The search for Asha (Sara) continues in the second episode of The Clearing. Intense panic started to set in when Hannah received Adrienne’s call stating that she would be coming to the facility to meet Asha. Amy noticed Sara’s shoe on the ground, and the moment she looked above, she saw Sara hiding up a tree. Amy once again chose to protect Sara, but unfortunately, Anton took notice of it and informed the crowd that he had found Asha. By the time Adrienne came to visit, everything was in order. Adrienne checked each of her children carefully. She noted down their height, weight, and appearance and developed diets according to their needs. Adrienne’s teaching was significantly inspired by the yogic lifestyle, and we eventually learn that the children were her lab rats for an experiment on lifestyle.
Spoilers Alert
Who Is Joe? What Was His Assumption About The Van?
Yusuf Joe Saad was the ex-cop man that Freya, aka Amy, kept calling after noticing the white van in her neighborhood. He was the officer-in-charge of Sara’s kidnapping case, and over the years, he and Freya developed a friendly relationship. When Freya noticed the white van again in her neighborhood, she called the police. She informed them that the van loitering matched the description of the van that was used to kidnap Carrie Anderson. She mentioned Joe Saad while discussing the matter with the police, and she was disheartened to learn that Joe never called them. She confronted Joe the next day, and he admitted that he lied to comfort her. He did not think that the white van Freya kept seeing had any connection with the recent kidnapping case. Joe confirmed that Carrie Anderson was not kidnapped in a white van, and he assumed that she was lost in the woods.
Joe believed that Amy had drawn a connection between Sara and Carrie’s kidnapping because they both disappeared from Woodfield. The conversation between Joe and Freya revealed that a few members of the cult were arrested. Hendrik was recently granted parole, and Joe doubted that the news had subconsciously affected Freya. We also find out that Freya lived in the cult for twenty-two years, and Joe wanted to know if, somewhere deep down, she wanted a concession for the crimes she was forced to commit. Freya barely shared any of her thoughts with him. She clearly had a lot going on in her mind, but her silence indicated that she did not trust Joe enough. Joe could not get over the fact that Adrienne was not punished for her crimes. Freya did not reveal that she continued to maintain a cordial relationship with her Maitreya. Maybe she was ashamed of her undying affection for the woman who destroyed her life. She had grown up idolizing Adrienne, and perhaps it was almost impossible for her to stop. We can assume that Freya forgave her for her crimes, or maybe, by looking after Adrienne, she tried to make sure that the cult remained inactive. Even after Joe confirmed that the cult was not involved in the recent kidnapping, Freya could not get over her fears. She noticed that the front gate of her house was left open, and when Billy mentioned his new friend, whose identity he refused to reveal, she was sure that there was someone trying to take her boy away from her.
What Was The Clearing?
Adrienne prepared her children for an event that was of crucial importance to the cult. The cakes and sandwiches at the event were the main attraction for the children, but to be rewarded with treats, they had to perfect their performance. Amy tried to bribe Asha to behave herself at the event with the list of treats, but Asha could not think about giving away her freedom for a sweet treat. Joe secretly took pictures of the event, and the group of blonde-haired children caught his attention. Dr. Bryce Latham introduced Maitreya to the crowd, stating that she was trying to find an alternate society that would be ever-evolving. The children were brought on stage to show the society she aimed to build. Latham added that as the members of The Kindred and under the leadership of Maitreya, they intended to reinvent the structure of the society that was assumed to be impossible to change. The people present at the event were those who looked up to Maitreya and had gone through the life-changing initiation process that she called “clearing.” After going through the process, people usually became devotees, and they stopped questioning her methods. Adrienne was proud of raising a new generation under her guidance and away from the rules of society. She described them as “pure” and “untainted.”
Just as the Maitreya was discussing how perfect her children were, Asha took to the microphone and screamed that Adrienne was not her mother. Asha was taken away from the event and locked in the hole as punishment. Asha’s sudden outburst left Adrienne a little shaken; she stepped out to smoke and met Joe there. While Joe indicated that he had enough proof to destroy what she was building, Adrienne, in exchange, mildly threatened to damage his personal life. She went on to continue with her clearing sessions at the event. She helped a woman see beyond her reality, and after the session, Maitreya stated that he had been “reborn.”
Who Is Colin?
After her clearing session, a man entered the room and handed Adrienne a strip of chemical drugs. Colin was Maitreya’s devotee, and he believed that his wife, Elena, had started to doubt him. Maitreya advised him to confess the truth and leave his family to follow his true calling. She encouraged him to become a part of the spiritual family. Joe went back to the police station, and he was busy with the film roll. He was confident that he could draw a connection between the event and the missing child case and intended to develop the photos to get a better look at them. We get to know that Colin is a policeman and Joe’s colleague. He tried to drive Joe astray by convincing him that the disappearance case did not have any connection with Adrienne and her event. But Joe was optimistic about finding the little girl. He intended on going back to the property in Blackmarsh with a warrant and getting Sara McFetridge back home. We can assume that Colin played an important role in stopping Joe from conducting his investigation. He might as well destroy the evidence Joe painstakingly collected and inform the Maitreya beforehand about the possible threat.
What Happened To Sara Mcfetridge? Is Billy In Danger?
Sara was brave beyond her age, and she managed to escape the hole. She attempted to run away once again, but she was caught before she could jump the fences. Meanwhile, Maitreya invited Amy to her room. Even though Amy failed her, she seemed more forgiving than before. Adrienne believed that she burdened Amy with a task that she was not fit for yet. Instead of punishing her for failing to realign Asha, she offered to conduct her clearing. Since Amy was her oldest daughter, Adrienne wanted her to take over The Kindred once she was gone, and to do that, she needed to be initiated. Amy was elated; she had always heard about the clearing, and it was finally her time to experience it. Maitreya slipped a dose of the chemical drug she got from Colin into Amy’s mouth and left the video recording on. To go through the clearing, it was important to get rid of all sins, a process that the Maitreya believed required extreme courage.
Amy was left alone in the room, and she woke up in a dizzy state of mind. The fire started to move; she heard Sara scream her name several times. Amy tried to open the door, only to realize that it was locked. Amy mumbled and screamed for help and eventually curled up on the floor. She was worried about Sara, and ultimately Adrienne entered the room and took her back to her bed. The next morning, Amy woke up light-headed, but the moment she noticed that Sara was missing from her bed, she went to search for her. She had briefly known Sara, but she had started to care for her. She searched for Sara at all the punishment spots, but the little girl was nowhere to be found. When Dr. Bryce realized that Amy did not have any idea about Sara’s whereabouts, he nonchalantly stated that Sara had been returned to her home. Since Sara had become a menace, they decided to let her go. Amy noticed Sara’s keychain on the ground, and she grabbed hold of it. Amy was possibly drugged that night to get rid of Sara once and for all. Sara had drawn too much attention to the cult, and since she refused to cooperate with the members of the cult, they possibly decided to end her life.
Toward the end of episode 2 of The Clearing, we learn that Freya was in a relationship with a man named Wayne, whom she refused to stay in contact with. She was extremely disappointed in her mother, Christine, when she realized that Christine had given him her number. Possibly Freya was reunited with her mother after the cult activities came to light, but clearly, she did not care for her. Perhaps she blamed her birth mother for the traumatic life she was forced to live. Even after knowing the truth, Freya considered Adrienne her mother. From what it looks like, Christine tried to mend ties between Freya and Wayne. She noticed how overprotective Freya was of Billy, and maybe she was worried about the wellbeing of her grandson. Since Freya had a traumatic past, she feared its repercussions. The Clearing episode 2 ends with Freya going back to Adrienne’s house to spend the lunch hours with her. She complained about Wayne trying to take her son away from her. We do not know what kind of relationship Wayne and Freya were in, but it seems to have damaged Freya. Adrienne responded by saying that Billy did not belong to Wayne, further adding that there is no greater pain than a mother losing her child. She promised that Wayne would never take Billy away from her.
During their conversation, Adrienne looked like the same old Maitreya from the cult days. Her thoughts were coherent, and her eyes had a spark in them. Adrienne asked Freya to make her a drink while she turned on her phone in secrecy. She called up a number, and a woman responded. We watched the woman get out of the white van and walk up to the park where Billy was playing with his friends. Adrienne had a smile on her face as she confirmed the location of the woman. Freya was right to assume that there was someone conspiring to take Billy away from her, but it was not her ex-partner or her mother; it was the Maitreya. Freya had once promised to give birth for the advancement of Adrienne’s society, and it seems Adrienne did not forget her promise. She perhaps wants to start her society anew, and since Billy was Amy’s son, he was the perfect candidate for it. It is possible that the disappearance of Carrie Anderson is connected to Adrienne and her society. Episode 2 of The Clearing comes to an interesting ending with multiple possibilities that will bring together the past and the present.
