'Mayfair Witches' Season 2 Episode 3 Recap & Ending Explained: Do The Talamasca Capture Lasher?

While I’m usually not one to steer clear of adaptations that mess around with the source material too much, the second season of Mayfair Witches isn’t really making a good case for itself. I even convinced myself that the sluggishness of the first two episodes was setting us up for an explosive turn in the story. But from the looks of the third episode, which undeniably is the least entertaining one in the entire show, I’d say that there’s a chance that the entirety of the second season will end up looking like a creative choice gone terribly wrong. In any case, I’m still pretty invested in Lasher’s ulterior motive. So let’s see if we’ve gotten any closer to figuring out what that might be.

Spoiler Alert

It’s funny really. And it’s even kind of sad for former fans of Mayfair Witches like me that the most exciting thing to happen on this week’s episode is an Easter egg referencing the far superior “Interview with the Vampire.” Since both shows are set in the same universe and city, a crossover was only overdue. The swanky vampire Lasher crosses paths with is Felix, who was Lestat’s new fledgling in “Interview with the Vampire.” It was Felix who Louis followed into Lestat’s less-than-humble abode, about to be torn up by a wild reunion and Hurricane Katrina. And now, Lestat’s creation is hyping up the beast in Lasher. This Lasher feels guilt, a feeling his spirit form was unfamiliar with. Aside from being true to his vampiric nature and encouraging Lasher to embrace his wicked appetite, Felix stands as a reliable reminder that Lasher is “something new entirely.” So it makes sense that his mother is looking for new avenues to trap him and deal with him before he destroys the family entirely. She wants Mayfairs from all around New Orleans to collect under one roof as bait to draw in Lasher. Once she gets him where she wants, it would only be poetic justice to trap him in a thrall just like he once did to her. But while no one throws a party like Cortland Mayfair, I don’t know how smart Rowan’s being by letting him handle the guest list. He’s already resumed his complicated mind games. Rowan’s getting them to come together by lying to them about this “curse” that’s been picking them off one by one. But Cortland’s going a step ahead and telling them that this is their chance to meet Lasher. Cortland’s argument does make sense on the surface. The Mayfairs tend to see Lasher as a dark gift, but a gift nonetheless. So they might not totally believe Rowan if she tells them that Lasher’s been killing the Mayfair women. But I doubt that Cortland’s on board with Rowan’s plan to contain Lasher’s devastating energy. Any power Cortland used to wield and wishes to get back in the near future comes from Lasher. So Cortland’s agenda might be to undermine Rowan in front of the entire family and gain back the hold he once had.

Maybe it’s not hit her yet, or maybe it’s because she doesn’t get a moment to sit down and think, but just how alone Rowan is right now is kinda scary. Only she knows what she’s going through, and everyone else is looking up to her like she’s got solutions for every crisis the family gets in. It falls on her to comfort Daphne, the late Alicia’s youngest, when the little girl is very understandably finding it difficult to accept that her mother is dead and everyone’s just moved on from it. It also falls on Rowan to convince Jojo that she had no other choice but to bring Cortland back to life. Heaven knows neither of them are too happy about the fact that their utterly selfish father has gotten another chance to swing his ego around in a room full of Mayfairs. And while some of them haven’t arrived yet, most of the Mayfairs are kinda done with the drab get-together and ready to head out. But any Mayfair alone out there is prey to Lasher. So Rowan can’t let them leave. It doesn’t help that Cortland’s playing the whole room to his whims. The only reason he’s gotten the crowd all worked up about getting to meet Lasher is so that Rowan looks like a liar when they find out the truth. He’s hoping for Rowan to disappoint them so that they trust him again. And Rowan plays right into his hand when she quietens the impatient crowd with the promise of a meet and greet with the devil. It doesn’t make it any easier for Rowan that Lucy Mayfair’s frantic father is in the crowd. After having taken care of her corpse recently, she’s having to lie to him and give him hope of her return just to make sure that more Mayfair women don’t fall victim to Lasher’s murder spree. When Moira arrives, Rowan makes the right move by leaving her mind open for her to read. A strong witch like Rowan is impossible to read for Moira, but just the fact that Rowan was open to the idea gives Moira some amount of confidence in Rowan’s claims. She’s told Moira that her plan is to kill Lasher once and for all. While that plan doesn’t quite align with the Talamasca’s agenda with Lasher, all Moira really cares about is justice. So whether he’s killed by Rowan or captured by the Talamasca, it’s a win for Moira either way.

Remember the good old days when Mayfair Witches would introduce a new character and we’d take them seriously no questions asked? Now all we’ve got is this Lark guy who’ll inevitably take up a more important role in the main story soon, and we’re still struggling to figure out why we care. Rowan’s asked him to cancel his flight and stay on for at least a day longer. I’m with Dolly Jean on this one, though. I don’t think this episode’s chaos will be over in a day and I’m pretty sure that Rowan will be pretty tied up for the foreseeable future. She made a mess of things by taking Cortland’s help instead of coming to Dolly Jean. Cortland hasn’t even told her that he’s the reason some of the family members aren’t showing up on First Street. It’s something that Rowan learns from Dolly Jean. Her sister Evelyn has been unreachable for a while now. And when Rowan finds out that Cortland’s the reason Evelyn isn’t even considering joining the party, she swiftly locks Cortland up in a room. 

Speaking of Evelyn, she and her son David run this bar that a wayward Lasher has walked into. I mean, just the fact that he chose this particular bar was hint enough that there’s a Mayfair there. He does weird Evelyn out when he orders milk at a bar, but she doesn’t think too much of it. It’s a good thing that Rowan sent Alonso to track down Evelyn and bring her to the house. What Alonso sees when the bar closes is something that should really alarm Rowan and the entire Mayfair clan. So far, Lasher’s only “accidentally” killed the Mayfair witches who willingly got close to him. But now, especially after having had that chat with the vampire Felix, Lasher’s having a hard time taming his craving for the Mayfairs. When Evelyn rejects his advances, he practically attacks her and her son but holds himself back before he does too much damage. Now under the familiar spell of guilt again, Lasher’s heading home. Rowan feels his presence closing in in the worst possible way. With the restless crowd cornering her with questions, Rowan’s left with no choice but to tell them the truth about Lasher’s killing spree. She’s obviously not the most popular witch in the room when the truth comes out. She’s about to be even less popular considering what she inadvertently ends up doing to Jojo and Daphne when they’re about to storm out. Rowan didn’t know that Lasher was close. Unaware of the surge of her power, Rowan accidentally traps Daphne and Jojo in a thrall when all she meant to do was make them stay.

By the end of this week’s episode, things seem to have gone wrong in all sorts of ways. Just when Rowan’s about to “take care” of Lasher, Sip and the Talamasca show up and mess things up even further. Rowan stands between her evil offspring and this weird device that Sip means to use on Lasher. When the device knocks her out, Lasher’s too weakened by his worry over his mother to fight off the Talamasca agents who drag him into a van. I’ve said this before and I’ll say this again. The Talamasca is likely planning to manipulate and exploit Lasher. But when Rowan wakes up, she’ll already have enough on her plate with Jojo and Daphne caught in a thrall. Now that Lasher’s away from her again, she’ll need to find a way to bring them back safely without her powers. That can’t be easy.