Devil in Ohio – Season 1 Episode 3 “Mother’s Keeper” Recap & Review

Mother’s Keeper

Episode 3 of Devil in Ohio begins with Suzanne leaving work early. Only, it turns out there’s an A imprinted on her car. Anyway, she shows up in the courtroom with Mae, who is allowed to stay with Suzanne for 90 days, but she’ll need to go to school… and she’ll be in the same class as Jules.

Lopez catches up with Suzanne and updates her on what’s going on. There are two sets of fingerprints on the knife. One belongs to Mae and the other is unidentified at this time.  Not only that, but the blood on the knife matches that seen on Mae’s dress too. It’s not enough to get a warrant but it’s at least a start.

Lopez deduces that Mae was abused by her parents, which explains why she ran away and why they’ve not shown up to take her home.

Mae is brought into school and teamed up with Jules. She’s not happy about being stuck with a shadow but Suzanne sees it as an opportunity. When Mae notices the A on the back of Suzanne’s car later on, she hurriedly washes it off before anyone else can see it.

Peter and Suzanne head out together for dinner, where the former is worried about the financial implications of bringing Mae in and paying for new school supplies. As we know, he’s struggling with money and hasn’t bothered to tell his partner. While they’re on their date, the girls end up watching a film together. Heever, Mae hurts Dani by “helping” her with her stretches. Just after, she decides to braid Jules’ hair.

Mae shows up in front of Jules later that night and urges her not to say anything about her past or where she’s come from. Jules encourages her to “fake it till she makes it”, before the pair grow closer together, complete with Jules even doing her makeup ready for school.

Further flashbacks flesh out Mae’s past, including her being chosen as a “blessed one” by Abigail, her mother. After giving her something to eat, other women and girls there get her prepped for something. Along with washing her down with a sponge, her hair is braided.

There are a lot of rumours about Amon town, including one in particular (according to Adele at the hospital) where babies who are born there are hung upside down on crosses to see if they’ll survive. When Suzanne hears, she shrugs it off and claims it’s farfetched. “You been out to Amon County?” Adele bites back.

Detective Lopez interviews Bill Untermeyer, the representative of the Dodd family. Malachi and Abigail Dodd, Mae’s parents, to be precise. The rep is pretty standoffish, pointing out that it’s odd Lopez has shown up in a small town after being a hotshot in Chicago. “You’re encroaching on their religious freedom.” Bill signs off, leaving things on an ominous note and another intriguing littler mystery. What happened to Lopez in his past?

After finding Abigail’s address, and getting nowhere with bringing them in for questioning, Suzanna heads out alone and decides to leave the Dodds a note, asking to call her regarding Mae. She also starts asking about the Dodd family at a nearby pig farm. He unnervingly tells her to go home and stop asking questions. Given there are several menacing men outside, she gets in her car and takes off.

Back home, Lopez rings and deduces that the pentagram on Mae’s back is some form of branding to keep the religious cult in check. A way of controlling people and something that’s prevalent across the community. As Suzanne hangs up, she checks her mailbox and finds that earlier note she left for the Dodd family right there. She understandably freaks out.

Peter strikes a deal with an old friend called Cheryl, asking her for help with his development. Thankfully she agrees.

Jules also starts to find cracks in what little rays of light she’s held onto at school, with Mae taking the first issue at the newspaper and overshadowing Isaac. While the “two besties” continue to laugh and joke together, Mae still has her strange shrine, which she continues to add items to, including ripping up Jules’ shirt.

As the episode closes out, Suzanne promises never to betray Mae. When Suzanne heads to bed, Mae grabs a knife and heads into the garage, cutting up the meat Peter brought back from his deer hunt earlier in the episode.

The Episode Review

And so the plot thickens, as we learn that Mae is actually part of a cult. Although that may have been obvious to anyone paying attention in the first 2 episodes. However, the strange sheriff in that town is certainly a red flag, while Lopez’s investigation brings up even more questions over exactly what’s going on here.

There’s certainly a decent mystery brewing, while the situation involving Jules and Mae is another plot point that appears to be building up to a rather dramatic conclusion. The flashbacks certainly help to flesh out more of the past but as mentioned before, this series feels very similar to Servant in terms of its style and tone. Despite that, the mystery is enticing enough to stick with and find out what happens next.