"Forbidden Fruit" is the third episode of Apocalypse. It premiered on September 26, 2018.[1]
Episode Music
Synopsis
As Ms. Mead grapples with her identity, Michael reveals more of his. Coco's ex rears his ugly head. Venable crafts a plan to give the residents of Outpost 3 one magical night. [2]
Plot
Langdon continues his rounds of interviews. Timothy thanks Michael for intervening for Emily's and his lives, which Michael says was an undue punishment for a minor infraction by two prime specimens. Gallant wonders if he's worthy of saving after killing Evie, but Michael spins a narrative about her dying in her sleep. Mallory says she has no dark places within her and that Coco sometimes makes her do things she would rather not, but that Coco needs her and she wishes her no malice; Coco, however, thinks Mallory is far beneath her own station. Michael mentions that he was surprised to find Dinah in the shelter, but she says she's not powerful enough to cause him any problems, while her son Andre confesses to resenting her and her pride. Michael responds that the souls he's looking for are honest and straightforward, not the pure of heart.
Mallory says that she sometimes feels as if there's someone inside clawing for release. She starts to panic and flees, and Michael grabs her by the arm. With preternatural force, she pushes him away. He lunges at her, a demonic face exposed. She retorts with a fire igniting behind him. They examine each other closely and wonder who and what each other is.
Langdon cuts himself, calling for his father to rise with a bloody sacrifice. He says he thought he destroyed "them all", but that one survived. He begs his dark father for wisdom. From the bloody pentacle at his feet rise snakes and he is filled with insight.
In a flashback, Ms. Mead talks to Ms. Venable about her treasured memories of Halloween 1962. She trick-or-treats the street as Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons. She sees Rosemary's Baby for her first date on Halloween 1968, where Bobby Lombardi groped her breast and she smacked him in response. As a Mossad agent, she made her first kill on Halloween night 1988. She choked him to death and answered the door blood-soaked to trick-or-treaters. She remembers them all and felt them all, but she wonders at a lost memory of a boy she used to take care of. She wonders now if she has a family, or if she is only a machine with programmed responses. Michael was not in Mead's memories of the Cooperative, and Venable thinks he is not fit to judge who will go on to the Sanctuary. Venable admits Michael told her she would not be selected to move on with him, which Mead thinks will be a travesty. Mead thinks that they should kill everyone and the two take Michael's computer on to the Sanctuary, and Venable credits Mead's programmed loyalty.
In the wastelands, a survivor loots a corpse for cigarettes. His companion, a finalist on Top Chef, spit roasts a human leg over a fire. Brock comes upon the pair, searching for Coco. The two claim no knowledge of the Outpost's location as a third camper approaches Brock from behind. Brock pre-empts the attack with a shotgun from his back, with which he disables the campers. Brock watches as a horse-drawn carriage passes him by.
In the Outpost, the perimeter alarm sounds. Mead and the Fist approach the carriage when no one emerges. They find it vacant, but Brock lurks clinging to the undercarriage. They bring inside a trunk (cleared of radiation) and open it to find apples. Fist muses that apples have a long shelf-life. Venable bites into one over Mead's objection and instructs Fist to execute the horses. Venable and Mead wonder if the pristine apples could be a Trojan Horse bearing poison. Outside, Brock stabs from Fist behind, while she inspects the coach the apples arrived in and enters the Outpost.
Inside, as Mallory ponders her unknown nature, Venable calls an emergency meeting. The leader says that she's been too strict and that they'll be celebrating a Halloween feast in the tradition of a Victorian masque ball. Gallant prepares an indignant Coco while Mallory plans a costume. Coco thinks that the ball is a ruse for an announcement of who will go with Michael to the Sanctuary. Mallory reveals that she kindled the fire with her mind earlier with Michael, but she's unable to reproduce the effect on Coco's direction. Coco taunts her and sends her to Evie's room to raid materials for a costume.
Mead says that everyone will have a chance to bob for apples when Andre complains they haven't seen fresh fruit in over a year. Venable intrudes on Coco's flashy introduction to orate about savoring this night as if it were they're last. She plays Bread's "Baby, I'm-A Want You" on the radio and the wards begin to dance. A masked man dressed as a plague doctor dances with Coco, who assumes it is Michael about to announce them for the Sanctuary. He says nothing as she babbles and tries to ingratiate herself to him, even offering him anilingus, which she says she never offered Brock. They retire to her room and she begins to unbuckle his pants. He pulls off the mask revealing he is indeed Brock. She gasps at his journey-worn face and lies that she is so happy he is back. Brock, resentful of Coco, stabs her in the forehead and leaves.
The purples and grays take turns bobbing for apples, which Venable and Mead have poisoned with venom from Michael's snakes. Michael is not present, but they plan to shoot him after the others have been poisoned. They quickly feel the effects and start spasming and vomiting up pieces of apple and blood. After a cursory inspection of the corpses, the pair seeks out Michael. He tries to send them away, but they say they're making the selections now. He says that Venables cruelty has made her pass the test, but Venable urges Mead to shoot him regardless. Mead is unable to and turns the gun on Venable instead, not conscious of why she's executed her companion. Michael asks her if she enjoyed carrying out the poison apple plan as much as he enjoyed planning it; he commissioned and programmed her, modeled after someone from his childhood that was very dear to him. He says it's time for her to know all the plan and he wants the only woman who ever knew and loved him by his side.
The song on the radio changes to The Rolling Stones' "She's a Rainbow" and three women effortlessly enter the gates and the Outpost: Cordelia, Myrtle, and Madison. The trio revives their fallen sisters, showing that Mallory, Dinah, and Coco are witches that live once more. Mallory, now able to see without her glasses, removes them, and Madison comes to her saying, "Surprise bitch, I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me!"
Featured Characters
Quotes
- Madison (to Mallory): "Surprise bitch, I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me!"
- Mead (to Venable): "You're mean and self-involved enough to survive anything, and I'm a goddamned robot!"
- Michael Langdon: "Ave Satanas!"
Notes
- Cheyenne Jackson (John Henry Moore) is credited but does not appear.
- FX Networks: Episode recap and reaction.
- It is implied that Madison had been acquainted with Mallory previously.
- Apparently, witches are immune to toxicity in the air out of the Outpost, as Cordelia, Myrtle and Madison arrive without protective equipment. If this is due to some kind of protective spell or a different physiology in witches is unclear yet.
- It becomes clear in a conversation between Michael and Dinah that they had met before the World War III, and she is aware of his plans in some degree.
- Furthermore, this is confirmed in a subsequent episode where the timeline is set a few years prior to the nuclear war.
Raised Questions
- What (or who) is crawling inside Mallory?
- Who is actually the woman used as an imprint to fabricate Ms. Mead's memories?
- Why did Langdon go through the trouble of bringing all of these people to Outpost 3 (and save Tim and Emily from execution), then allow Venable to kill them all off?
- How were Madison and Myrtle resurrected?
Cultural References
- The Jetsons - Ms. Mead recalls she dressed as Rosie the Robot on Halloween 1962.
- Rosemary's Baby - Ms. Mead watched it at the theatre for her first date on Halloween 1968.
- Top Chef - one of the cannibals killed by Brock claimed he was a finalist on the show.
- The Omen - Michael Langdon's prayer and the Latin expression, Ave Satanas.
- Michael Jackson - Coco mentioned she once dressed as Michael Jackson on trial for touching little boys while Gallant dressed as a young Michael Jackson from The Jackson 5.
- Dark Phoenix - After manifesting mysterious new abilities in an encounter with Michael Langdon, Mallory compared herself to the Dark Phoenix. Incidentally, the trailer for the Dark Phoenix film was released on the same day that "Forbidden Fruit" aired.
Gallery
References
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