Summary
Powered by the chemistry of the leads and some stellar visual effects, the third episode sets Nathan and Annalise off on an exciting new path.
This recap of The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself season 1, episode 3 contains spoilers.
You know how some people talk or walk in their sleep? Well, Jessica shapeshifts in hers. Laying next to Kieran, who she has obviously spent the night with despite the fact he seems to have seen her smiling at Hazel’s death, she changes into the Blood Witch she shot, snoring loudly, and then back to herself, smiling. Kieran doesn’t look confident in his choices, but we’ve all had weird one-night stands, I suppose.
The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 3 recap
But it’s a double dose of bad news to start off this third episode. As we saw in The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 2, Rowan, Kieran’s father, is dead, and now so is Nathan’s Gran, both because of Soul, who is nonetheless pinning the blame on Marcus. He shows up personally to pick Nathan up since he has decided to take the kid and use him to deal with Marcus now instead of waiting for him to complete his training.
But Marcus ambushes the convoy in the form of an eagle that Ceelia spotted in the previous episode, killing everyone in the car ahead and leaving only Nathan, Jessica, and Soul alive. They manage to make it back to London in a stolen car, where Soul sedates Nathan, ties him to a bed, and tattoos some magical symbols on his chest and finger using a long needle and the bottle of blood he collected from Rowan. The spell is called a Witch’s Bottle, dark and forbidden magic because of the terrible things it does and that need to be done in order to cast it. The second Soul leaves, Nathan frees himself from his restraints and escapes. On his way out, he’s accosted by a security guard who is subsequently torn to pieces in a stunning visual effect by Annalise’s power.
Naturally, we flash back to Nathan beating up Niall to explain how Annalise got to that position. We see her witness that assault, question Soul about Nathan’s whereabouts, cavort with a classmate, speculate about what her power might be before her gifting ceremony, and then discover what it is quite by accident by exploding her pet rat when it bites her. We see — again — a more controlled version of it afflict David when he comes onto her in the car. Through some research, Annalise learns that this power is called “decimation” — basically tearing people into as many pieces as possible (the explanatory illustration looks exactly like what happened to the security guard earlier).
Speaking of that security guard, Steve, we also see that Annalise actually knew him personally. We see her decimate him again — man, that visual effect rules — and then pick up from where we left off, with Nathan and Annalise fleeing from Jessica.
With the chemistry between Jay Lycurgo and Nadia Parkes immediately crackling, they try to catch each other up on everything from the prophecy to Soul’s forbidden spell to the map on Nathan’s hand that Mercury drew — they ask that map for help and it begins to contort to guide them somewhere. With no better options, they follow.
The map leads them to a door hidden behind a wall in a block of flats — this show’s equivalent of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, I suppose. Inside the apartment is a rather easygoing stoner named Gabriel, who works for Mercury. Nathan needs his family blood before his Giving Day, which Gabriel seems quite confident Mercury can provide since she keeps samples of blood from all the witch families, and he even suggests that she might be able to change Annalise’s power, since decimating Steve has made her fearful of herself. Nathan and Annalise have to strip off in the bathroom so Gabriel can clean their clothes, and they almost have sex until Gabriel interrupts them.
Before long, Soul and some Council goons blow into the apartment. The only escape is jumping out of the window while biting down on a magical orb, though Gabriel only has two, so he tries to leave Annalise behind, especially when he finds out she’s Soul’s daughter. But she refuses to take no for an answer, and all three end up plummeting out of the high-rise window, presumably on their way to Paris.
You can stream The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself season 1, episode 3 exclusively on Netflix.
