Rely-Upon
Suzanne has been having nightmares about heading through the cornfields, and she’s been reading a book called “The Cult of the Cult.” This has probably not helped her vivid nightmares. She’s been worrying about Mae a lot, and unfortunately her work at the hospital is suffering because of it. Dr. Hawkins calls Suzanne to discuss Mae’s pentagram, but when Suzanne mentions Amon County, Dr. Hawkins quickly hangs up on her. ..
Dani is not exactly happy about her mother spending so much time with Mae, especially after the latter helped her during those stretching exercises. Suzanne takes her daughter along to her meeting with Dr Hawkins, leaving the girl to wait outside while she speaks to the doctor alone.
Amon, a small community in the US state of Oregon, is shrouded in mystery. Little is known about them, other than they have been isolated for about a century and refer to themselves as “The Devil’s Own.” Mae, a recent arrival to the community, has put herself at great risk by escaping their isolation. Now she faces danger from those who want her dead or captured. ..
Hawkins decides Suzanne should try and find someone else who may have escaped. Suzanne gets spooked about a white van and almost crashes the car. When she eventually heads back, she finds Peter there, who reveals all about the investment falling through and working with Cheryl. Although he tells the truth, Suzanne does not and lies about where she’s been.
Detective Lopez is investigating the farm, noticing a number of men getting in the back of a white van and taking off. Naturally, he follows, leading him up into the woods alone. He notices the white van parked up alongside another. Frantically snapping photos, he starts to draw up exactly what this community may be hiding. Those strange sigils appear to be “wishmakers” which are sacrifices for the Devil. ..
Mae continues to worship at her strange altar. She also snatches up a picture from Jules’ wall too. For now though, these two besties continue to take photos, with Mae joining her in the dark room as they develop the pictures.
Suzanne speaks to Mae and tries to find out if anyone else has tried to leave Amon town. Mae mentions that if somebody breaks the chain, everybody suffers – meaning that Mae’s sisters may well be suffering right now. ..
Suzanne relays this information to Lopez and he decides to look through the files. The pair spend time together, discussing their history. Lopez was born in El Salvador and always wanted to be a detective while his hard-working mother wanted him to be a priest. As for Suzanne, she’s distracted by seeing the white van in Lopez’s pictures, and realizes it may be the same one she saw on the road. ..
Mae manages to help Jules excel at school, agreeing to take photos for the class president after her article in the school paper goes viral. Unfortunately, Isaac is not happy and hits out at Jules, pointing out that she’s clinging to her 15 minutes of fame. ..
Suzanne is not happy when she learns about the newspaper column, including the picture of Mae with her scar out. Mae is the one who submitted it, but Suzanne lashes out at her daughter and tells her to take the picture down. Helen sees all of this from afar and speaks to Jules in confidence, telling her to be careful as Mae isn’t the person she seems to be. Jules sees this as Helen’s jealousy, ruining what she has going on and the pair have a big fall-out.
Mae is the daughter of Malachi, the cult’s leader. Her father is also the head of Shell Corps, which has a stake in the five farms in Amon County. The Dodd family has a lot at stake here and they’re using all of their resources to try and figure out what’s going on. Mae is a key player in this, as she’s the daughter who knows more about what’s going on than anyone else.
Mae heads out at night with a flower, chanting “the chain shall not be broken.” Jules helps her back inside, but when she drops the rose, someone happens to be watching from the white van. ..
The Episode Review
Suzanne has caused a family tragedy by revealing her location to Mae and the other kids. This could lead to a dramatic second half of the series, which has been moving at a fast pace. The short episodes have helped keep things moving.
Mae’s history is beginning to align with what’s happening now, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that there is more going on here than first meets the eye. What else is she hiding? We’ll have to wait and see! ..
