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This article contains plot details.

"Cat And Mouse" is the eleventh episode of Season One of Salem, and the eleventh episode of the series over all. It premiered on June 29th, 2014 on WGN America.

Synopsis

With the help of Issac, Mary devises a plan that she hopes will rid her of both Mercy and Increase. John has been falsely accused of witchcraft and awaits trial, while Anne learns a dark truth about her heritage from her father.

Episode Overview

SPOILERS AHEAD

The episode begins with Increase Mather visiting John Alden in his cell at the jail. Increase reveals that at one time he wished that John had been his son and John states that if that were the case then he would know that he is not a witch. Increase plays coy and states that he doesn't know John at all anymore.

Increase then takes a stroll through town with Mary Sibley discussing John's predicament and how the Town Council will vote on whether or not John should be taken to trial. During which Mary states that her feelings for John disappeared when she married George Sibley. But she is "worried" that the commoners will uprise due to their loyalty and love of John. Hense the Town Council being involved in the decision-making process. Mercy Lewis has still not been located.

Mercy is in the woods, in the "Crag" where all the unwanted are tossed, cuddling up to a dead man on the ground.

Anne Hale confronts her father about the mask and why he destroyed. Anne has named the mask as a magical, transporting mask and her father states that it is just an artifact he picked up in his travels. Anne wants the truth about her father and when he stays silent, Anne decides to go speak to Increase herself about the qualities of the mask.

Cotton returns to his room to find his father there rummaging around his room. Increase states that he came not only to hunt witches but to make a man out of his son. Cotton states that his father found witches so his trip wasn't a complete waste. Increase wants to use John Alden's case to elevate his sons status by using his gifted skills of speech. Cotton says that John is his only friend and that he is not a witch. Increase speaks of a time when a classmate and friend was accused a witch and he let him go because of his feelings towards him; 2 years later he slit the throat of 2 virgins in a satanic ritual and he regrets his decision ever since. He asks Cotton how well does he really know John Alden?

Magistrate Hale and Mary discuss the likely votes of the Selectmen: 6 "for trail" - 6 against, loyal to John's father's memory, leaving Mary to break the tie. Increase makes a speech of being judged for their misgivings. Mary states that John has been accused of witchcraft and the Council, per Increases allowance, shall vote on whether it should continue on to the trail; which results in six against five, with Mr. Hale going last for the 6th vote against. As Mary goes to cast her vote Increase brings in George, who is supposedly able to cast his own vote. Mary states that all he can do is spit, and he uses that as a means of communication. He spits on John Alden's shoe in favor of a trial against him. Mary sits by and panic-stricken and distraught sit by and idly watches.

Mary visits John in his cell and orders the guard away. She states that she warned him that if he stayed in Salem he would die there. She came to apologize for dismissing his offer to run to New York when he first returned to Salem, that he would not be in this position. John states that there wasn't just one choice that got them to this point. Mary says that if John goes to trial he will be hung and that she will arrange for him to escape and run, which John refuses on the principle that he wouldn't dignify the town's madness. John says he would rather die in Salem and she says he will probably get his wish.

Anne enters the tavern to speak to Increase about witches. Anne says she has questions and he counters about whether its curiosity or if she has encountered one. Her father interrupts just in time and enters into a heated banter with his daughter in the presence of Increase. Increase excuses himself and they decide to have a discussion with no more lies.

Inside the torture chamber, Increase throws boiling hot water on all the girls to force the location of Mercy Lewis out of them. They say they will never give her up and that she is too smart for him. He states that he's giving them a choice: to give him the location and he will spare their lives or he will burn them at the stake with her. They are convinced that Mercy will come for them.

In the woods, Mary goes to meet Mercy to discuss murdering Increase together. Mercy asks why now? With Mary countering that Increases shadow grows quicker even more so now with Tituba's accusations of someone she cares for deeply. Mercy states "John Alden" but Mary states that it is Mercy herself that she cares for so because they both walked the same path. We find out Tituba has been released and rewarded and now they must slowly and carefully work at dispatching Increase. Mary exams Mercy's fingers stating they will do for striking her bareback. And that she would understand later.

Mr. Hale explains his story: He watched his parents burn for witchcraft at 8 years old and he watched as it happened. It shows a moment where he causes a knife to drive itself into the man that set them on fire. He is spared from the same fate by being sent across the sea, fleeing England, surviving the plague and being taken in by other witches who taught him how to harness his powers and control them. He finds himself and yet has to hide it, continuing on to have his own family to protect and raise. He admits that he is a witch but that doesn't make him any less of a loving father. Anne runs away from him at this revelation.

Mary invites Isaac over for tea and the sad tale of what happened to her back. She states that she went to the woods after recent events to clear her mind. That's when Mercy Lewis attacked her even though she had once shown her kindness, blaming Mary for Tituba's accusations. Isaac realizes that something is "off" about the tea and that's when Mary reveals her real intentions. She believes that Increase will believe Isaac's words for he would be stupid to try and lie to him again. She gives Isaac the story that he sought out Mercy in the woods and that she evaded him. He spotted her passed the lake beside the weeping tree he spied her. She makes him recite this over and over again.

Increase is giving a sermon about witchcraft. Stating that if Salem's first son is accused then is anyone safe from being a witch. He is interrupted by a drunken Cotton who yells "God or Devil?" from the hidden depths of the back of the church. Cotton states that maybe everyone shouldn't be questioning their neighbors but Increase himself, because do they really know who he is? Increase tells him to get out because he's embarrassing himself. He forcefully removes him.

Cast

Starring

Guest Starring

Co-Starring

  • Lara Grice as Mrs. Hale
  • Mary Katherine O'Donnell as Emily Hopkins
  • Lucy Faust as Elizabeth
  • Aiden Flowers as Young Hale
  • Heaven Needham as Acolyte #1
  • Amber Dawn Landrum as Acolyte #2
  • Benjamin Mouton as Lamb
  • Ian Sinclair as Nathaniel

Locations

Quotes

Mary Sibley: "They cannot try you if you are not here to be tried."
John Alden: "Escape? I won't run. I'd rather die here."
Increase Mather: "Look around and ask yourself: friend or witch?"
Cotton Mather (to Increase): "Should the people of Salem not question who you are? For how else would the Devil appear but in the cloak of the Lord?"
Mary Sibley: "This is Salem. I think there are no limits to what is possible."

Gallery

Videos

Behind the Scenes

Trivia

To be Added

International Titles

  • French: Un plan diabolique (A diabolical plan)
  • German: Katz und Maus (Cat and Mouse)
  • Italian: Fuggire o morire (Escape or die)

See Also

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