Okay, okay, I hear you! Halley Feiffer’s freaky take on witches is giving you the heebie-jeebies, and you want the friendly faces from the Coven back. But in Delicate’s defense, you knew what you were signing up for wasn’t going to be a flowery journey. Though you were never given a heads-up about all the time jumps that you needed to buckle up for, I’ll give you that. But “Ave Hestia” is only taking you down trauma lane, knowing there’s no one chanting “Vivant Liberi Domini Nostri” around you to erase your memories. That’s something to be grateful for, isn’t it?
Spoiler Alert
Wait, so Ivy’s the OG?
42 A.D. Western Europe wasn’t best known for its maternity wards, was it? Because if Ivy had an option, she certainly wouldn’t be lying on a bale of hay in extreme discomfort and giving herself the most painful C-section in history. Now, that’s a mother who’s never going to let go of how difficult the labor was whenever the kids aren’t behaving. You know I’m not speaking too soon. But more importantly, I say kids because another one is in a hurry to crawl out of her open womb when she’s already taken one out. So, Sonia and Adeline were, in fact, twins all along? Who would’ve thought? But wait, a woman in black (the devil knows which one this is) showing up right on time to offer congratulations and maybe even satanic immortality to the dead mother and the weak newborns means there was no reincarnation involved. Dex’s dead ex-wife was Ivy’s daughter. Dex’s gallery’s most promising artist is Adeline’s immortal twin sister. And the new intern is his very ominous mother-in-law. I’m starting to feel bad for the guy.
Why did Adeline escape the cult?
Between 42 A.D. and 2013, there’s been a lot of hopeful change in Adeline. For starters, the Greek goddess of the hearth, Hestia, has replaced Satan in her chant of worship. Her vegan restaurant is thriving, and her colleagues love her too much to cringe at her pep talk. But Dex loves her even more than that and can’t wait to start a family, evidently. A puppy as an anniversary gift is just Dex’s way of testing the waters. Adeline isn’t feeling like stuffing her womb, though. She’s had more than her fair share of trauma, having her womb used for a dark purpose her mother and twin sister didn’t mind taking part in. She’s done with the darkness and has seemingly found the light. They’re not too happy about Adeline leaving the baby cult, though. And her evil twin doesn’t mind showing up at her restaurant to play a weird knife game for old-time’s sake. Adeline’s gone too rusty and can’t keep up with Sonia. So she pays by accidentally stabbing her own hand and falling unconscious. No wonder she keeps his in-laws’ identities a secret from her milquetoast husband!
What was Adeline’s life like in Ireland?
Well, it mostly involved being roughed up by her super-powerful witch(?) of a mother. Adeline was caught up in some pretty serious satanic baby-making project in 1243 Ireland. While her sister didn’t mind conforming to what was asked of them in return for eternal life and was eager to munch on the leftover placenta, Adeline was asking questions that irked Ivy. Adeline wasn’t too keen on taking her mother’s word for it. She just couldn’t wrap her head around what sort of “greater good” could come out of birthing “products” for the Lord. Now that she’s found a simple life in her “vegan feminist utopia,” Nicolette comes around to give her compliments to the chef. I told you that woman was a witch! With a handful of disgusting baby teeth to remind Adeline of her offspring, who are apparently thriving, Nicolette wants to draw her back into it. And in a wicked turn of fate, Adeline’s just found out that she’s got a bun in the oven. It’s probably only meant to mess with our heads that the woman she buys the pregnancy test from happens to be the fan Anna accidentally kills way into the future. Dead overseer of the satanic pregnancies? I’d rather not go down that rabbit hole.
Why was Adeline murdered?
Talia really was fond of Adeline and Dex. So much so that after selling her start-up for 1.2 billion, she’d poured the entire amount into the gallery, which would be the start of Dex’s career. Dex was never a Michaelangelo with the brush. Being a dutiful wife, Adeline didn’t mind stroking his ego by feigning her admiration for his art. Now, you have to remember the circumstances of Dex and Talia partnering up to fully grasp how grateful he’s supposed to be to her. Dex’s parents never believed in him. But judging by what a horrendous man Dex’s dad was—a man who’d bark at his wife and abuse her for contradicting him—I doubt that he was really supportive of anyone. He didn’t even mind cutting Dex off; he was fully aware of the kind of financial trouble he’d be putting his son and daughter-in-law in. In such a tense time, Talia’s investment in Dex’s gallery was the only source of hope for Adeline.
Pushing Dex off the gravy train was hardly the worst thing that his dad had done, though. It turns out that Virginia wasn’t making up the satanic ritual abuse she was about to sue her husband for before dying in what looked like a suicide in last week’s episode. Dex was over the moon to find the positive pregnancy test in the trashcan and ran to his parent’s house to give them the good news. The last thing he expected to find was his mother shackled to a frame and two women in black drawing her blood with giant syringes. This might be the most awkward time for the birds and bees talk yet. It was nightmarish enough for Dex to see his father clad in straps, much like the leather guy in “AHS: NYC,” and going at it with another woman in black. But hearing him exclaim that this is how Dex was made! Now, that’s a trauma that the best therapist that money can get won’t be willing to take up. Thankfully, his dad was kind enough to have the witches erase his memory of this ordeal.
The ending sequence of “Ave Hestia” answers all the burning questions surrounding Adeline’s death. As her chant meant for the Greek goddess is drowned by her former clan’s prayers to Satan, Adeline knows it’s time for her to pay for defecting. She’s powerless in front of Ivy, Sonia, Nicolette, and the mysterious woman who plays with her mind just enough before revealing who she really is. It seems like a mortal soul is worth at least 1.2 billion. And Talia wasn’t above shaking hands with Satan in exchange for making money. As Ivy absorbs all those youth- and beauty-inducing properties by smearing her daughter’s blood on her face, we get closer to understanding Anna’s current predicament. It was matchmaking at its worst when Talia picked Anna to be Dex’s new wife. Apparently, Anna has the golden womb for the “perfect product.” Poor Adeline burned to death, knowing what the ghosts from her past were up to. And I shudder to think that a similar fate might befall Anna if she doesn’t get in line.
