Umbilical
We begin episode 9 of Raised By Wolves with Tempest finding the bucket-head man Otho praying to Sol. Calling from afar, they approach one another. It turns out that man was the one who abused him. Mother finds the same man and ignores Tempest while she works to feed her fetus using its robot companion. Marcus meanwhile tasks Hunter with packing up the lander with food and supplies. Father starts to malfunction, prompting Hunter to use his initiative and reprogram Father back to his old-self. As he starts a joke, he holds Hunter and thanks him for his help in bringing him back to life. Determined to find the kids, Marcus decides to travel up to the temple (aka. the dodecahedron) believing Sol will speak to him there. As they arrive at the strange artefact in the middle of the desert, Marcus prays for Sol to give him a sign. Meanwhile, Tempest questions Mother about how she got pregnant from a sim pod. She has no answers though and simply tells her “the creator made it possible.” Well, I guess that explains everything then. They head out from the wreckage toward a place they can deliver Mother’s baby successfully. On their way, they find Sue and the rest of the kids. The kids all hurry toward Mother and embrace her while Sue holds a gun up to the android. When she sees that Mother is pregnant with “number 7”, Sue drops her weapon. Confused, Mother explains that she “made it herself” and that it’s “beyond her understanding.” Inside, Mother agrees to keep Sue’s secret about changing her face and deceiving Paul. While she does, Father sneaks Hunter out and takes off in the lander, leaving Marcus alone with his soldiers in front of this relic. Father senses an irregular power, one matching Mother’s, and plots a course to head there. That power comes from Otho who happens to have had his power levels increased thanks to a reverse energy flow using Mother’s baby. Thanks to some quick thinking, Tempest manages to destroy the prisoner by throwing the severed robot head out of proximity and allowing its head to explode. As Father and Hunter touch down and arrive, Campion has an emotional reunion with Father and asks him not to leave again. Needing blood to save the child, Sue decides to sacrifice herself and serves up a transfusion for Mother’s child. Elsewhere, Dorian’s death spurs up the rest of the soldiers as they start to turn on Marcus. Figuring out he’s not actually Marcus, the soldiers feed Marcus a mechanical eyeball and leave him to convulse on the ground as white liquid oozes out his mouth.
The Episode Review
Hopefully we get some answers next episode. If we don’t, a second season has already been green-lit so there’s plenty of time to theorize and hope Ridley Scott can deliver some satisfying answers to what’s happening. The idea of Mother getting pregnant is simply written off as “beyond Mother’s understanding” but this just doesn’t feel like a good enough explanation. I don’t think we’re going to get much of an explanation to be honest but I do believe this “part-carbon” life-form may not be the saviour everyone is making it out to be. I’d imagine we may even get something tying this in to the Alien franchise as a sort of xenomorph native to this planet’s inhabitants. So then that leaves the questions around whether the simulation pod made her pregnant or not? Is there something inside which injected Mother with a spherical carbon-based life-form? Or is this all a series of massive coincidences led by creator Campion back on Earth knowing this would happen in this exact way? Whatever the reason, you need to seriously suspend your disbelief with this one. Having said that, there’s an intriguing element to this that keeps you watching through to find out more. Alongside this though are numerous hints toward Christianity and religion is, of course, playing a big part in this show. I get that Ridley Scott is likening Mother to the virgin Mary but the lack of answers just feels like sloppy writing, especially this late in the game. Marcus is okay but he also feels like an extension of Ragnar from Vikings and it’s starting to become a little distracting now. With the finale up next week, it’s nigh-on impossible to figure out what’s going to happen next. If you’ve made it this far, it’s a definite must-watch!
