Major spoilers for From season 3, episode 9, "Revelations: Chapter One"
Here we are, on the second to last episode of From season 3 and the first part of the "Revelations" saga. Tonight's episode is the first chapter and next week's finale is chapter two.
And while I wouldn't say this episode is quite as revealing as last week's, it does give us at least one potentially major reveal that I think some fans have been theorizing about since this season began, namely the potential mind-blowing way that Tabitha could be connected to Victor's mother and Henry's late wife, Miranda.
Searching for Fatima
The search for Fatima officially gets underway in this episode as it becomes apparent that she's genuinely in danger, though no one in town yet realizes it's because Elgin is holding her hostage in the root cellar.
Despite claiming she would tell the entire town the truth about Fatima killing Tillie if Boyd didn't, Donna can't bring herself to do it. Fatima means too much to the people in this town and to her. She's a ray of sunshine in their bleak world. Instead, she and Boyd work together to organize an area-wide search party, splitting everyone up into groups of two. How do they know where to look? Well, Sarah starts hearing the voices again. The voices gleefully inform Sarah that someone has kidnapped Fatima, she's close, and no matter how hard they look, they won't find her in time.
Meanwhile, as people are searching, Elgin starts feeding Fatima his blood, believing it'll help her give birth faster. He leaves her to join the search party, partnering with Elgin to offer reassurance that Fatima is safe. It's super sketchy. Also, it bothered me that no search parties investigated the cellar. Isn't that a known part of town?
Left alone, Fatima does her best to escape, even unearthing a hatch in the cellar floor. But she can't get it open and then the creepy kimono-wearing ghost lady shows up and forces her back into her bed.
Tabitha's connection to Miranda
In the aftermath of what Victor remembered in the previous episode, he now blames himself for his mother's death. Had he not told her what he overheard the Boy in White saying to Christopher, she never would have gone to the faraway tree. Victor was a kid. No one would actually blame him, but that's something he will have to get over for himself.
Returning to Colony House, Victor trashes his room, throwing all his mementos out the window and cursing himself for walking down memory lane. Then, he grabs an ax to chop down the faraway tree. One swing deep, he gets another visit from the Boy in White, who looks much older now. The boy warns Victor not to cut down the tree, and when Victor points out how much he's "changed," he points out that "everything is changing now." Ominous.
The next time we see Victor, he's down in the root cellar, reminiscing about the night his mother left him and Eloise down there. Not too far from there, Julie and Tabitha are lingering near Victor's truck when one of the Anghkooey kids shows up, luring Tabitha to the cellar. Inside, she finds and comforts Victor, giving him a hug, which triggers a vision of the night Miranda died. We finally see exactly what happened to her.
After leaving Victor and Eloise behind, Miranda went into the forest in search of the faraway tree when she crossed paths with Smiley (the monster who Boyd later killed), who attacked her. Back in the present, Tabitha freaks out over the vision (memory?) and runs out of the cellar, shirking from Victor and Julie as they try to comfort her.
Um, WHOA? That seems like a major reveal, right? Julie's romp in the ruins has already hinted heavily that time travel might be a thing (her throwing Boyd the rope) and there have been multiple clues throughout the season that Tabitha and Miranda share a significant connection. Could Tabitha and Miranda be the same person? How would that even work, timeline-wise? Or is there another reason Tabitha is seeing such vivid visions of a woman she never met?
A lot of heart-to-heart conversations
Last week's episode ramped up the tension and provided us with some answers along with many enticing new mysteries, but this week slows things down a little bit again before next week's finale. We get a lot of heart-to-heart conversations between characters like Julie and Tabitha, Jim and Ethan, Boyd and Ellis, and even Henry and Jade.
Here's a quick breakdown of what each pairing discusses:
- Tabitha and Jim: Jim apologizes for having so many doubts throughout the past few episodes. He admits he hasn't been at his best and promises to trust in Tabitha moving forward, no matter how wild her dreams and visions might sound.
- Jim and Ethan: Jim might be a mess, but he earns some good dad points here when he reassures Ethan that Julie's collapse at the ruins was not his fault.
- Henry and Jade: Out of everyone in town, Jade is the one that most reminds Henry of Victor, which makes sense when he points out that Jade is often talking to people only he can see (this week it's Christopher) similar to how his own son is out there trying to make a doll talk. But Jade offers Henry some sound advice. He needs to meet Victor where he is. He can't "fix" him because he's not broken. He's what this town has made him, comparing him to Tarzan being raised in the jungle.
- Donna and Acosta: As irritating and grating as Acosta can be, she's also asking the same questions that many of us in the audience have asked. Her delivery needs some work, but she's not exactly wrong for expressing the doubts and concerns she has with this town. That said, it's still cathartic to have Donna snap on her and tell her she can't give her a "tutorial" to the craziness of Fromville right now, but if Acosta helps her find Fatima, she'll break it all down for her.
The return of Boyd's Parkinson's
Many have pointed out that Boyd's Parkinson's disease hasn't been mentioned since the show's first season, but it makes a significant return in this episode, to the point where the disease almost causes Boyd to collapse in the forest. Thankfully, Ellis is there to help him back to town, where Boyd reveals that his illness is progressing faster than anticipated.
Concerned with what might happen if he dies or becomes too weak to move around town freely, Boyd tries to get Kenny to promise that he will take over and protect everyone should he no longer be able to act as the town's de facto leader. Kenny doesn't want to take the "sheriff" badge, but he does offer to become a deputy again.
The From season 3 finale of airs next Sunday, November 24 exclusively on MGM+.