Someone’s finally doing something about poor Mercy (the
girl who does horrible things like bite off her own finger and cough up nails),
her dad decides to exorcise her. With what appears to be a Catholic exorcism no
less, which may make him even less popular than the witches with the puritans. Part
of this involves cutting her stomach – and a snake slithers out.
Again, I have to think any sensible person in Salem at
this time has to be thinking “hey, Canada isn’t that cold, I’m going north.”
A stranger arrives in town to pick up a parcel from a
boat – which has been quarantined because of a flu outbreak that has killed 5 –
a quarantine ordered by George (meaning Mary, of course). Mary’s busy taunting
her dear husband on the balcony about how she’s going to have Mercy declare the
blacksmith a witch. This is before electricity you have to get your fun somehow
Anne and John have a little meeting in the graveyard (it’s
a vehicle for John to be angsty. And someone get that man a cough sweet, the
hoarse-throaty-I-wanna-be-wolverine voice needs to end) where discusses how her
father is a wonderful man and totally not a witch who removed a cursed doll
from her room, no, not at all! All of this quite possibly heard by Hale.
And John who is so outraged by the vicar deciding to kill
people on the basis of superstition… decides to tell Cotton that Anne has been
bespelled – and further implicates Hale. Cotton is sceptical, which is all
kinds of wrongly amusing, and in between declaring how everyone has secrets and
shame, he storms up and gets quite angry that Glorianna is getting up close and
personal with the new man in town and is outraged at the idea the man may hire
her for sex! (Only Cotton may do that). This could escalate but the man sees
John (who looks stunned) and hurriedly and politely leaves. John denies knowing
him. John is a dirty rotten liar.
Mercy’s dad takes her out for a little walk when they run
into Mary who quickly puts some bad woo-woo on her. Despite all Mary tries,
Mercy has a terrible fit but doesn’t accuse the Blacksmith (even when prompted
by a passer by) – Mary tells Tituba that they’ve lost control of her.
The witches meet, Hale, as ever, ready to put the knife
in Mary over losing Mercy, Tituba ready to defend Mary and snarl at Hale and
Rose taking Mary’s reassurance that all is well to be a guaratee. Hale also
warns them that if someone doesn’t deal with John’s suspicion he will himself –
but Rose won’t back that, telling Hale to earn John’s trust but at the same
time telling Mary she’s telling the other witches her plans will go ahead soon.
Which sounds less like a vote of confidence and more like “they had BETTER go
ahead soon!”
