Talamasca: The Secret Order: Season 1 Episode 2 – Recap and Review
Just when there was a flicker of hope that the Talamasca: The Secret Order found something to hook viewers, it gets abruptly removed.
Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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Episode 2 “A Wilderness of Mirrors” Details
- Director(s): John Lee Hancock
- Writer(s): John Lee Hancock
- Public Release Date (AMC): October 26, 2025
- Check out our page for this series, featuring more recaps, reviews, and articles.
Episode 2 “A Wilderness of Mirrors” Storylines/ Recap
Welcome To The London Office: Greg, Jasper
From what Helen tells us, the London Mother House isn’t doing so well, and after the head of London, Greg Owen, learns that Soledad tricked one of his subordinates to get information, it shows. Apparently, both internally and externally, many know things aren’t going well, and all signs point to Jasper being part of the reason why.
Now, beyond the extensive surveillance implemented by him, it is hard to say what he specifically did, beyond ruining some sense of family and people being more aware of each other’s work. But, considering the breach of information that happened, maybe there is a good reason for decentralization and secrecy?
The Silver Lining: Keves, Guy, Helen
Though Guy has a multitude of terms regarding working with Helen, she agrees. Note, with him unable to read her mind, and Guy being off the books, she isn’t necessarily beholden to anything that was agreed to. But, with taking on the role of policing the London office, she needs someone like Guy who, upon arriving in London, has little to do.
Yes, he is set up with an apartment, a good amount of money, even a backstory to explain why he is in London, but beyond working at a peep show joint, he has nothing to do. Enter Porkie Pies, but specifically Keves. She is the eccentric you expect to show up in something like this, liven it up in the way it desperately needs, and be the love interest who makes Guy not only tolerable but have something to lose.
But, she does attract more than Guy’s attention, and a woman who goes unnamed warns Guy he is in so much trouble.
You Were Told This Would Be Dangerous: Keves, Guy, Archie, Jasper, Greg
After sleeping with Keves, it seems Guy’s work starts to pick up, and he finds himself getting to use the year-plus worth of training distilled in a week. This leads him to follow Archie, a fixer of sorts for Greg and Jasper, or at least that is what he is painted to be. HE ends up dead, alongside Keves, in the same apartment.
Now, what happened exactly? Hard to say. We know something, or someone, sliced Archie’s throat opened and made it appear Keves hung herself. But whether it was the woman from the club where Keves and Guy danced before going to his place, or maybe Jasper, after Guy let on he could listen to people’s thoughts? It is hard to say.
The only thing that becomes clear is the one character who brought some life to the show got killed off.
New Cast and Characters
Greg (Jonathan Aris)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Greg Owner is the head of the London Mother House of the Talamasca, and between him and Jasper, they are blamed for the lack of trust and diminishing morale.
Keves (Amelia Clarkson)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Keves was presented as the one who comes in and livens up the lead’s life, literally speaking of herself as if she was destined to be in Guy’s life. However, the outgoing, fun young woman ends up unable to fulfill her duty due to getting mixed up with the wrong people.
Matej Vagna aka Archie (Joshua Ben-Tovim)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Matej Vagna, aka Archie, was considered London’s go-to for when someone needed to be found or dealt with. Apparently, Keves was an example of that, but the mission didn’t end well for him.
Question(s) Left Unanswered & Predictions
- Did anyone else think, for a moment, Keves was a vampire, floating rather than hanging?
Review and Commentary
Low Points
The Death of Keves [64/100]
What Keves really pointed out in this episode is that everyone seeks to be taken so seriously that it is really draining the show of any life, of any actor’s charisma, to the point of it becoming a bore. So with her entry, being eccentric, bringing this fun side out of Keves, something that gave him a real liability, there was hope.
Heck, when that woman showed up in the club, assumingly a vampire, there was the thought that maybe Keves was hers, or she picked up on Guy’s trail through Keves, and that could stir things up. But, unfortunately, it seems Keves may get the Soledad treatment, where, while something interesting could have been done there, instead the character gets knocked off as if Guy and the rest have what is required to keep things going on their own.
But, with two of the lead roles still not being properly introduced, both notably played by young women, maybe they can save Talamasca: The Secret Order in the ways everyone else is failing to do.
On The Fence
The Show Still Lacks A Good Hook [72/100]
Talamasca: The Secret Order is starting to remind me of Apple TV+’s Prime Target. While there is an underlying, potentially interesting story there, it just doesn’t seem strong enough to bear the characters tasked to help the story unravel. It is almost like, whether it is Burton or Keves in this episode, there is an allowance of one eccentric character to liven things up temporarily, and then they are written off because those behind this don’t want them to affect the tone of the show.
But the problem is that if you are going to have a show that seemingly wants to be grounded, but still flirt with the fun that comes with playing with the supernatural, there needs to be balance or something, though preferably someone, consistent. Guy is not that type of character. He may have this talent, but his personality is so stale that whether he ends up collateral damage in Helen’s mission doesn’t feel like it matters.
Also, considering how large the Talamasca is, the work they are supposed to do, everything feels so small on the show. It’s an international organization, tracking and documenting all these supernatural beings, yet we focus on small pockets of London, on these handful of dry characters? It feels like such a waste of the source material and the world Anne Rice built.
Overall
Our Overall Rating [68/100]
I think the main problem with Talamasca: The Secret Order might be the same one people had with the Mayfair Witches adaptation, in that Interview With The Vampire set such a high standard that these other adaptations, not being akin to that, creates a massive amount of disappointment. And granted, is it fair? No.
However, The Immortal Universe is starting to help me understand why when it comes to the DCU and MCU there is such a tight grip on how things are done for, with how the Immortal Universe is being handled, while the vampires are justifying more and more spin offs and adaptations of Anne Rice’s work, its seems AMC is just happy to be part of the zeitgeist again and not wholly reliant on what remains of the The Walking Dead.
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