Witches of East End Recap - Episode 6

This episode is a doozy. It opens up with the fabulosity that is the Fair Haven pool. It’s all green tile and gorgeous mosaics. Gorgeous, gorgeous pool. Freya is doing the backstroke in a cute black one-piece. Uh, guys, Freya’s clearly the bikini type. Killian shows up and starts flirting. Dash interrupts the flirting. He kisses Freya. Killian glares at them.

We are now in the library. Penelope brings Ingrid an antique picture that her workmen found in the house. The picture shows a woman in Victorian dress hugging a little girl. The pool mosaic can be seen in the wall behind them. Penelope noticed that the girl in the picture looks just like Ingrid. Well, duh, it is Ingrid. Ingrid tries hard to pretend that the girl is a distant relative, but she's clearly disturbed by the picture. Penelope is disturbingly cheerful. Beware of surly in-laws bearing gifts, Ingrid.

Credits roll.

Wendy and Freya are in the Beauchamp garden practicing magic. Freya sets fire to a bush. Good job, Freya.

Ingrid and Joanna are in the living (I spy an Ikea chair! Painted sky blue, great choice.) Ingrid is freaking out about the photo. Wendy shows up. Wendy and Joanna avoid answering Ingrid’s questions. Ingrid does not take this well. She grabs the picture and flounces out of the room. Wendy tells Joanna that they should tell her the truth. Joanna tells her that if they tell Ingrid the truth, Ingrid will never forgive Wendy.

Dum, dum, dum.

Dash gives Killian a check-up at the hospital. We meet the hospital’s researcher. Her name is Amy.

Freya walks into Ingrid’s room. Ingrid is a bit loopy. She starts raving about Archibald Browning, the man who built Fair Haven. He led a mystical cult and had a daughter called Athena. His daughter is the girl in the picture. Ingrid sounds pretty manic and Freya starts to look concerned. Freya spies an empty pan of brownies and asks Ingrid if there was anything special about the brownies. Ingrid explains that she found a spell to remember past lives and she baked the spell into the brownies. Then she ate the whole pan. Honestly? This sounded like a good idea? Get a clue, Ingrid. Your spells always turn out horribly. Plus, you're not wearing your lucky cardigan. Freya leaves. Ingrid has a vision and faints. She starts writhing on the bed. This is bad.

Victorian orgy time. Lots of naked people, lots of Pottery Barn kilim rugs and pillows. Ingrid enters the room. A handsome man is sitting on a throne, and Ingrid walks sinuously toward him. He stands up, undresses her, and kisses her. Ingrid says “I love you Archibald.” A naked woman gives Archibald a goblet filled with a red liquid that looks like blood. He starts drawing symbols on Ingrid’s naked skin. Ooops, it’s the same symbol the shifter uses. This is probably not good.

The orgy seen had a great song: Feel Me by Mecca Kalami. I'm going to buy it on iTunes. It's soft, and haunting and melancholic and sexy.

Back to the hospital. Dash and Amy are talking about the weird growth he extracted from Mrs. Thatcher’s throat. Dash says that the test results they got are not scientifically possible. However. Amy found a similar case in Louisiana. Dash wants to call the Louisiana hospital. Amy researcher tells him that that everyone connected with the case died of lung infection and the hospital was burnt to the ground due to an apparent asbestos contamination. Whoa.

Freya walks in. She asks about the growth. Dash explains where he got it from. Amy makes a joke about voodoo priestesses and curses. Freya freaks and steals the specimen.

Ingrid’s still writhing on the bed. It’s flashback time! The Beauchamps had an adorable little apothecary shop in Victorian times. Joanna is mining the store. Ingrid walks down a spiral staircase and tells her that Freya’s in San Francisco. A customer comes in complaining of arthritis. Joanna heals her with an incantation and Wendy gives her some ointment. Ingrid rings up the customer’s purchase. 

Archibald Browning walks in and asks for feverfox. Ominous music sounds. Joanna refuses to sell the feverfox to him. Wendy tells him that feverfox is illegal and toxic and they don’t stock it. He is disappointed but  invites them to visit Fair Haven. He calls it the next level of living “for our kind.” He takes his leave. Ingrid watches him leave.

Interesting, I thought they were cursed magic practitioners. Apparently, they are a separate race of persecuted immortals. Is this turning into Magickal X-men?

Back to the Beauchamps kitchen. Wendy is making a potion and Freya walks in holding the growth. She asks Wendy if she knows what it is. Wendy freaks and throws the growth in the fire. It explodes. She drags Freya to the sink and starts washing her hands furiously. Freya is confused. Wendy explains that the growth is very dangerous. It’s known as the “branch of death.” I didn’t catch the latin name, rameus mortem? Something like that.

Beauchamps hallway. Crap I’m going to have to do a third house post. This house is too cute. Wendy drags Freya around the house collecting crap. Wendy explains that the growth infects you and creates a silvery mucus that covers your lungs and you die from within. Fun. Freya blames Wendy. Wendy says that this wasn’t her doing. It must have been the shifter. Wendy tells Freya that she has to make an antidote. Freya freaks.

Ingrid’s still writhing on the bed. Another flashback. Archibald is reading to Athena. Ingrid walks in and the little girl runs to greet her. Archibald sends Athena to bed. He kisses Ingrid. Ingrid gives him a small vial of feverfox. An old lady walks in. The old lady gives Archibald some money. Archibald refers to humans as “your kind.” Ingrid pours the feverfox into a teacup and gives it to the old lady. Ingrid and Archibald hold hands around the old lady and tell her to drink the potion. They start chanting and she starts to scream. When the screaming is done, the old lady looks like a teenage Winona Rider. The youth spell was a success and the lady will now become part of Archibald’s coven. Archibald and Ingrid kiss.

Freya and Wendy are at the bar. Freya’s making the antidote. No one finds it strange that the bar is strewn with apothecary bottles and mortar and pestles. Her martini shaker starts to glow and she smiles. She makes three servings.

Freya brings the three drinks to a table. Dash, Killian and Amy are sitting around the table. They make a toast and drink. Killian doesn’t drink because he’s the designated driver. Cute. Dash asks Freya to elope. Freya agrees. They will be married at the courthouse on the weekend. They go back to Fair Haven to celebrate.

Back to the flashback. Archibald and Ingrid are making out in front of a lit fireplace. Lots of Pottery Barn pillows and rugs. These Victorian cults were really into Pottery Barn. Archibald wants Ingrid to tell her family that she loves him and wants to marry him. She explains that her family thinks that he is evil. If she tells them that she loves Archibald they will assume that he has brainwashed her. He says that he can’t do that because she’s more powerful than he is. Ingrid tells him that when the time is right and they have enough followers they can return to where they came from and regain their rightful place. I guess this really is Mystical X-men and Archibald is Witch Magneto. 

Archibald’s coven interrupts them. Winona Rider is dead. Archibald is nonplussed. He refers to Winona as an “inferior creature.” Yep, he's Magneto all right. Ingrid is aghast. They decide to get rid of Winona’s body. Winona’s brother enters the house. He claims that the townspeople know that Archibald is doing the devil’s work. He demands to get his sister back. Archibald tells him that his sister is dead. Archibald asks Ingrid to kill Winona’s brother. Ingrid hesitates and Archibald uses telekinesis to break the guy’s neck. He tells Ingrid that he’s very disappointed in her. Time to back to Professor Xavier's, Ingrid.

Back to the Fair Haven pool. Dash, Freya, Killian and Amy go for a swim. Dash asks them whether they want to explore the catacombs that the workers found under the house. They all think that would be a blast. Really? Catacomb hunting for fun? That antidote must have been pretty strong. Drunk people exploring catacombs, that sounds like a fabulous idea.

Flashback time again. Back to the apothecary. Ingrid is wearing her wedding dress. She rushes around the store, throwing bottles into a leather bag. Wendy interrupts her and tells her that she knows about Archibald. She says Archibald doesn't love her, that he is just using her.  Ingrid tells her that she’s lying.  She says that Archibald cares about their kind, that he’s found a way back to where they came from.

Fun catacomb times. By catacomb, they mean "dingy, dusty basement." Dash and the Amy go in front. Freya and Killian fall behind and exchange soulful looks.  Killian leaves. Freya starts exploring on her own. Honestly? Why? Anyway, she finds a veritable forest of rameus mortem. She runs back and stumbles onto Dash. They leave.

More writhing Ingrid. Archibald walks into the apothecary with Athena. He asks Wendy to join their cause. Wendy refuses. Archibald tells Ingrid to kill Wendy. Wendy aims a magic sphere at Archibald. Ingrid steps in front of him and the sphere hits her. 

Modern day Ingrid wakes up from her trance, screaming. Joanna walks into the bedroom. Ingrid sobs that Wendy killed her. Joanna hugs her.

Dash and Freya are back in the pool. Dash tells her that he knew they would get married from the moment he saw her. They kiss.

Joanna and Ingrid are drinking tea in the kitchen. Flashback. Back in the apothecary, Joanna runs in and finds Ingrid dead. Archibald tries to strangle Wendy. Joanna grabs a knife with engraved runes and runs toward Archibald. Athena tries to stop and the knife slashes her back. She falls to the floor. Joanna stabs Archibald who turns into ashes. Athena cries. Joanna grabs Athena and heals the gash on her back. She tells Wendy that Freya will be dead by dawn. The girls always die on the same die. Wendy looks anguished. Joanna tells Wendy that her recklessness has killed the girls. She tells Wendy that she never wants to see her again.

Back to the present. Joanna tells Ingrid that she didn’t see Wendy again until a couple of days ago. Ingrid asks about Athena. Joanna tells her that Athena left with a member of Archibald’s coven and that she died in the early 1960s. Freya walks in and tells them about the rameus mortem. Joanna says that they have to destroy it before someone finds it.

Dash is exploring the catacombs. Again? What’s up with the frigging catacombs? They’re not that attractive. He finds the rameus morten and takes a piece. Oh, this is going to turn out well, I’m sure.

Ingrid is reading in the garden. Wendy walks in and Ingrid immediately leaves. Wendy asks her what’s wrong and Ingrid says that everything is okay in a really, really fake voice. I guess she hasn't forgiven Wendy for that whole killing thing.

Freya goes back to Fair Haven. She meets Dash in the dining room. She wants to talk about the elopement but Dash beats her to it. He tells her that they should wait. She instantly agrees. They both changed their minds overnight. 

Penelope walks in wearing a beautiful teal shawl and asks about the elopement. They tell her that they’ve changed their minds. She breathes a sigh of relief and hugs them. The camera focuses on her back. The shawl drops down and we see a large scar. She looks at Freya and tells her that she’s very happy they changed their minds. She has big plans for Freya and her family.

End of Episode.

Overall, a great episode. Archibald/Magneto is a great character and I hope he gets more development. Or comes back from the dead. Penelope's whole Iñigo Montoya schtick is very intriguing. But I'm a bit confused about the world building. Are they all immortals? If so, why is Joanna so sure that Athena is dead? Maybe the Beauchamps are the only ones cursed with immortality?  Maybe the rest of them aren't immortal, they use keep using youth spells?

What did you think?