Raised By Wolves: Season 1/ Episode 8 “Mass” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

As Marcus continues to push away his loved ones, Mother comes upon a discovery that frightens her and could be a danger to everyone.

As Marcus continues to push away his loved ones, Mother comes upon a discovery that frightens her and could be a danger to everyone.

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Director(s)	Alex Gabassi
Writer(s)	Sinead Daly
Aired (HBO Max)	9/24/2020
Introduced This Episode
Karl	Carel Nel
Vita	Ivy Wong
Holly	Aasiya Shah
Tally	Grace Li

This content contains pertinent spoilers.

Recap

Do You Remember Yourself? – Marcus, Sue

As Marcus’ influence grows, so does Sue’s worry that Caleb is diminishing and soon will be just a memory. Which continues to pain her for Marcus reminds her that Caleb is there, and he sees her as Mary. It’s just, increasingly, the sacrifices they made seem to not be leading to what the original goal was. Never mind Marcus isn’t sticking to the plan, which leaves Sue unsure if she should abandon the man who saved her or just be patient and trust him, as she has thus far.

Truly A Mother – Campion (O), Karl, Tempest, Mother

Mother has escaped, but where can she go? Well, the Ark, of course. A place where she makes a friend, Karl, who is an A-Plus Life Technician and keeps her company as she tries to repair herself and figure out what this mass is inside of her. Which we learn could be a baby.

How? Well, that’s hard to say. With Mother being a Necromancer, and the Mithraic inheriting the means to create them, not actually doing so themselves, her tech is utterly foreign to Karl. Making it so, while he can help with the basic repairs, beyond that? Well, it’s beyond him.

Hence why, when she uses a creature’s blood to deal with the child she originally thought was a silicon tumor, it’s strange. But, with her being an android who can see their creator in dream-like stasis and Tempest somehow finding her, and surviving all the creatures she could have encountered, is this really the weirdest thing?

The Mad Father – Campion (N), Marcus, Sue, Paul, Vita, Holly

Marcus is lost to Sol now. Note, he doesn’t hear Sol throughout the episode, but it seems he is shell shocked from their previous encounters. Thus he is ultra-paranoid, to the point of scaring Paul, and Sue has come to the point she will openly question and rebel against Marcus. Thus she ends up in a Silo.

However, with Paul growing tired of his father and his ways, he assists Campion in escaping and together, with Sue, Vita, and Holly, they all escape into the woods.

Things To Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. Campion escapes first, without Paul and the rest, but they meet up later.
2. Hunter has been experimenting with Father to see if he can either bring him back or get rid of the trigger finger. Which, according to Hunter, is Morse code that equals “Sol is the Light.”

Review

Highlights

The Search For Sol

Marcus’ possible descent into madness continues to be noteworthy simply due to the fact he was raised an Atheist. Yet, as shown with Campion, lacking a religious upbringing doesn’t mean when presented with faith, you’ll reject it. For if there is one thing “Raised By Wolves” does well, is help you understand why faith has long been part of human culture.

I mean, look around Kepler-22b – there is nothingness. There isn’t really a strong reason to have hope, and while there are people who have formed a community, it is clear they are willing to backstab if they need to. So who else can you trust and put faith in than a deity who seemingly doesn’t focus on the petty matters of man but focuses on the big picture?

Which explains Marcus going mad. It’s like was said in “No Sun on the Horizon” on Scandal:

“I have prayed to God over and over and where there once was his voice, the warmth of how love, there is now only cold silence. […] Without him, without the sign of his love, I am worse than dead.”
— “No Sun on the Horizon.” Scandal[1]

Also, as seen with Otho. Who, grated, is corrupt and crazy. However, how crazy was he made from feeling abandoned and how crazy due to Sol is up for questions.

Sue’s Great Escape

It isn’t clear when, but eventually, Sue is going to reveal her real name is Mary to Paul, and hopefully flesh out who she was as an individual. For right now, everything seems to begin with Marcus, when he was Caleb, finding her and rescuing her, and she rarely talks about her life before him. So with breaking things off, and taking the kids, here is hoping for the sake of trust, we get honesty.

Mother & The Mystery of Life

Riddle me this: How has Mother, for over 13 years, had a baby inside her and it remains about the size of a fist? Also, considering all she has gone through, why is it just now something she has noticed? Did Campion program her to not know of its existence and to potentially burst through her, “Alien” style? Is this part of the memories wiped from her or, since hallucinations seem to be universal, could it be that it is a tumor but her desire to be a mother is playing tricks on her?

[1] https://wherever-i-look.com/tv-series/collected-quotes-scandal