Episode 7 Faces Recap & Review
Raised by Wolves is a new series on HBO Max, HBO’s new streaming service. There was a lot of hype around the show since its executive produced by the legend, Ridley Scott. After watching the trailer, I decided to give the show a shot. The first season has 10 episodes on the streaming service, with new episodes being released every Thursday. Since I am already literally and figuratively invested in the show, I figured I’d share my thoughts with you readers!
Warning: my recap and review will NOT be spoiler-free.
Recap
Faces starts with Paul looking down at Mother’s face as she lays on the ground, badly injured. He feels guilty because he was starting to care for Mother and Father but making his own father proud took precedence. Campion rushes to Mother’s side and begs her not to die. The Mithraics throw Campion off but he returns to Mother once again. When they remove him again, Campion grabs one of their guns and threatens to kill everybody. Remember Campion is no stranger to violence. Mother reminds Campion that violence is not the way and he drops his gun. This gets Campion sent straight to the pantry silo and Mother gets tied up in another silo.
Again we see Paul looking down on the face of Father; Paul feels a similar sense of guilt. The guilt dissipates the moment his father praises him for being a good little soldier. Sue/Mary is pissed at Marcus/Caleb for using Paul and forgetting their original mission is to escape with Paul and go to the tropical zone. Marcus/Caleb thinks they should wait, so he has time to reprogram Father and Mother. They may need them for protection. Sue/Mary is not really buying it but feels she has no choice but to wait.
Marcus/Caleb pays a restrained Mother a visit in her silo. He does not believe that Mother really cares for the children and is just a good liar. Mother reminds Marcus/Caleb that he is the liar. She knows he had surgery to change his face, she can even see the original face underneath. She knows he use to be a child soldier in the Atheist Brigade and that he is an orphan. This surprises and impresses Marcus/Caleb. He gets close to Mother’s face to ask her what she did in the Sim. She doe does not answer but you can feel the tension as they almost kiss. Wait until Sue finds out!
In the main house of the settlement, a now reprogrammed father serves everyone a meal. This breaks little Vita’s heart. The children inquire as to what will happen to Campion, and Lady Holiness says he is to be baptized. To perform this religious ceremony, they build a makeshift church.
In the pantry silo, Campion is hearing the voice of his dead sister Talley. She tells Campion that she and the other dead siblings miss him, and he should join them. Then a stick doll appears, and it is holding a sharp tooth. Talley instructs Campion to kill his father. Does she mean Father or his actual father? If she means his real father, who is that?
It’s time for Campion’s baptism! Paul reminds Campion that he needs to accept Sol, so he can be let go from the silo. During the ceremony, it seems like Campion is ready to do accept religion, even if it only means he gets “freedom.” However, he notices that the altar is made from his siblings’ headstones. Apparently, it was Father’s doing. Unable to control his anger, he stabs Father in the arm. This gets Campion thrown back into the silo.
Marcus has been hearing voices again and seeing the face of Caleb aka the face of himself. He instructs Father to come with him and bring Mother. Tempest notices what is going on and decides to follow. As they go deeper into the woods, Tempest sees more of the creatures, but they are headed in the direction of the settlement. Uh, oh!
Marcus and Father come to one of the giant holes. “Slide her into the hole,” Marcus tells Father. Father lifts the sled Mother is strapped to but does not throw her in. The voices tell Marcus to let her live. “Let her live and you will be king,” they repeat. He ignores the voices and tells Father to do as he commands. He does but then grabs the rope attached to the sled causing Mother to dangle in the air.
The voices grow louder and then Caleb himself appears. Marcus and Caleb begin to fight each other. During this fight, Mother is able to climb up and escape. She tells Father she will be back for him and the children.
Back to the fight, Marcus is losing badly. Caleb takes the knife and cuts Marcus’s stomach. Marcus faints and Caleb disappears.
Father takes Marcus back to the settlement and Sue finds him. She begins to patch him up when he begins to tell her about the prophecy. She does not really understand and thinks he is in shock since he lost so much blood. Marcus tells her that he is the chosen one and that Sol told him so.
Review
Faces succeeds in its main mission to move the story along. Where it is moving us to…I am not sure. What I will say is that I was correct about my prediction about Marcus/Caleb, that I made in my review of episode 4. You can hold your applause. Still, now that we have this information, what do we do with it? We still do not know anything about Ghost Talley, the monsters, the parkour person, or where Otho is? Also, why would Marcus/Caleb suddenly be attracted to Mother? This episode has too many loose ends and I wonder if the next three episodes can tie them all?
I give this episode a D.
What did you think of Episode 7? Do you feel like the series has bitten off more than it can chew? Share your thoughts in the comments and on our socials.
