The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 5 recap – who takes Nathan’s finger?

This recap of The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 5 contains spoilers.

After escaping from the bar and the middle of Paris in The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 4, Nathan, Annalise, and Gabriel are on the move. The trouble is their route to Mercury takes them through the Ozanne territory, a Blood Witch-controlled area that still shows signs of brutal Fairborn raids that clash with Annalise’s somewhat sanitized idea of her family order. Not that the Ozanne witches are especially amenable to their presence either, but when Nathan hears heartbeats in the woods and the group picks up pace, it’s those Bloods that they run into.

The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 5 recap

The Blood Witches of the forest don’t like people who venture into their territory without asking, even — perhaps especially — at Mercury’s behest. Luckily, they come around when Nathan reveals who he is. They offer to guide Gabriel and the kids down the river, but on the proviso that they stick around for the Giving Ceremonies of twins Max and Odette, as honored guests. Those two already have their powers; twins develop much earlier, and only one of them needs to drink the blood at the ceremony because of the closeness of their connection.

At dinner, there’s a ton of interesting worldbuilding stuff, and crucially we get some insight into the perspective of the Blood Witches. Preserving their gifts through generations by the drinking of the blood is a cultural thing, a way to preserve the dead and their powers, which otherwise disappear when they expire. Marcus apparently eats hearts to take what he is owed; his mother was a heart-eater, and the Fairborn witches killed her and all the others like her, denying him of the legacy that would have been passed to him. Since then, the Fairborns have painted the Bloods as monsters. But there are two sides to every story, as we’re beginning to see.

For what it’s worth, this chapter also feels like the most “coming of age” installment, the one that contains the most quintessential teen-drama business, though admittedly complicated by all the magic shenanigans. Gabriel and Nathan begin to develop a bit of a bromance. Virginity is discussed; the fact Nathan is one, and Annalise isn’t. Nathan and Annalise have sex, and in her throes of passion, Annalise decimates the henhouse containing the poultry they were supposed to collect for the Giving Ceremony.

But naturally, it all gets a bit dark. The Fairborns are still roaming the lands looking for Nathan and Annalise, and when Odette and Max’s father, Zale, returns home from hunting, it’s with one of the Fairborns as a captive. The man is twisted and crushed inside an ornate trellis that blooms vivid red and orange flowers when fed with his blood — the camera spins dizzyingly around to take this sight in from all angles. The village elder pulls the heart from inside the trellis and eats it raw.

Later that night, Nathan takes severely ill from the Witch’s Bottle, which we come to learn is a parasite spell designed to steal a witch’s power, and requires two samples of blood from the line of both the caster and the recipient, which explains why Soul had to kill his brother and Nathan’s Gran. At that moment Ceelia arrives to negotiate for the kids, warning the Bloods that the house is surrounded by Fairborn Hunters. The Bloods shoo Ceelia out, but they don’t realize that a Fairborn is already among them — Jessica, who has shapeshifted into Zale’s young daughter and, after his inspiring speech, stabs him repeatedly in the heart. An errant gunshot goes off, which brings a hail of gunfire down on the barn from outside. Jessica, still masquerading as the little girl, crawls across the floor to Nathan and hacks off one of his fingers.

Odette leads Gabriel, Nathan, and Annalise through a trapdoor leading to their escape boat. Ceelia follows, but helps Nathan aboard (Karen Connell just hilariously hoists him over her shoulders), though Odette knocks her out with one of the paddles. Jessica hands Nathan’s finger to Soul, whispering, “We’re so close now,” as he surveys the massacre inside the barn.

You can stream The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself episode 5 exclusively on Netflix.

Additional reading:

• The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself season 1 review.
• The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself season 1, episode 6 recap.