Say the Words

Season

1

Episode

1

Writer

Eliot Laurence

Director

Steven Adelson

Episode guide
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n/a	My Witches

Say the Words is the first episode in Season 1 of the Freeform series, Motherland: Fort Salem. It aired on March 18, 2020.

Synopsis[]

Three witches join basic training at Fort Salem where they’ll prepare for the front lines, fighting looming terrorist threats with supernatural tactics and weapons.

Plot[]

In a crowded mall, a balloon rises and then bursts, releasing a forbidden working that causes the mall customers to calmly climb to a high ledge and throw themselves off of it. 1600 people died. The Spree witch who instigated the attack walks away and gets into a car where she burns her face off to reveal another face beneath.

Meanwhile, Raelle Collar, a witch and future cadet at Fort Salem, walks through a poor village to go home to her father. A woman is waiting inside her house to give her food and thank her for her future service at Fort Salem and for the sacrifices she is going to make. The woman then lays on a bed and chants something with Raelle. A wound on her stomach gets healed instantly and gets transferred to Raelle's body instead. The woman thanks her for helping heal her.

In New York, another future cadet, Abigail Bellweather, stands on a roof with binoculars kissing a boy named Paul. She tells him that she can't see him again after she takes the oath to join the witch army at Fort Salem.

Another cadet, Tally Craven, watches the news at home about The Spree attack. Tally's mom gets frustrated because she doesn't want her to enlist and put herself in danger. Her mom lost her sisters in the war and doesn't want to risk her daughter. Tally objects and says it's her duty to join the army.

The three girls all give their oath to the United States army. They receive a medal with their name on it. Tally goes to the airport and just shows her coin to get a ticket to Boston. Everyone thanks her for her service and an older man offers his seat on the fully booked flight to Boston.

In Fort Salem, the girls gather, stomping their feet, awaiting the words of General Sarah Alder. She welcomes them and warns them about what is coming.

Sergeant Anacostia Quartermain introduces herself to the girls. She said she is responsible for their general instruction and wellbeing. She releases the girls to go to their units and meet the others. Raelle, Tally, and Abigail are all bunking together as a unit.

The three girls sit around a candle and talk about their lives, reasons for coming to the army, and who they've lost in the war. They hold hands in bonding and chant a phrase in honor of those they've lost.

The next day, in uniform, the girls gather in the main hall and hum, while controlling the movement of water in a fountain in the center. Raelle seems frustrated and walks away in the middle of the exercise. She then meets Scylla, another cadet who also has avoided training to wander outside. A group of senior witches catch them and order them to return to their Sergeant, warning them that they will receive demerits for falling out of line.

Anacostia gives them a speech about blowing off basic training and warns them what happens to those who slack off. Abigail gets mad at Raelle because she missed training and it affects their ranking as a unified unit.

Another attack is announced. The Spree attacked a cruise ship, killing many people. This motivates the girls to train even harder.

Raelle sees Scylla working outside and goes up to her. Scylla explains that she works with the dead which is why she wasn't in training with the rest of the witches. Scylla takes Raelle into the woods and gives her salva, a government issued drug, to take. They both take it by sticking it to the back of their necks and start to float up towards the sky.

Suddenly, Scylla and Raelle drop out of the sky because Anacostia catches them. She demands they both go to the infirmary because salva is very dangerous. Anacostia warns Scylla to stay away from Raelle because she is on to her.

Anacostia tells Tally and Abigail that maybe their unit is through, because of Raelle's actions. Frustrated, Abigail goes to see General Alder to ask to be reassigned to a different unit. Alder tells her to push through because she had a similar classmate, who ended up saving her several times. She denies her request and tells her to help Raelle until she improves.

Raelle reads an old letter from her mom in war. Frustrated, she goes into training to fight Abigail because Abigail's mom was a part of the mission where Raelle's mom died.

Later on, Scylla and Raelle kiss. Scylla tells her to stay in the army and get powerful and then to get out after she has the skills she needs.

The witches practice singing and using their vocals to perform work. This is the source of their power. The Bellweather unit make exceptionally powerful harmonics and impress the elders.

Abigail and Raelle make peace in the cafeteria. Abigail apologizes and Raelle accepts her apology and says she looks forward to improving their unit, but makes it clear that they don't have to be friends to do that.

Meanwhile, in one of the dorm rooms, the Spree who caused the mall incident stands before a mirror and smiles. She sees the same suicide balloon from the attack in the mirror. She then hears someone coming and quickly burns her face to transform her appearance into Scylla. Raelle is at her door and comes in and kisses her, not knowing that Scylla is a witch from The Spree.