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Let’s Talk About ‘The Offer’:
- In 1845, we see what really happened to Marcella Boone, and now know Mrs. Cloris was lying to Charles (and everyone else).
- Charles brings Loa’s body to Chapelwaite, then buries her at sea taking no chances she’ll end up like the other Boones haunting the house.
- Constable Dennison gets the truth out of Mrs. Cloris and realizes he’s lost his wife Mary to Phillip Boone, taking drastic action to keep her from the same fate.
- Rebecca apologizes to the children for deceiving them, putting her own ambitions above the family, but Charles notifies her she’s being dismissed from her governess duties effective once the sun comes up.
- Minister Burroughs’ wife spies him with Faith Pringle and the baby in church which confirms her suspicions, leading her and her father to throw him out of their home. He seeks a room at Rebecca’s mother’s boarding house.
- Faith tries to leave town with the baby, but her carriage is set upon by Jacob’s followers. They take the baby and murder Faith, along with the poor man they used as bait and the driver of Faith’s carriage.
- As night sets in, the Boones and Rebecca hole up in a bedroom for protection against Stephen and Phillip, whom Charles is certain will return. The do get a visitor, but it’s not who any of them expected. It’s Loa.
- Loa takes her father to the barn, shows off her braceless leg, and Stephen and Phillip appear, telling Charles she will live for eternity now and he and the rest of the Boones can as well. All he has to do is bring them ‘the book’. If he takes it to Jacob, all he’ll get for his troubles is a swift death.
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So there are two really important pieces of the story this week, and one of them starts with the revelation that Marcella Boone didn’t just fall down the basement stairs and break her body. She was trying to get away from her father and grandfather, who were already vampires at this point, and already looking for ‘the book’ that she’d hidden. Grabbing a pair of scissors for defense, she tripped and fell, the scissors plunging into her neck. Stephen did not hang himself as Mrs. Cloris claimed.
After seeing his wife Mary feeding on Phillip Boone, Constable Dennison knew Mrs. Cloris held the key to the curse ravaging Preacher’s Corner, and she revealed that she never saw Stephen or Phillip during the day, and once came cross them in the bedroom, believing they were dead. Marcella told her they were just sleeping. Phillip forced her to return to work at Chapelwaite and to not reveal anything she’d seen or he would bleed the life out of her. She also reveals that if Stephen and Phillip feed on someone, that person will die but if the person feeds on them, they will become like them. She tells the constable if his wife has fed on Phillip, she is no longer his wife. Dennison lashes out at Mrs. Cloris, basically blaming her for all that’s happened and horrified that she allowed Charles and his family to move into Chapelwaite. She says she will surely be damned for her actions.
Armed with this information, Dennison knows there is only one thing to do — kill his wife. While he was with Mrs. Cloris, Minister Burroughs sat with Mary and prayed with her. She said she was dying, but that God comes to speak to her in the night and offers her eternal life. Later, she appears to be fading and her husband comforts her and tells her to go to sleep. And then he holds a pillow over her head until her body is finally lifeless. Moving her to the bedroom, he lays her out then prepares to commit suicide but before he can pull the trigger, Mary sits up and calls his name.
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At Chapelwaite, Charles has returned with Loa’s body and confirmed to the other children that she is dead. While they grieve, he prepares her for a burial at sea, assuming this will prevent her from returning from the dead. Rebecca has explained to Charles that they were all at her mother’s boarding house when Loa disappeared and they returned to Chapelwaite to try to find her, well after midnight, searching every room in the house. Charles says Stephen left the body where he’d find it, as a message or a warning. He also reveals his meeting with Jacob and explains to her about vampires, but this is a concept very alien to all of them. The next day, Charles rows out into the ocean and says his goodbyes to his daughter.
While Rebecca had apologized earlier to the children for putting her writing ambitions above her concern for the family, Charles summons her after learning of her writings about the family. She admits she took the governess job to get closer to them for her story, which breaks any trust Charles had with her. He notifies her that she is dismissed, but she will leave in the morning since it will be too dangerous for her to leave after dark. Before she leaves his presence, Charles really cuts her down with the question, ‘Has this tragedy played out to your satisfaction?’ Rebecca leaves the room in tears because she genuinely loves the children now and has expressed to her mother feelings for Charles.
As darkness falls, Charles gathers the children and Rebecca in one bedroom to keep them safe from Stephen and Phillip, who he is certain will pay them a visit. As they wait, they hear the front door open and footsteps enter the house. Suddenly someone is outside the door, and Charles calls out assuming it’s Stephen or Phillip. But the voice that replies ‘father’ is Loa’s. Tane begs his father to not open the door, but Loa says she’s cold and scared, so he does but all she wants his for him to follow her. He leaves Rebecca with the children and goes with her to the barn.
By the time he enters, Loa is in the loft showing him her leg, now without a brace. She says she’s free and with her new family now. Cue the entrance of Stephen and Phillip. They claim they want to save him from ‘the book’ and ask if he’s made any deals with Jacob. They say once he touches the book, he’ll find it’s very .. demanding. And if he gives it to Jacob, he’ll just be killed because Jacob will have no use for him any longer. They, on the other hand, will let Charles and his children live if he brings the book to them. Although their offer is more that they will turn Charles and the children so they will live forever, as one big, happy Boone family. They vanish and when Charles runs up to the loft to find them, he sees the place is covered in worms (real or imagined is unclear).
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Chapelwaite airs new episodes Sunday at 10:00 PM on EPIX. Episodes are also available on EPIX Now. Subscribe through Apple TV channels using our Apple TV Plus affiliate link.
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