Anicostia notice. Raelle wanders outside and sees older witches singing up and controlling tornadoes. A cute girl approaches and the two chat. The cute girl introduces herself as Scylla (), and even though they get caught and in trouble, I think they’d both say it was worth it. When she returns Raelle is reprimanded by Anicostia, but then the Drill Sergeant also gives her a package from her father. It’s a bunch of letters from her mom from before she died.
Tally and Abigail quickly find out the consequences for Raelle’s actions, they are ranked 175th and Abigail is pissed. She confronts Raelle and things almost get out of hand between them when they hear on he news there’s been another Spree attack, that breaks the tension.
Back in their bunks, Raelle tells Tally her whole plan is to do bad here, get sent to the front lines early and die young. Tally is there for different reasons, she loves being a witch and wants to use her powers to help people.
Next there is a badass training montage of the recruits trekking through rain and mud and fighting with whips. After training is over Raelle finds Scylla and asks her new “friend” why she isn’t training. Scylla tells her she’s in necro [necromancy] so they keep them away from the rest of the recruits. The pair sneak off together and Scylla has a surprise for Raelle. She’s got some Salva, so they use it and start floating. Raelle looks happy for the first time. Then they come crashing to the ground, caught by Anicostia. Uh-oh.
In the infirmary, Anicostia basically threatens Scylla to stay away from Raelle. But do we think she’s going to listen? Probably not.
“The way out is in.” | Abigail is so upset with Raelle that she goes to see general Alder and asks to be moved to another unit. Alder is not happy about the request and denies it, sharing with Abigail a story from her past.
Raelle is still in the infirmary reading letters from her mother, who blames General Bellweather for making bad decisions for her team and putting them in risky situations. Raelle gets fired up by this and heads to whip training to confront Abigail. The two fight it out in front of the other recruits and aren’t broken up until a storm starts brewing above them. Anicostia tells Tally that Abigail went to Alder, and between that and this fight things between Abigail and Raelle do not look good.
Raelle decides to go see Scylla in her room after the fight to calm down. Scylla tells her that her plan to die young is stupid, and that she should let the academy train her so that she can become very strong and powerful. Then the two HOOK UP. Right there in the first episode! Good job Freeform for giving us the content we deserve!
Later the recruits are at choral sequencing practice around a pitch fork and Raelle, Tally, and Abigail are killing it for once! All of the officers are impressed with how well they perform a difficult seed. Abigail seems to be in good spirits, so much so that she apologizes to Raelle and hopes they can start over. Raelle makes it clear that she will be part of Abigail’s unit, but they don’t have to be friends.
In Scylla’s room, the girl from the Spree attack from the beginning of the episode is there talking to a blue balloon in a mirror, and when she looks out the window she sees Raelle coming. Hurriedly, the girl lights her face on fire to reveal Scylla. OH NO, SCYLLA IS SPREE!
Keep watching Motherland: Fort Salem Wednesday nights on Freeform at 9pm!