Well, that didn’t work out well.
General Alder showed why she’s been in power for centuries on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1 Episode 9.
Now the only question is whether the blowback from the aborted coup is going to reach the Bellweather Unit.
Their first taste of action on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1 Episode 8 left a sour taste in the mouths of the unit.
The ever-naive Tally felt the need to do something, to tell someone, about how Alder had chosen to have the cadets kill hostages along with the Spree during the recent battle.
Not surprisingly, Abigail’s “Shit happens” rationalization didn’t resonate with Tally.
And Raelle was more focused on her personally having been betrayed by Scylla to feel Alder’s betrayal of the truth as acutely as Tally did.
But rather than keeping their mouths shut like good little soldiers, the trio chose to set events in motion way beyond their pay grade.
Anybody who thought that Alder was being sniped at by those chafing under her leadership found out that the ancient witch wasn’t the faultless icon that she appeared to be.
Like many other military leaders, Alder thought she knew better than any civilian politician about what needed to get done, protocol be damned.
That’s only natural after she had outlasted 44 Presidents (not counting colonial leaders) before Wade. She’s bound to have a certain sense of entitlement.
Still, that shouldn’t mean she can do whatever she wants when she wants.
And she’s been doing that a lot in this war against the Spree.
So, Generals Clary and Bellweather and even Anacostia aren’t totally out of line to be concerned about Alder’s actions.
Unfortunately, Abigail, Tally, and Raelle just inadvertently stepped into this mess and may end up paying for that.
Izadora made the mistake of bringing up the possibility that the Spree might not be behind the brutal attacks on the Bellweathers and the Tarim, that it might be the supposedly-extinct Camarea instead.
It seems kind of late in the season to be bringing in a potential new villain.
Alder seemed to think so, dismissing the idea out of hand, since she had eliminated the last of the Camerea decades ago.
Still, the Spree is an organization whose goal is to spread terror among the public, and it wasn’t like them not to take credit for either attack, as was pointed out.
By eliminating secret Bellweathers and the Tarim, some group is certainly working to keep assets out of Alder’s hands.
Since Alder lords it over everyone, the list of suspects is plentiful: The Spree, other nations’ militaries, even her officers.
It is the minefield the Bellweather Unit willingly waded into, just to assuage Tally’s conscience.
Bad choice. History is written by the victors, and Alder has been on the winning side more often than not.
Dead civilians didn’t move the needle for Petra.
But a Spree who had infiltrated Fort Salem piqued her curiosity. That was intel she could use.
And she did, running straight to President Wade to tattle on Alder.
That forced Alder’s hand, as she and the Biddies “puppeted” Wade to set up martial law, essentially.
Petra’s plan worked well, didn’t it?
Poor Abigail had a hard few days.
She had to deliver the eulogy for her frenemy Libba, and she rose to the occasion with a heartfelt speech, touching all those concerned.
Then Petra told her that the Bellweather star was on the rise, a message Abigail relayed to Adil, right before they kissed.
Only to find out that nothing had changed, which caused Adil to get pissed off at her.
It wasn’t really fair, since Abigail had given him good advice, because Alder couldn’t be trusted.
It was fun to watch young Khalida reject Alder’s offer of help yet again.
Still, despite their special spells, the Tarim will need a protector of some sort, as there is only a handful of them left, and they are in everyone’s cross-hairs.
All those dead, mutilated Tarim in that early scene suggested they aren’t powerful enough to go it alone.
Tally at least had a distraction, for a time, in her affair with Gerit.
Had she no idea that her time as a side piece was going to end badly?
In a short period, Tally went from being a virgin to being volunteered as the other woman in a three-way. No wonder she bolted. That definitely didn’t fit her fairy-tale vision of love.
Fortunately, it appears that she will be too busy looking over her shoulder to have regrets.
But at least Tally got out with minimal heartache. Unlike Raelle.
Raelle had sort of come to terms with Scylla’s betrayal. Then Anacostia made the mistake of offering her the chance at closure before Scylla got shipped off to a prison of no return.
At least Raelle got to find out that Scylla chose her over her assignment in the end. Not that that made their final parting any easier.
One thing that came out of their conversation is that Scylla said that Raelle has no idea how powerful she is.
So there’s a lot happening going into the finale (hopefully season, not series) on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1 Episode 10.
Is the unit in danger? Can the Tarim be saved? What is Alder’s plan of attack against the Spree?
Freeform better renew this series, because they can’t tie up everything in one episode.
To review before the finale, watch Motherland: Fort Salem online.
Do you like Abigail more now?
Did Tally learn a lesson?
Did Raelle get closure?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.