'The Bastard Executioner' Recap: The Long Con
Warning: This recap for the “The Bernadette Maneuver/Cynllwyn Bernadette” episode of The Bastard Executioner contains spoilers.
As was creator Kurt Sutter’s trademark on Sons of Anarchy, the penultimate episode of The Bastard Executioner’s season saw a lot go down. Some of it we called (Annora is Wilkin’s mother!). Some of it we didn’t (Ash is a murderer?!). Let’s break down the five biggest twists.
1. Ash has been the one slicing and dicing bodies in Ventrishire. So Ash was smart enough to know not to loosen the giggle wench’s restraints; he wanted her to run so he could kill her, cut her into pieces, and keep her hands and feet as trophies. Is he simply mental (and his “love” of animals was there to throw us off the scent since serial killers often begin with animal cruelty)? Or, does he really believe he’ll get his wings someday, and it’s by killing sinners?
Either way, it was nice of Milus to treat Ash with kindness when he introduced the guys to Bernadette the doe, who was used not once but twice in their mission to suss out the number of men guarding Gaveston and lure some of them to their deaths.
2. Annora called Wilkin “my son.” We asked Katey Sagal if we were crazy to entertain the notion that she’s his mother in last week’s postmortem. Of course, she couldn’t confirm or deny it, but we got our answer this hour when Wilkin, feeling the weight of all he’s done since taking Annora’s advice to assume the Punisher’s identity, called Annora the devil after learning Luca was taken just as Love had managed to talk some sanity into Jessamy. “No, my son,” Annora said, as Wilkin tried to leave her. So Annora and the Dark Mute conceived this child to do whatever he’s meant to do on this journey? That’s why he has her ability to sense things (except that he’s near his parents) and the Mute’s fighting skills? What is his higher purpose?
Related: ‘The Bastard Executioner’ Postmortem: Katey Sagal On the Mystery and Faith of Annora
3. Gaveston is dead, and Wilkin may feel Edward’s wrath. Because both Milus and the Ordainer were too scared to be the one to behead Gaveston, in case word got back to Edward, Wilkin stepped in, as a Punisher (who’s in love with Love) should. This was his worst kill, however: his blade caught Gaveston mid-face instead of at the neck. Gaveston’s eyes actually blinked in the severed top half of his head. Unprofessional! Aside from whether there will be blowback as a result of the swift execution, the question is whether Gaveston’s last words — “I do not regret loving someone above my status, even if this is the fate” — was responsible for Milus’s momentary softening…
4. Milus showed empathy? He both suggested Love be the one to tell Wilkin that Luca was taken, because he would take it best from her, and gently touched Frenchie’s still bruised face when they passed in the hallway (Frenchie survived that beating!). After Gaveston’s declaration, did Milus come to understand that love knows nothing of class? Did he respect Wilkin and Love for being willing to risk it all? Or, because this is Milus, are we reading that all wrong: Is he encouraging Love and Wilkin’s relationship because he knows it may end up throwing her out of power and he’ll somehow come out on top? Was Milus touching Frenchie’s face but deciding to walk away symbolic of him not making that same mistake? Or of Milus getting his power arousal back now that he’s made Gaveston kneel before him and literally choke on his flacid manhood?
5. Father Ruskin had been an assassin. And, judging by his skills with a chicken bone and blade (we knew he’d eventually kill Robinus’s lead muscle), he was a pretty damn good one. If Ruskin — who got the hard sell from the Archdeacon about why they needed to silence the Seraphim and keep the “simple believers” from having to think for themselves — wouldn’t have had to free and flee with Luca, he would have made it out. But the Rosula caught the duo leaving Annora’s old cave. Now what? Ed Sheeran is back. We’re nervous.
Who will make it out of the season finale alive? Now that Toran has seen Locke with his family, will he get to live (even though Milus gave Toran and Wilkin permission to finish their revenge)? Will Leon get to tell Wilkin that he spared his wife? Will Wilkin learn that Annora and the Dark Mute killed Petra?
The Bastard Executioner airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
