Mayfair Witches Season 2 Episode 5, “Julien’s Victrola,” is the show’s best episode thus far. Adding Ted Levine as Julien has been a boon for this series — a much-needed jolt of energy. Alexandra Daddario also gets to stretch her acting wings, showing off her versatility as she plays two different halves of Rowan. Moira delves into Cortland’s erased memories. The narrative moves at a steady clip, with some fun plot twists to keep things interesting. It’s a surprisingly fun episode.
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Mayfair Witches, “Julien’s Victrola”
We open on a shot of Julien’s victrola. An hourglass sits beside it, counting how much time Rowan (Daddario) has inside said victrola with Julien (Levine). Rowan encounters Julien, as we saw in the final moments of last week’s episode. She finds him with a bushy beard, looking like he’s on death’s door. He’s seemingly asleep in his chair before a roaring fire.
Rowan cuts to the chase: the family needs his help. Two Mayfairs are trapped in a thrall. Rowan reaches to check for a pulse when he doesn’t respond. Julien grabs her wrist and simply says, “Cold.” Rowan tosses a hunk of wood into the blaze. After this, Julien declares he’s thirsty. Hey, he won’t disclose family secrets for nothing. Rowan catches on to his act and pivots, asking where Lasher is. Where did Albrecht take him? When he pretends to fall asleep again, Rowan grows quiet, instead surveying her surroundings.

Throw Me a Rope
Then, Rowan asks Moira (Alyssa Jirrels) to throw her the rope. In the real world, we see Rowan sway in front of the victrola like Dolly Jean. Moira asks Dolly Jean (Charlayne Woodard) to turn off the music. Rowan wants Moira to pull her out. Moira recites the spell while Dolly Jean and Cortland (Harry Hamlin) observe.
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Rowan emerges, waking up in the real world. She informs the others that Julien was old and seemingly confused, napping in front of the fireplace like a house cat. She admits it was probably an act (it was), but she didn’t know how to get through to him. Inside the victrola — surprise, surprise — Rowan listens to herself chat with Moira, Dolly Jean and Cortland.
Next, Julien approaches Rowan, now looking like himself. Julien laments not having more time to discuss family matters with Rowan. Julien reveals that Rowan did this to herself. She essentially split herself in two, with the part of herself that acts with her heart emerging from the victrola while her rational side remains with Julien. Why did this happen? It’s one of Julien’s arbitrary rules. One must ask permission to leave the victrola, lest one leave something behind.
40 Minutes Remaining
They peer into a model of the First Street House and into the room where Heart Rowan chats with her family. Julien remarks that Rowan has 40 minutes to bring the two halves of herself back together. Otherwise, she’ll die. Rowan walks around the model, calling out to Dolly Jean and Moira to throw her a rope.
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Meanwhile, Heart Rowan is trying to brainstorm a new approach with Julien. She plans to go back into the victrola. Dolly Jean hands her a glass of water. She refuses to let Rowan do this. Rowan describes the decor where Julien was. It looked like a pub in Scotland. Upon hearing this, Cortland discloses some family history. The first Mayfairs came from Donnelaith, Scotland. Cortland admits it’s a mythic place that’s not on any map.
Moira adds that Cortland has been there. She reads his mind, revealing he traveled there with his father as a child. Cortland wonders how Moira can see a memory he can’t recall. Then, he realizes that Albrecht erased his memories of Donnelaith. Julien probably requested this of Albrecht. Dolly Jean corrects Cortland, claiming Julien could wipe memories, too.

Erase the Memories
Cortland heads upstairs to peruse his father’s spells. He wants to know what Julien did to him. Heart Rowan moves to follow him but feels a bout of lightheadedness. Dolly Jean encourages her to relax in the parlor while she whips up some food. Moira follows Rowan into the parlor. Moira can now read Rowan’s mind, which Rowan thinks is strange.
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Moira reveals that her grandmother had early onset dementia. Alicia used to make Moira read her grandmother’s mind to sift through her memories. Her grandma was on various dementia drugs, facilitating the mind-reading process. Rowan informs Moira about Deirdre’s pills, which are still upstairs. After Moira goes upstairs, Heart Rowan stands before the victrola. Head Rowan calls for a rope from inside, but Heart Rowan doesn’t hear her.
Head Rowan asks Julien if he really erased Cortland’s memories. Julien throws darts at a dartboard, asking Rowan if she would’ve done the same. The conversation pivots to Lasher seizing control of Julien’s body, which he did many, many times.
An Unexpected Arrival
Rowan asks about the recipient in Scotland. Who’s Albrecht delivering Lasher to? Rowan claims she’ll be dead soon anyway. Julien might as well spill the beans. However, she knows there’s a solution to her problem; otherwise, Julien would have no qualms about telling her the truth.
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Later, Heart Rowan administers half a dose of Thorazine to Cortland before Moira rummages through his mind. At the same time, Lark (Ben Feldman) shows up at the First Street House unannounced. Head Rowan and Julien watch his arrival via the model. Julien blows on the entrance, opening the front doors for Lark. Heart Rowan ventures downstairs to meet him after the others urge her to get rid of him.
Lark reveals he planned to return to New York but needed to show her something first. Lark hands her her DNA results. He admits he tested her DN via the lipstick on her coffee cup. Rowan reminds him that what he did is illegal and unethical. As Rowan peruses the results, Lark explains that she has four distinct extra chromosomes. Those are the same extra chromosomes in the blood sample — Lasher’s blood. Understandably, Lark wants to know what Rowan is.

Protect the Family Secrets
Rowan barges into the parlor and asks Dolly Jean to make Julien’s elixir. She wants to give it to Lark. He must forget about all this. Rowan grabs a liquor bottle as Dolly Jean prepares the elixir. Inside the victrola, Julien tells Head Rowan that Heart Rowan won’t go through with it. Head Rowan insists she will because it’s imperative she protect the Mayfair family secrets.
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Rowan presents Julien with a wager. If Heart Rowan erases Lark’s memories, Julien must free her. If HR fails, Head Rowan will stay with Julien in the victrola in perpetuity. Heart Rowan returns with whiskey for Lark. Lark apologizes for violating her privacy and then demanding answers. Rowan accepts his apology. She decides to show him the truth — she reveals she’s a witch. He believes her.
Head Rowan is incredulous. How could she reveal something like that? Head Rowan tries to stick her hand inside the house model while asking Heart Rowan to throw her a rope. It doesn’t work. Back in the real world, Heart Rowan scans Lark’s body, rattling off injuries he’s had in the past. Lark verifies it all. The effort of using her powers to scan his body drains Rowan. She admits she’s weaker without Lasher nearby. Obviously, Lark doesn’t know who Lasher is.

Donnelaith
Head Rowan tries to appeal to Julien’s sensibilities in the hopes he’ll free her. When that doesn’t pan out, the discussion pivots to Albrecht. She guesses that Albrecht took Julien to Donnelaith on a romantic getaway. Julien reveals that Donnelaith isn’t a quaint tourist attraction. It’s an ancient stronghold on land blessed by pagan spirits. Rowan learns that her great-grandmother Marguerite took Julien there.
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Marguerite taught Julien everything he knows about magic, including how to honor the old deities, the Taltos. Rowan figures out that Julien ripped the pages about the Taltos out of Marguerite’s journal. Julien didn’t want anyone else to know Marguerite’s secrets save Albrecht.
Meanwhile, Moira digs deep into Cortland’s mind. She mentions “Scotland,” which reminds Cortland of shoes. He recalls putting these shoes on before his trip to Donnelaith with Julien. We see him remember boarding a plane to Scotland. Then, he’s in a vast field with a young girl holding a sheep. A boy approaches them. Cortland questions why he’s terrified of said boy.
Happy You’re Here
Elsewhere, Heart Rowan gives Lark the lowdown regarding her family and Lasher. He knows that Lasher is her son. He’s inexplicably accepting of all this. Well, perhaps not inexplicably. Homeboy’s carrying a torch for Rowan, after all. Rowan tells Lark she’s glad he’s here. They kiss.
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During this, Head Rowan realizes she’s all intellect, and Heart Rowan is a big jumble of feelings. They’re two halves of a whole. Lark and Heart Rowan discover a potential solution to the Jojo/Daphne issue. Perhaps he could make the cells multiply in Lasher’s DNA to give Rowan enough juice to free them from the thrall. That way, she doesn’t need Lasher to be close to use her powers.
Downstairs in the basement, Heart Rowan gives Lark a tin of Lasher’s teeth. Lark reveals he’ll need to scrape the pulp out of said teeth for a Lasher DNA sample. Head Rowan is concerned that Heart Rowan is incapable of getting her out of the victrola.

An Experiment
Heart Rowan and Lark scrape the pulp out of Lasher’s baby teeth while the sands in the hourglass fall and time ticks closer to Rowan’s deadline. Lark inadvertently cuts his hand. Lark admits he’ll need stitches. However, if this Lasher concentrate pans out, Rowan can heal him.
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Meanwhile, Moira gently tries to push Cortland past the memory of the terrifying boy. Cortland now sees a parking lot with two women in a Jeep. They’re kissing his father. Julien orders young Cortland to ride in the back with Ian. That’s the boy.
We learn from Cortland’s previously erased memories that Ian is a menace to society. He brutally slaughtered a bunch of sheep, for starters. He also killed that girl. Cortland informs Moira that Julien had a bet to see who could better please the old gods, Cortland or Ian. Oh, yeah — Ian is Cortland’s Scottish brother. Julien got around. After learning about this, Head Rowan surmises Albrecht is escorting Lasher to Julien’s family in Scotland.
Julien’s Elixir
Then, Heart Rowan rubs the Lasher teeth concentrate on her hands before trying to heal Lark’s hand wound. Unfortunately, it’s not enough. Rowan tells Dolly Jean that Lark hasn’t run for the hills. He knows everything. Dolly Jean informs Rowan that Julien’s elixir will make Lark forget every moment he’s ever had with her. Dolly Jean reminds her that this is the right thing to do. They must protect the family.
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Next, Rowan pours the elixir into a cup of tea and gives it to Lark. Before he sips it, he asks her if everyone in her family is a witch. Heart Rowan slaps the cup out of his hand, changing her mind. Rowan urges him to leave. Dolly Jean, Moira and Cortland burst into the room. Moira claims they need to chat. Inside the victrola, Head Rowan struggles to string together a sentence. We see time is almost up for her. Julien tells her it won’t be long now. Death is inevitable.
Outside the victrola, Heart Rowan collapses. She declares there’s part of her that’s missing. Heart Rowan stumbles toward the victrola, realizing she must be her own rope. Heart Rowan embraces herself and recites the Latin spell to retrieve Head Rowan. Julien gives Head Rowan a glass of wine from a family vineyard. She reads the label on the bottle, which states the wine hails from Kilbride, Scotland. That’s where Lasher is heading.

Kilbride, Scotland
Julien bids Head Rowan farewell as she reunites with Heart Rowan. Our girl is whole again. Rowan informs the gang that they’re taking a trip to Kilbride. She asks Lark if he’ll accompany them. Speaking of, Lasher (Jack Huston) and Albrecht (Dennis Boutsikaris) are in Kilbride, in Lasher’s ancestral home. Lasher claims he doesn’t feel or remember anything. Ian (Ian Pirie) greets Lasher. Ian encourages Lasher to tell his sons outside his door if he needs anything.
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Ian asks to chat with Albrecht. Albrecht locks Lasher in his room. Albrecht encourages Ian to gain Lasher’s trust. “How long until the ceremony?” Albrecht asks. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get an answer. Ian slits Albrecht’s throat, killing him. RIP. To add insult to injury, Ian shoves his body down the stairs.
Well, that’s not nice.
Mayfair Witches drops new episodes every Sunday at 9/8c on AMC and AMC+.
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