The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 4 recap – what is Gabriel looking for?

This recap of The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 4 contains spoilers.

Since The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 3 introduced us rather quickly to Gabriel, the start of this episode provides a touch more context for his involvement. We see him living in Paris, running away from a relationship with a man, and being given the job by Mercury via a messenger who channels her in the same way Gran did at the end of Episode 1.

Back where we left off, Gabriel is annoyed at their present, secretive circumstances. They pick up some supplies — vodka — and board a boat piloted by a man named Habir to cross the channel to France. Gabriel gives some new energy to the show; he’s funny, knowledgeable, and quietly tragic, though not for any reason we can ascertain just yet. Emilien Vekemans seems to be having a ton of fun.

The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 4 recap

Paris also provides a welcome new setting. When Gabriel returns to his apartment he finds his equipment has been robbed, and without it, he won’t be able to get the kids to Mercury, so it’s a good excuse for a brief tour of the city’s magical watering holes and backstreet artifact dealerships. It seems the thief, Ruby, sold the gear on, so Gabriel proposes to the middleman that he return it in exchange for Annalise, who he can ransom back off to the Fairborn Council (this conversation takes place in French, so Annalise and Nathan have no knowledge of it.) However, when Gabriel’s gear is returned it’s missing a crucial item, a small book, so he tries to call the deal off. But it’s too late. The seller rats him out to Nathan and Annalise, who have to flee from the gendarme. Gabriel manages to knock two out with a yellow powder until he’s coshed over the head.

While languishing in police custody, Gabriel is pushed to reveal the location of Nathan (whose importance he isn’t aware of yet), but he keeps quiet for now. Nathan and Annalise head back to the bar where Gabriel was asking for information about Ruby earlier to summon his friends for help. And in the meantime, Soul, Jessica, and Bjorn torture Habir the boatman for information on where the kids have gone. The bulk of the torture Soul leaves to Jessica, who shapeshifts into Habir and remains in his form while she cuts him, the wounds appearing on her mimic of his body as she does so. Bjorn, Ceelia, and Kieran are all visibly disturbed by how much pleasure she takes in this.

With the help of Nicky and Hugo, Nathan and Annalise are able to break Gabriel out of custody. But much to their annoyance he still needs his stuff, particularly the book. And it turns out that Clark, the man he abandoned at the top of the episode, stole it. As it turns out, there’s nothing magical about the book — it’s a keepsake. The Cuts in reality that they have been using to travel are already there. The one that leads to Mercury is in the bar they were all in earlier. Either way, Gabriel uses his powder to erase Clark’s memory.

When Annalise sees what they’ve been running around all day chasing, in her frustration she accidentally lets slip that Nathan is the son of Marcus Edge, which panics Gabriel so much he leaves them with Nicky and Hugo, who take them back to the bar. But it’s a setup. The French witches — at least the ones in the bar — aren’t exactly keen on the Fairborn Council, so they see Marcus as something of a potential leader. So, they can’t facilitate Nathan killing him. Hugo’s power is muting a space, which makes for very interesting sound design in the ensuing sequence. It only gets weirder when Gabriel returns and drenches the place in a glowing pink alchemical bomb, moving through the muted bubble under cover, knocking out all the witches. Nathan and Annalise save him from Hugo, and Nathan beats down Hugo much like how he did Niall, with the heartbeats throbbing in his ear once again.

Gabriel and the kids are able to escape the bar, but they don’t make it through the Cut, which means they have to take the long way to Mercury’s — a route apparently full of peril that at least one of them won’t survive. As the episode ends, Nathan sees the ink from Soul’s spell beginning to snake and spread through his veins.

You can stream The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself season 1, episode 4 exclusively on Netflix.

Additional reading:

• The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself season 1 review.
• The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself season 1, episode 5 recap.