Mayfair Witches Season 2 Episode 2, “Ten of Swords,” sees Lasher commit more Mayfair murder and drink all of New Orleans’ milk supply in the process. It’s slower fare, although it certainly plants seeds and sets the stage for what’s to come. Moira joins forces with Sip, Rowan releases Cortland and Julien proves to be the pompous asshole we know he is. Here’s hoping the groundwork laid here pays off.
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Mayfair Witches, “Ten of Swords”
We open with Gifford Mayfair (Thora Birch) chatting with a Mayfair relative on the phone while she reads tarot cards. The Mayfair relative — presumably Ryan (Frank Monteleone) — scolds Gifford for refusing to leave her lake house. As a family, they must stick together now more than ever.
However, Gifford pulls the Ten of Swords card, among others, and asks Ryan if “everyone was well tonight.” Has anything happened? Ryan doesn’t understand. Gifford reveals that something bad is on the horizon. The cards have shown this repeatedly. Regardless, Gifford wants no part in the inevitable doom coming for the Mayfairs.

Nonhuman
Meanwhile, Rowan (Alexandra Daddario) washes her clothing after drowning the corpse of Lucy Mayfair. She grabs a jug of milk for Lasher and descends the basement stairs. Unfortunately, Lasher is MIA. The first indication was a weakening of Rowan’s powers. Lark (Ben Feldman) calls Rowan to reveal the test results for Lasher’s blood sample. He ran into quite the anomaly. In fact, it came back as “nonhuman.” Naturally, Lark brushes this off, assuming it’s an error. Rowan begs him to (discreetly) keep testing it. She can’t tell him why she needs this, though.
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Next, Lasher (Jack Huston) breaks into Gifford’s home to change clothes. He spies her out on the deck. Lasher joins her, and the two bond instantly. Gifford offers him a drink. This builds to sexy time because — let’s face it — a Mayfair legally cannot resist Lasher. Afterward, Lasher indulges in postcoital milk consumption (it’s the new “after-sex cigarette”). Unfortunately, Gifford cries out before dying on the couch. He literally f*cked her to death.
Later, Cortland (Harry Hamlin) dodges the masked spirits in the corridor — the ones whispering the names of fallen Mayfair witches — and ducks into another room with a gramophone. He sees his father, Julien (Ted Levine), sitting at a table while reading. He orders Cortland to grab him a plate of food. It looks less than appetizing.

They Need Answers
Meanwhile, Rowan and Jojo (Jen Richards) stare at Cortland while he’s encased in stone. Jojo isn’t exactly fine with Rowan bringing Cortland back, but she understands that Rowan needs him. Of course, Cortland could betray them. He made a deal with Lasher. That said, Rowan must know where Lasher is. If anyone knew why Lasher was corporeal or his whereabouts, it would be Cortland.
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After this, Rowan and Jojo have cake. Jojo expresses her excitement about Rowan staying in New Orleans. And, of course, about Rowan taking up the Head of Neurosurgery position at Mayfair Medical. Then, Jojo gets the call about Gifford. At Gifford’s house, Jojo chats with Ryan while Rowan examines Gifford. Rowan touches Gifford’s hand to study the deceased’s condition when she died. However, the coroner shoos her away.
With a wave of her hand, Rowan turns on a lamp. She realizes Lasher’s here. Or was. She talks to him. Outside in the woods, Rowan finally reunites with Lasher. He orders her to close her eyes while addressing him. Lasher confirms that the college girl Rowan disposed of was Lucy Mayfair. Rowan tries to persuade him to come home. She loves him. Lasher corrects her, claiming she doesn’t love him like that. Lasher refuses to accompany her and insists she merely wants to control him.

The Pursuit
He whirls around to leave. Rowan uses her powers to set a tree on fire. She drops the “loving mother” facade, declaring that someone has to control him. After all, he’s killing people. Rowan tries to trip him up felling trees with her abilities, all made possible by Lasher. She yells that he was never her child. Lasher escapes because, at five days old, he joined the varsity track team in high school. He’s a runner at heart.
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Rowan tries to feel for Lasher while driving home. We see him hiding in an undisclosed, abandoned space, nursing a nasty gash on his hand. The following day, Sip (Tongayi Chirisa) chats with Arjuna (Suleka Mathew). Arjuna gives him a trust tablet, which he plans to use on Moira. Arjuna warns that he can only use Moira as an asset once due to the nature of the tab. She also tries to return Sip’s Bible. However, he urges her to keep it. You know, in case Albrecht changes his mind and erases Sip’s memories.
Arjuna invites Sip to join her in her backyard for a more serious conversation. She reveals she has gaps in her memories. What did Albrecht take from her? She asks Sip to touch her to see if he can identify these memories. Sip apologizes, explaining that when they’re gone, they’re gone. Arjuna can’t believe Sip still trusts Albrecht even after the latter erased his memories. Sip believes it’s better to have someone knowledgeable like Albrecht on his side than as an enemy.

Mommy Dearest
Later, Moira (Alyssa Jirrels) cleans the house while Alicia (Leslie Castay) cranks up the music and dances. She tries to persuade her daughter to join her. Perhaps they can go out to eat. Moira simply wants to have an honest conversation with her mother. However, Alicia increases the volume of the music. She doesn’t trust Moira not to root around in her head. Fed up with her mom’s behavior, Moira leaves. Sip follows Moira when he sees her drive away.
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Then, in Julien’s House of Horrors, Cortland serves his father a plate stacked with food. Julien proceeds to insult Cortland. He admits he wondered for a time if Cortland was even his biological son. However, Julien also admits that Cortland has held up his end of the bargain. He did his share. Now, it’s time for Cortland to step aside and let those superior to him carry out “the Great Work.”
Cortland begs his father to let him help. Julien shoves his plate, demanding Cortland fill it up again. He takes the plate to the buffet spread, noticing it’s picked clean of food. So, Cortland grabs a knife and cuts off his own arm, serving it to Daddy Dearest on a platter. Yum. Julien digs in as he rattles on about the mighty inheriting the Earth, not the meek.

Ruining the Family
Elsewhere, Lasher finds spoiled milk in a trash bin behind a restaurant. A young man confronts him and moves to call the authorities. Hey, Lasher doesn’t care about an expiration date. Milk is milk! Meanwhile, Rowan flips through a Mayfair family album, examining a photo of Lucy at her graduation. Millie (Geraldine Singer) materializes to scold Rowan about turning the family upside down. She ruined them.
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Rowan defends herself, explaining that Lasher killed Lucy and Gifford. He’s targeting Mayfair women. He seduces them, and then they hemorrhage. Rowan states she tried to kill Lasher. Millie finds this statement dubious, though. After all, Rowan is the 13th witch and benefits significantly from Lasher’s existence. Rowan decides to conjure a storm to prevent Lasher from tracking the other Mayfair women. Millie believes Rowan’s resolve will eventually fray.

Sip and Moira finally meet at a restaurant. Moira’s hesitant to trust him. She clocks him as Talamasca right away. Sip allows her to read his thoughts. Moira does this, realizing Sip still loves Rowan. Sip, you need to run. Rowan’s not in a good headspace at the moment. Moira reveals Rowan won’t let the family see Lasher.
A New Arrival
Sip asks Moira what she would do if she met Lasher. Moira admits she would read his mind to learn what really happened between him and her sister, Tessa. Moira claims she’s not the asset he wants. Sip replies that he has the Mayfairs’ best interests at heart (or is it Rowan’s?). Moira tells him he can’t help people who don’t want it. True that.
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Later, Rowan conjures a storm as Lark arrives on her doorstep. Boy’s got it bad. He claims he wanted to hand Rowan the test results in person. Oh, and he’s staying at the Pontchartrain Hotel. Rowan explains that now isn’t the best time. She volunteers to walk him back to his hotel, though. Lark notes that the rain has stopped (hmm, I wonder why).
Meanwhile, Lasher visits Alicia at her home. Daphne (Olive Abercrombie) is in her room, watching something on her laptop. She overhears Alicia and Lasher downstairs and shuts her door to drown out the noise. Lasher goes into seduction mode with Alicia.

Four Chromosomes
Next, Lark learns about Rowan accepting the Head of Neurosurgery position. He also learns she inherited a fancy mid-19th-century mansion. However, that’s as much as Rowan plans to disclose. Rowan pivots, asking about the blood sample. He could test it against early historical samples (like Neanderthal) or a primate. Lark reveals there were four distinct extra chromosomes in said blood. He’d like to know more about Rowan’s patient. Rowan remains tight-lipped, though.
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Then, Moira arrives home to find her mother dead on the couch — Lasher’s latest victim. Daphne descends the staircase, but Moira urges her little sister not to enter the living room. At the same time, Lark offers to research forensic anthropology journals for any mention of the chromosomal abnormalities in Lasher’s blood sample. Rowan is grateful for the help.
Lark invites her up to his hotel room. He urges her to come clean if she’s in trouble. Rowan explains that joining this new world with her long-lost family has brought about some self-discovery — explanations for her unique traits. It all makes sense now.
A Family Thing
As Rowan considers heading up to her ex-boyfriend’s hotel room, Jojo calls to reveal that Alicia is dead. Rowan confirms that Lasher is behind this. She vows to take care of him. Jojo informs Rowan about Sip’s presence at Alicia’s house. Apparently, Moira called him. Rowan asks Lark if they can hang out later. You know, family thing.
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Meanwhile, Sip touches Alicia’s arm to determine the events leading to her death. Sure enough, he sees Lasher. He turns to Moira, confirming as such. Elsewhere, Rowan releases Cortland from his stone prison. Cortland was shining Julien’s shoes. He’s not a fan of his son servant leaving him. In the real world, Rowan demands to know why Lasher has a body and his objective.
She also asks about the pages ripped out of Marguerite’s diary and Katherine’s notebooks. They conveniently happened to be entries about Lasher. Did Cortland remove them? What did they say? Cortland claims ignorance. Rowan realizes he truly doesn’t know anything. Cortland admits he’s terrible, but he was a pawn like Rowan.
Rowan decides to make Cortland work for her. She orders him to gather the whole family at the house for a party. They always come when he calls. After this, we see Julien in his House of Horrors, bits of food scattered about, as he looks upward and says Rowan’s name.
Mayfair Witches drops new episodes every Sunday at 9/8c on AMC and AMC+.
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