Faces
Prisoners
Episode 7 of Raised By Wolves begins with Campion racing toward Mother who lies bleeding out. As Marcus and his soldiers arrive, he brandishes a gun and a stand-off ensues. With her dying breath, Mother convinces him to drop the gun and end this in peace. This peacefulness leads to Campion being barricaded inside one of the huts while Marcus holds Mother up captive. On the back of this, Marcus is berated by Sue who talks to him about using Paul for his own selfish desires. Now that they have him back, Marcus wants to take this one step further and aims to reprogram Mother into his own image and to work with him. As he looks down at the android, he’s surprised to see that same familiar needle he hallucinated with during episode 5. When Marcus heads back to speak to Mother, she comments on his surgical scars and realizes his secret. The two verbally spar about the future of humanity and the path it should take next. She decides the future should feature no war or suffering. Marcus laughs and mentions the Arc, specifically all the people she killed onboard. At a stalemate, Marcus instructs no one is to enter the tent without his approval first. Elsewhere, Father is reprogrammed to be just like every other android. With Mother and Father now gone, Tempest of all people is the one to come to their aid. She mentions to the other kids how these two rescued them from the soldiers and gave them a home. Banding together, Tempest heads out to visit Campion who’s locked up alone. It’s here she confirms that Father has been reprogrammed and hands him some fungus to eat.
A Whisper In The Wind
As Tempest leaves, Campion starts hearing whispers uttering “we miss you.” As he clutches a bone, the voices goad him to “kill his Father.” Could this be another version of the same possession Marcus is experiencing right now? Marcus eventually heads back in and speaks to Mother. She mentions how she’s been programmed to be a caregiver. Marcus meanwhile only serves his own self interests. As she continues on, Mother calls him a lost boy and comments how he’s not fit to raise Paul. It gets under his skin too but Sol’s voice continues to tell Marcus to let her live. That evening, the group hold a baptism for Campion. Reluctantly, he joins the rest of the community as they gather together and watch. Campion repeats the sacred words. Only, just before he finishes the scripture he notices the stones symbolizing the children left behind. The soldiers simply shrug at their symbolic meaning and try to convince Campion they don’t mean anything. After all, it’s for atheists. Angry, he struggles to calm himself. This is made worse by Paul arriving and telling them it means nothing. As he looks to walk away, Father stops Campion and puts him back in the silo.
Mother’s Fate
As Marcus heads back in the tent, Sue arrives and smacks him in the mouth. On the back of shoving Paul, this is her retribution. That’s not all though. She pleads with him to reprogram Mother but he refuses. It looks like he’s listening to Sol after all and sparing the android’s life. But why? That evening Campion continues to experience hallucinations. This time though it involves the rope before him and whispers in the air. Those ghostly whispers materialize themselves in the form of Tally. She arrives in a robe and whispers that he’s alone now. Encouraging him to look outside, Campion watches as Father drags Mother away at Marcus’ command. Tempest watches this same scene unfold and follows them into the forest. Those same four legged creatures from before stalk them from afar too. Tempest hides behind rocks and watches Marcus from afar. Just before sliding he slides the android into the hole, Sol speaks again and tells Marcus to let her live. That eventually manifests itself in the form of a strange figure with markings over his face, Caleb. In a scene reminisce of Netflix’s Annihilation, the two figures seem to be in sync. Marcus and this doppelganger of his previous self know the other’s moves. While they fight, Mother saves herself from the hole with a little help from a stationary Father. Elsewhere, Paul finds his pet mouse but Sue is concerned. That concern is well warranted as Paul stumbles back to the settlement. She finds his cuts deep and seemingly self-inflicted. As he whispers about the prophecy, the episode comes to a close.
The Episode Review
If there’s one thing Travis Flimmel pulls off really well – it’s haunting looks and insanity. Some of his scenes in Vikings were absolutely magical and here he brings that same delicious maniacal streak to HBO Max’s flagship show. The recent news that this one has been renewed for a second season as well will certainly be music to many ears. Furthermore, the episode adds some intriguing ideas about the descent into madness. With everything spiraling out of control in the craziest way possible, this manifests in both internal an external ways. Father is completely unrecognizable now and seeing him no longer cracking jokes is surprisingly tough to watch. However, his finger twitching seems to show that there may be some humanity left there after all. That’s to say nothing of the kids either who all seem to have been happier with Mother and Father than Marcus’ troupe. This brings up some intriguing ideas again about religion and atheism, which this show thrives from. So far so good though, Raised By Wolves continues to raise the stakes and deliver a decent dose of drama. It also shows off the best aspects of Ridley Scott’s ideas. Let’s hope that this one continues to embrace the thought provoking questions across the rest of the season.
