Salem Episode 2 "The Stone Child" Review

     So many new things to talk about in the second episode of Salem and they're all positive things (that's a good sign for a new show). Speaking of signs, we have another look at Mary's witchcraft abilities as she curses a woman's birth to use as a sign of evil for Salem. What makes this aspect of the episode so great is that not only do we witness her powers, but also her intelligence as a villain. As stated in the first episode, Mary is planning on using the fear of witches to turn Salem against each other by having them kill each other via the "witch trials". We now have our first witch trial of the series and it is quite engaging to say the least. In this episode, an innocent and well known mid-wife of Salem by the name of Bridget Bishop is used by Mary in the delivery of the "cursed baby". During the delivery, Mary utilizes her witch craft to give Bridget the appearance of an evil entity as only to be seen by the young woman in labor. This of course strikes fear in the woman as the baby's death upon
birth gives the image of Bridget in being a possible witch. A tactical move by Bridget and as I said a great way to show the intelligence of Mary as a great villain for the series thus far. As with John, we get this episode's greatest scenes in terms of character moments and development. John interrupts one of Cotton's night meetings with a prostitute to kill him and avenge Gile's death. After Cotton mentions "black tar" and how it relates to hell, this sparks a memory in John's mind about the witch ceremony he witnessed earlier. He decides not to kill Cotton and instead forces him to help him learn more about witches and how to stop them. I really enjoyed the scenes with John and Cotton as this is where we get all the great and rich lore about witches and the supernatural.

     

     That's what makes these type of shows interesting after all: the rich lore. Another great moment to mention is during the witch trial of Bridget, where John interrupts and speaks on a rational side about anyone can be considered a witch at this point. This was a smart move on his part and actually leaned the witch trials towards his side possibly exposing the errors and faults in the idea to begin with. This of course brings a major issue to Mary's plans as she quickly retaliates by utilizing her backup plan, Mercy Lewis. She quickly brings forth the popular idea of Mercy being able to sense a witch's presence and uses her to react to Bridget as she stands before her. What made the entire witch trial scene so great is the constant back and forth between characters defending one another which is exactly how I would imagine something like this to be. So, as far as execution goes, this episode was simply magnificent. Eventually, Mary gets the upper hand in the trial leading to hanging of Bridget (an intense scene as nothing is really censored through her death). This brings forth a sense of accomplishment for Mary, but a doubtful cautious mindset to the other witches as John could've possibly expose the one flaw and inaccuracy of the trials. There's also a great scene where John confronts Mary at her home uninvited stating that he intends to fix Salem by using "the extra seat" on the board of select men. John states that he'll use the "Aiden seat" as a start even if it's just one voice. What makes this scene great is the way they show these clashing forces of good and evil without any mention or reveal of her being a witch to him. As far as he knows, she's just someone who is carelessly leading Salem, but for us (the audience), we clearly see the bigger picture. 

     Another thing to point out is when he realizes the fact that she still wears half to he medallion he gives to her before he left for the war. This is very interesting as we get little glimpses of her possibly holding a bit of care for him still. Something that will clearly be exposed in the future of the show no doubt. It is important to point out that earlier on in the episode after Mary frees John from prison, she witnesses him giving away his half of the medallion to a homeless lady. This was key to him freeing himself from his bond with her after she tells him that she would not leave with him. As far as other characters go, we are introduced to a new and frankly beyond interesting character who possesses the ability to use animals as another set of eyes around Salem (almost like using animals for cameras). Hale meets him to find out who interrupted the witch's ceremony and we see the man work his magic on a stitched eye lizard who was present on the scene. The set design is great in this scene as the man's place is filled with many questionably dead animals and other items of interest. We eventually get a glimpse of what the lizard eyes revealed before the episode ends, but one can assume that they will show it in it's entirety in the next episode. We also get a very creepy to say the least ending involving Mary using a voodoo doll as a way to stalk Anne as it magically appears in her room at night while she draws a picture of John in bed. Easily the creepiest thing so far and a great way to end off as we await what horrors are to come next in the next episode of Salem.