Infected Memory
The Bucket Man
While the wind howls unforgivably, episode 5 of Raised By Wolves begins with the mysterious creature finding the children’s trackers and taking them away. Unbeknownst to Marcus, he continues to pursue what he believes to be the children via their trackers. Following Ambrose’s death, Marcus is now in charge. Only, not everyone shares the same enthusiasm to have Marcus taking the reigns. However, the group press on and make it to the crash site. As they look inside, they find a man within the Ark still alive. It turns out he was originally sentenced to death following him raping several people in hibernation. Instead of killing him though, Marcus decides to use him as cannon fodder- especially given the bucket he’s forced to wear on his head could provide protection against the Necromancer. In the middle of the night though, Marcus hears the bucket-head man praying to Sol.
Chasing Ghosts
Meanwhile, Mother berates Father following what happened with Tempest. There’s obviously tensions between them but for now she focuses her attention on Tempest. She rejects Mother though and her analogy about salmon does little to change her mind either. Campion heads down with Paul to the hole. Spying a creature crawling up the walls, they see it eating fungus and believe it may be something they can use. and eat. Back at the settlement though, Mother and Father have very different ideas about how to raise these children. Given they’re supposed to be teaching self-sufficiency, Father wants them to fend for themselves whereas Mother remains determined to keep a close eye on the children. Later that night, Mother heads out and finds Tally in the middle of the woods. Chasing on foot, she finds the familiar wooden statue sitting in one of the hibernation pods. With voices whispering and calling for her to come back, Mother ignores the warnings and sits within the simulation.
Mother’s Past
As she watches the past play out, Mother watches in horror as she sees an earlier version of Mother about to eviscerate a young child. As sirens wail overhead, a figure captures Mother and brings her to a laboratory. The man fixing her up is ironically named Campion Sturges. He’s intent on turning Mother into a force for hope rather than destruction. After numerous tests, Campion finally rewires Mother into a force for good. Replacing her eyes, she doesn’t kill him and it’s obvious that he’s in love. However, Mother is the future of humanity and he tasks her with raising the children. Onboard, Campion shows Father already plugged in and ready to go. Given how much she’s hurting, he removes her memories of him. Suddenly, the simulation comes to a close as Mother is told the settlement is under attack. As she races back, Father stands watch. The kids are asleep and unharmed. Only… that’s not completely true. Tempest lies passed out on the floor in the tent. Mother manages to help her vomit up what she’s tried eating but the girl is clearly weakened. Marcus and the others uncover the source of the signals among a monstrous set of old bones. Together, they start exploring the cave lurking beneath. Only, it’s sprung with traps. As they find the trackers, a strange humanoid-like man arrives and hurries off. This happens to be the same creature that we saw in the previous episode. As it leaves, Marcus finds a makeshift schematic on the table that confirms the children are still alive and housed at the settlement nearby.
Foreshadowing
Later that evening, Marcus taunts the bucket-head man who tells him Sol has now gone into his head. Marcus brushes it off as insanity but it’s obvious that it’s rattled him. This is made worse by Marcus hallucinating and seeing terrible images while making love to Sue. Between a blood-soaked Sue, a needle that looks very similar to that at the settlement and an ever-changing skyscape, something is being foreshadowed here. For now, it’s too early to tell quite what that is. In the morning, the group make it to the settlement and watch from afar as Father teaches the kids. As Mother walks away from the children, Marcus watches through the binoculars leaving things wide open for the second half of the season.
The Episode Review
The ideas of believers and atheists continues in this episode but interestingly with Mother turning into a believer. As she remains fixated on her being the future of humanity, Father on the other hand remains stuck on the same line of thinking. It’s such a fascinating idea and something that’s perfectly presented through the series. Speaking of believing, Marcus now hearing the “voice of Sol” is something that’s incredibly intriguing and adds another layer of depth to this. Could it be that he’s injected by something? A virus perhaps? Or is there really a higher power out there that’s speaking to Marcus? We’ll have to wait and see if that holds any weight of course but the prospects are certainly tantalizing. Raised By Wolves is certainly shaping up to be one of the better series of the year and easily one of the sci-fi highlights of 2020. If HBO Max’s latest show can keep up the momentum for its second half, we could definitely be looking at a top contender for one of the best shows this year.
