Quick Recap

Everyone is in a panic over Dee’s condition. She’s unconscious, feverish, and her left arm is deteriorated, whithering away. Ruby gets Christina to help, revealing their secret relationship. Christina comes but the news isn’t great. Without Lancaster’s blood or the Book of Names, she can’t cure Dee. She offers to reverse the curse’s progress, buying Dee time. Luckily, Hippolyta arrives just in time. Dee is slowly transforming into one of the apparitions, her hair and face are almost completely changed. Christina does the spell using Hippolyta’s blood, the curse is reset, giving Dee an extra twenty-four hours.

Hippolyta takes Dee back to the observatory. She fixes the machine so she can send the others back in time to Tulsa to get the Book of Names so they can save Dee. Hippolyta connects herself to the machine and opens a portal to Tulsa in 1921, just hours before the fateful massacre. Montrose is hesitant to go, afraid to relive the horrible memories of his youth. They arrive in a hotel and go to Montrose’s childhood home, right next door to Tic’s mother’s house. They see a young Montrose beaten and berated by his drunk father, accusing him of being gay.

A young Dora stops the beating and young Montrose runs away, young Dora and young George go after him. Montrose disappears so Tic goes after him while Leti stays behind to look for the book. Tic finds his father at the park watching his younger self with a friend. He wants to warn them and save his friend who is about to die. Tic stops him though, they can’t risk doing anything that might alter the future. However, Tic intervenes when it becomes clear that he was the stranger who saved his parents and uncle all those years ago.

A group of white men chase and shoot at Leti, she gets hit, but not injured, landing in the Freeman’s yard. Mr. Freeman comes out to save her and they run into Dora’s house. The house is attacked. She sneaks into the grandmother’s room to search for the book, she walks in on her and Leti is forced to tell her the truth. She gives her the book and Leti stays with her as she’s consumed by the flames. Tic and Montrose get back to the hotel first. The portal is collapsing and Tic goes through it to encourage Hippolyta to hold it a little longer, her hair turns blue from the effort. Back in Tulsa, Leti walks through the street, impervious to gunshots, bombs, and fire. They make it through, with the book.

My two cents

If last week’s episode was upsetting, this one is straight up traumatizing. Watching the horror of the Tulsa Massacre stirred up so many emotions. Anger, disgust, anguish, and more anger, so much anger.

When Hippolyta made her timely and triumphant return, I was so happy. Dee needed her last week, but it looks like the time she was away was well spent. Thanks to Hippolyta’s time on Earth 504, she has the skill and the knowledge to save her daughter and retrieve the Book of Names. Hopefully, with the book in their possession, the group can save Dee and Tic.

Ruby aligned herself with Christina and I’m not happy about it. She knows who Christina is, what she wants, and how she plans to get it. Knowing all this, you would think that she wouldn’t want anything to do with her. We have to take Ruby’s life into consideration. She grew up poor, black, and driven. She’s been on her own for awhile, after her mother abandoned her and her siblings. She also had to deal with a selfish younger sister. It’s easy to understand why she would choose Christina, she’s done so much for her, but I hope this is just Ruby playing the long game.

This trip to the past has been in the works for a long time. Back in episode 5, Tic dreamed of himself chasing Hannah, his ancestor, inside of Braithwaite manor as it burned down. She was carrying the book. Leti had a similar dream in episode 7. In both dreams Hannah had the Book of Names and Tic and Leti both wore the outfits they would wear later in Tulsa.

Montrose has been haunted by his past all season. We finally know why he is the way he is. His father was abusive and homophic. Montrose raised Tic the same way he was raised. This still doesn’t make it right, but I feel pity for young Montrose. He was scorned by the man who should’ve loved him unconditionally. This was a long time before the creation of LGBTQIA+, way before there was a community for him to turn to. He wasn’t safe in his skin or his truth. That changes you, and in his case not for the better. This explains why he married Dora, raised Tic, and kept his true parentage a secret until now. He needed these things to survive.

Tic and crew completed the mission, and it looks like all the pieces are finally in place. We know when and where Christina plans to do her deadly spell. We know that Tic has some protection, plus the Book of Names. Hippolyta has access to near-infinite knowledge. The season finale is poised to be an all-out fight to the death. Will Tic find a way to stop Christina? Will Ruby choose her family over her girlfriend? Does Dee survive? We’ll get our answers in the final episode next week.

Check out the trailer below for a sneak peek at the final episode.