Mayfair Witches – Season 2 Episode 1 “Lasher” Recap & Review

Lasher

Episode 1 of Mayfair Witches season 2 picks up with Rowan giving birth to the human form of Lasher. It has only been a few days, but baby Lasher is growing abnormally quickly. Rowan is also having nightmares of spirit Lasher coming for his son. This is part of the reason she has fortified the Mayfair mansion, which she currently lives in with her son. Another reason is to keep other people who may mean her son harm, like Ciprien.

Simultaneously, Rowan is worried about how quickly baby Lasher is growing. She also has hallucinations of Millie warning her about Lasher. However, Rowan sees the boy as her son and not the human reincarnation of Lasher. Within a few days, the boy grows from an infant to a toddler and asks for his powers. Currently, Rowan has Lasher’s powers. She has been trying to get into her son’s head to see his motives, but it has been impossible.

She relies on Dolly to find answers, but Dolly might not be the good Samaritan and elder that Rowan thinks she is. In fact, Dolly loves that Lasher is human. She believes that the birth of Lasher will multiply the Mayfair family power. She suggests that Rowan asks Cortland, but we know she turned him into a stone. Like dead people, stone statues of human beings, tell no tale either!

Elsewhere, we have Moira Mayfair, one of Tessa’s sisters who returns to town to grieve her loss. Moira wants to know why Lasher didn’t save her sister, unlike the other Mayfair witches. Moira possesses the power to read thoughts and is a powerful witch.

With no one to turn to for answers, Rowan reads Katherine’s diaries to find a clue about Lasher’s motives. On the other hand, Ciprien tries to break through the witchy barriers and get into the Mayfair house but fails. Before embarking on his mission again, he preserves a memory in his bible and leaves it to Arjuna for keepsake.

Ciprien is worried that the Talamasca will tamper with his memory and he will forget to save Rowan from Lasher. He believes that Lasher has Rowan under a spell, and that he is the charming Prince who will rescue her from the holds of her demon son.

Unfortunately, he is forcefully brought in by Albrecht, who asks for Ciprien’s help in defeating Lasher. Albrecht explains that The Talamasca want to capture Lasher. Apparently, the boy is a serious danger to the balance of the supernatural world. Albrecht wants Ciprien to use Moira and turn her to their side.

As Baby Lasher grows older, the terrified Rowan becomes that his demonic instincts will kick in anytime. She contemplates killing him but can’t bring herself to do it. She resorts to playing his ally to gain his trust, but Lasher is holding off since Dolly warned him not to say anything.

A minor scrabble ensues, and Rowan accidentally hurts Lasher. She uses the blood to run a DNA test in an effort to understand her son better. She drops by the hospital to run the analysis and calls an old friend, Sam Larkin, to do more advanced tests. Sam is a well-known medical researcher and is happy to help Rowan, thinking he is helping one of her patients.

While at the hospital, Rowan uses her new powers to heal a young girl about to die from cancer. She also runs into Jojo and asks if the offer to be a brain surgeon at the Mayfair hospital still stands. Of course, Jojo says it is and agrees to head back to the house to talk about Cortland. They arrive to find Moira trying to talk to Lasher.

Thankfully, Dolly has music playing to keep Moira from reading her thoughts. She also doesn’t allow Moira to see Lasher. Rowan apologises to Moira for her role in Tessa’s death. Still, Moira wants answers, and even though she leaves, she is determined to try again. Rowan invites her to return at a better time when Lasher is grown enough to remember the past and can give her the answers she seeks. However, Dolly warns Rowan to be cautious around Moira.

After Moira leaves, Lasher asks about Tessa, and Rowan does her best to spare him the gory details. At this point, Lasher is already a young teenage boy but confused about his past. Rowan tries to assure him that maybe his purpose is to be good for the sake of their family. However, Lasher disagrees and tries to kiss Rowan. She pulls him away, and he confesses his love for her.

This catches Rowan off-guard, and she warns him not to do that again. She goes to the basement and tries to talk to Cortland’s statue. Unfortunately, Cortland can hear her, but he can’t respond. He is stuck in a never-ending loop filled with rooms and is being haunted.

Following his argument with his mom, young Lasher, now a teenager, heads out to a club. He is immediately taken by a girl, and he approaches her. Sadly, his night out ends in tragedy when something happens and the girl dies. He takes her back to his house and asks Rowan to fix her. Unfortunately, Rowan can’t resurrect the dead girl. She tricks Lasher and locks him in the basement while she grieves her choices.

After calming down, she disposes of the body of the girl in the river. Back in the house, Lasher breaks the basement window and escapes. On his way out, he finds the bag of the dead girl. Inside, he finds her ID, and it looks like the girl is one of the Mayfair witches. By the time it takes Lasher to escape through the window, he has turned into a full-grown man. The episode ends with him leaving the Mayfair house.

The Episode Review

The first episode of season 2 sets the perfect platform for the storm that is Lasher in human form. For whatever reason, Dolly wants to keep Rowan in the dark because she knows Lasher’s mission is going to be dark. It will be interesting to see how this will affect the dynamics of Rowan and her son.

I mean, she is not delusional enough to forget her son is half human/ half demonic, but she  tries to lead him on the narrow and righteous path all the same. At least, that is what she might have told herself until he brought a dead body home. Rowan realises that her actions to protect Lasher might be more tragic than if she had killed him immediately after he was born.

This season promises to give us a lot of internal struggle within the Mayfair family and The Talamasca. Albrecht is smart enough to use Ciprien to do the dirty task of conniving with Moira to capture Lasher, but what do the Talamasca want with Lasher? Whatever it is, their motives will not be for the good of the supernatural world!

It will also be intriguing to see how Moira and Rowan will go head-to-head. They each want to protect their family, but their methods differ, and they won’t see eye to eye on much. Lastly, where is Lasher off to and what is his next plan? Now that he is an adult, will his body be strong enough to handle the re-awakening of his powers?