Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches – Tessa

By: Kelly Kearney

After kicking Lasher to the curb during that transference spell, the demon chose a new victim to embody–Rowan’s younger cousin, Tessa, who then turned around and got herself kidnapped by a group of modern day witch hunters. This week the witch hunters have Tessa in a cage and are preparing to barbecue her – Salem style –  unless she reveals her magic and lures the rest of her coven to them. Can the newly impregnated Rowan save her before she winds up another crispy victim of this cult?

Kidnapped

Ciprien (Tongayi Chirisa) is trapped in that 1600s Scotland memory as Rowan (Alexandra Daddario), in the present reality, finds out she’s pregnant. Is the baby Ciprien’s or Lasher’s (Jack Huston)? Considering the visions she is having and the fact Lasher inhabited Ciprien’s body on more than one occasion, the demon daddy is a good guess. Speaking of the demon, Lasher was transferred to Tessa (Madison Wolfe) who is now locked in a cage at cult leader Arlo Whittle’s (Chris Coy) compound after morgue worker and organ thief Kieth Murfis (Ian Hoch) lured her into the woods with promises of returning the Deirdre’s stolen heart. Tessa thought her new and Lasher-improved powers could convince Keith to give it up but now she is desperately trying to use them to get out of the cage. Tessa can tell this man is lonely and weak to the charms of a flirtatious woman, so she tries to work her magic and get him to release her. He is resistant now that Arlo has given him a purpose in life: to rid the world of witches. Things are not going well for the new designee, but do they ever?

Next, we catch up with Rowan at Tessa’s house where she runs into Alicia (Leslie Castay) who is surprised to see she didn’t head back to her life in San Francisco. Right away we can tell that Alicia has an attitude toward the former designee, but that doesn’t stop Rowan from snooping around her house while Alicia goes to check on Tessa, who is obviously not there. Similar to the spread Lasher magicked up for Rowan at the Mayfair mansion, Rowan notices how Tessa’s house has been filled with fake flowers and delicious chocolate cake. She can’t help herself and swipes her finger through the frosting for a taste and is caught by Tessa’s younger sister, Daphne (Olive Abercrombie). She has news and it isn’t good: they can’t find Tessa, but they aren’t concerned. They assume the young woman is at a friend’s house, but Rowan has a bad feeling about it. She insists they find Tessa, which Alicia finds odd. After all, Tessa is the designee now and Alicia really doesn’t want Rowan poking her nose in where it no longer belongs. That’s when Rowan doubles over in pain and runs off to the bathroom to vomit.

Lasher Goes M.I.A.

Back at Whittle’s compound and Kieth has Tessa’s undivided attention as he prattles on about some INCEL rage towards his female boss. It’s the same old nonsense, he is jealous of the woman making more money than he does, even though she takes off work for dates. Of course, he is also angry over the dates he thinks he should be going on. Talk about a man entirely sewn together with red flags! Tessa realizes he is pathetic and pretends to care about his feelings. She asks Keith to remove her blindfold so she can see his face and once she locks eyes with him she tries the magical whammy to get him to open her cage. That’s when Arlo shows up summoning Keith for a meeting. He is the big star of this show since he managed to steal a witch’s heart and lure another out with it. Arlo tells Keith their big plan is to scare Tessa with fire so she reveals her magic and lures the other Mayfairs to her. These people are definitely behind all of those deaths by fire that has been popping up around New Orleans. Figuring out what they are up to, Tessa grips her necklace and cries out for Lasher, who never shows up. So much for their spiritual union…

Back to Scotland where Ciprien is still trapped in the Hell Lasher left behind, when he hears the voice of Talamsca healer, Arjuna (Suleka Mathew) attempting to wake him up from this memory. He hears her say that the necklace he used to read the memory is now gone, and without it, it will be difficult for him to return to the present reality. It’s not long before Florie (Emma Rose Smith) appears before him and asks Ciprien to follow her. Meanwhile, Rowan is at Tessa’s explaining to the family how her younger cousin visited her with concerns over this man she thinks stole Deidre’s heart. She asked Rowan for help, but when she turned her down it seemed like maybe she went off on her own. The Mayfairs are angry that Tessa went to Rowan with this information but they understand that at the time she was the designee, but they still consider Deirdre’s daughter an outsider. Alicia blames Rowan for Tessa’s disappearance because it is obvious from Rowan’s behavior that Lasher is still bonded to her in spite of the transference ceremony. If he is with her, then he isn’t able to help Tessa. Enter the magic-seeking scry named Alonso (Eduardo Losan) who the Mayfairs ask to try and look for Tessa. Unfortunately, his brain channels are a bit fuzzy thanks to all the intertwining blood ties in the room. Thinking it might clear his path to her cousin, Rowan offers herself up as a blood sacrifice and with a few drips it works. Now, they have Tessa’s location.

When Dolly Jean (Charlayne Woodard) figures out that the nauseated Rowan is pregnant she immediately tells Cortland (Harry Hamlin) the news. With the location to Tessa, we see Rowan is ready to fly in for the save. However, Alicia is salty over the fact the newcomer thinks she has the right. Rowan explains that the entire thing is her fault and this is how she makes things right.

Over in Ciprien’s Scottish dreams things are becoming dire when he is introduced to Suzanne (Hannah Alline) who is now a full-blown witch. She is even wearing the same necklace Ciprien touched to send him into this memory portal, which happens to be the same one around Tessa’s neck. The two are not alone though. We see that Lasher is watching Suzanne and Ciprien from the corner of the cottage and laughing the cluelessness of these two.

Rowan to the Rescue

The search for Tessa is on! Jojo (Jen Richards) leads the way with directions but before they can leave, her father stops Rowan and orders her to bring Lasher to him. She doesn’t have time for her uncle’s demands and scares him off with one witchy powerful glare. When Jojo sees her father’s aggression and Rowan’s magical response she freaks out and winds up staying behind while her cousin takes off to help Tessa.

Jumping back to Scotland, Ciprien starts to wonder if he somehow landed inside Lasher’s memories and if this was how he was lured into the Mayfair’s past. Lasher deflects his questions by informing Ciprien of Rowan’s pregnancy. The demon is angry that Ciprien is trying to “domesticate” his powerful thirteenth witch and goes on to reveal how the two now share his powers and her desires. They are bound together, transference be damned! He goes on to tell Ciprien that he should’ve never gotten involved with Rowan, regardless of how enamored he was with the family growing up. He is a watcher, not a meddler, and his refusal to adhere to his job description is exactly what got him into this trapped in Scotland mess. Lasher leaves in a dramatic fashion and Ciprien is surrounded by darkness and an idea that might wake him up.

Hell Hath No Fury Like Witches Scorched!

Over at the witch burning we see Tessa is now tied by her wrists and dangling over a pile of tinder. We find out why this cult hates the Mayfair witches– in particular when it is clear they are not the only magic-doers around. One of Arlo’s members, a woman (Kerry Cahill) explains that she and her husband once worked for Mayfair Auto Parts and they happen to be standing in the very building where the now defunct business was located. When the Mayfairs outsourced the work, this woman and her family were left jobless and without health insurance. When their daughter came down with cancer and needed chemotherapy, it angered the woman even more when she realized the cost of the chemo was being funneled back into the pockets of the family who owned Mayfair hospital. This hate the group has for the family is layered and Tessa is the one who is going to pay for it with her life.

Back to Ciprien, who wakes up in the real world vomiting up the henbane poison he drank in his Scottish memory. It was his way out and it worked, but he is feeling those effects now. Over at Tessa’s house Jojo confronts her father about what she witnessed with Rowan. He was very aggressive with her and she wants to know why. Cortland isn’t in the mood to talk as he is too busy pushing his daughter away so he can call Albrecht (Dennis Boutsikaris) at the Talamasca to let him know about Rowan’s pregnancy. “I’ll take care of it,” Albrecht tells Cortland and goes on to say the Talamsca has been keeping an eye on the Knights of Brotherhood meeting which could be behind all of this. Later Ciprien contacts Albrecht to tell him he is worried about Rowan and asks the man to help him find her. Albrecht agrees but he isn’t in a hurry and that’s when Ciprien starts to make sense of what is really going on. Albrect tosses the car keys over the side of a bridge and then reminds Ciprien that they are watchers meant to observe but not get involved or help. Ciprien realizes Albrecht is working with Cortland and they are both on Lasher’s side! The betrayal of someone he respected cuts deeply, especially when he gets that Albrecht wants Rowan to fulfill Lasher’s prophecy to unleash a “new era.” Everything he has worked for has been a lie.

Over at the abandoned auto parts warehouse we see the witch hunters are about to light the tinder under Tessa’s feet. She continues to deny her magic but If she doesn’t reveal it soon by putting out the flames then she will die and it won’t be pretty. Just as Arlo gives the go-ahead to light the witch up, Rowan enters and kills all of them but Keith with her brain zap! In the process she gets shot in the shoulder but she does manage to free Tessa before she burns. Grateful for the save, Tessa removes the necklace that was never meant for her and that’s when the unthinkable happens! Keith is back and he shoots Tessa in the neck and then takes off running before Rowan can exact her revenge! The episode ends with Rowan holding a dying Tessa and screaming in rage. Now that she has the necklace, Lasher is sure to come running. There is no telling what hell those two are about to unleash on Keith or anyone else who gets in their way.