Summary
Jack and Alyssa are offered as hostages for a parlay between two secret societies in “The Commons, Part 1”, but the true orchestrator of events remains mysterious.
This recap of The Order season 2, episode 5, “The Commons, Part 1”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
Check out our spoiler-free season review.
“The Commons, Part 1” opens with a shocking twist: Jack has dyed his hair dark again! Gabby is naturally appalled, but he’s clearly done with her nonsense, especially in the wake of Lilith’s disappearance and potential death. Vera summons Jack to the temple along with Alyssa, who shows some genuine contrition, to explain that the Sons of Prometheus might have been behind everything, and she wants them to prove it. To Alyssa: “I have no other use for a broken practitioner.” Ouch!
Randall and Hamish are eager to do some stupid things in order to get Lilith back, but for now, they need to play along. What they also need to do in the meantime, though, is take Jack’s ethics exam for him so he can get the grade to keep his scholarship. Gabby joins in on this too, using the fact she knows they’ve recovered their memories as blackmail so that they agree to sit her test as well.
Vera, Jack, and Alyssa meet with the Promethean delegation in The Order season 2, episode 5, led by Xavier. All six participants bind themselves for parlay. Meanwhile, Gabby dresses Hamish and Randall in glamours — like Fables! — so that they can impersonate her and Jack for the ethics exam. This does not bode well, but at least it’s funny for the audience.
At the Promethean compound, Alyssa takes a shine to Orbin, one of their hosts, which Jack is none too happy about. The Prometheans are presented as kind of rural blue-collar salt-of-the-earth types in stark contrast to Belgrave’s elitist upper-class students. They’re still technically hostages, so they’re told not to enter any buildings without supervision or try to leave, which is advice that Jack clearly has no intention of following, but Alyssa seems quite happy to be there.
Meanwhile, Randall and Hamish make it out of the ethics exam with only seconds to spare before they transform back into their bodies. Randall gets caught on campus — wearing women’s clothes — by Nicole, who confronts him about the fact they’re not out there looking for Lilith. Professor Foley also invited “Jack” to a meeting with a card embossed with the same symbol that the pair found on Ellie’s computer. What does the ethics professor have to do with a rogue magical serial killer?
Xavier and Malachai have a proposition for Vera and Kepler, who arrives in “The Commons, Part 1” sans eyepatch. Apparently, the Promethean compound was attacked by werewolves, which indeed it was — Jack and Lilith, when they were sent there looking for the sickles. Vera is fuming at Kepler’s presence, and Kepler is fuming that the Grand Magus knew werewolves had been sent to a rival society’s compound. Jack and Alyssa, meanwhile, cause a fracas which results in a drink being spilled — it doesn’t seem like a drink that would do anyone any good, which suggests that the Prometheans might have some ill intent towards their hostages. Vera and Kepler, however, agree to buy them enough time to find evidence that the Prometheans robbed the vault.
Gabby teams up with Randall and Hamish; the latter heads to the professor’s meeting while the former two head to his house. Jack, meanwhile, gets caught snooping around the compound by Essie, who says it’s time to start treating him like the hostage he is. Alyssa gets much better treatment from Orbin, who thinks she’d be an excellent member of the Prometheans, who take on new members to replenish their numbers when one of them dies. She tries to explain how her powers are on the fritz, but no matter — Orbin explains that the Prometheans share a hive-mind, and through it, they’re all one. As proof, he demonstrates that Alyssa has inherited his nature-manipulating powers. She’s so happy and charmed that they kiss.
Things take a bit of a turn, though, when Essie deciphers that Jack’s the werewolf they’re looking for. Alyssa being plugged into the hivemind means that Jack can’t warn her of what they know without them all knowing that he’s onto them, and the Prometheans share with Alyssa that Jack killed one of them. They try to escape, but it does no real good since they can read Alyssa’s thoughts. Orbin tells Jack she’s not his anymore. “We’ve made up my mind,” says Alyssa. Jack insists that he respects her agency as a woman, but “f*ck this bullsh*t”. He drags her away.
At the secret meeting, Foley gives an impassioned speech about freedom that culminates in him explaining that magic is real — which he demonstrates. I told you there was something off about this guy! Meanwhile, during their escape, Jack and Alyssa shelter in a shed that contains the plant-based version of their shared hivemind, a lamplit network of trees with dripping sap and swiveling eyes. Alyssa insists there’s no escape, but Jack has the bright idea of carving “SOS” into his forehead, and thus into Xavier’s, so that Vera can see it during their meeting. As the negotiations break down, she decides to open up and be honest about what’s happening — it’s clear some other force is manipulating both parties, hoping for exactly this outcome. But Kepler has other ideas, and she instructs two members of the Order to kill the Prometheans, which is where The Order season 2, episode 5, “The Commons, Part 1”, comes to an end.
