As the investigation continues on Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale, a troubling pattern starts to emerge. The second episode picks up right where Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale episode 1 ends.
The residents of Sanctuary come together to mourn the loss of Abigail's (Amy de Bhrun) son Dan. She stands beside her husband stoically, receiving no comfort from him, as their friends offer condolences. Maggie (Maggie Knight) and Ryan (Adam Isla O'Brien) stand off to the side, observing everyone. Harper (Hazel Doupe) is off on her own, getting dirty looks from other mourners, with people whispering that she's a witch. That's when Jake Bolt (Darragh Gilhooly), son of police chief Ted Bolt (Stephen Lord), gives her a dirty look.
Maggie and Ryan head to the police station, where Maggie asks Ted whether his witness is reliable. He hopes so, he says, because it's his son. They all sit down to speak with Jake, who shows them a video from the party. In it, Harper can be seen yelling at the camera as the sex tape plays on the wall behind her. When they get to the moment before Dan's fall, Jake claims that Harper was using magic, citing the movements she was making with her hands as how magic is done.
There's no evidence of magic, and indeed she and Jake were at the bottom of the stairs while Dan was at the top of them. But Jake insists that Harper was the cause of Dan's fall and his subsequent death. Maggie asks for Jake's phone, which upsets the teen. Outside the interrogation room, Maggie suggests that they keep Jake's report quiet so as to not contaminate the investigation. Ted doesn't agree, saying that his son's account essentially solves the case.
Maggie now knows that she's dealing with more than the investigation of a death, she's also dealing with underlying bigotry as well.
Home empty home
After the funeral, Abigail tells Sarah (Elaine Cassidy) that her house feels so empty. Her husband has returned to work, and Abigail isn't surprised a bit. She was able to cope with him being focused on his work all the time because she had Dan to think about, but that's gone now.
She starts to tell Sarah about the sex tape, and how the police are trying to slander her son, when Jake approaches and asks to speak with Abigail in private. Sarah leaves and Jake tells her about the tape and Harper's involvement. Abigail immediately denies that Harper could have done anything because she doesn't have any magic and Sarah is her closest friend. He wants to show her the video, which he copied to a tablet before he handed his phone to the police.
Sarah arrived home and finds Harper on her way out. She asks about the tape, telling her daughter she is free to do as she pleases but she has to be careful about putting things like that into the world. Harper gets upset and walks away.
Abigail watches, horrified. He tells her that Harper was using magic right before he died, and her spell led to his death. Abigail goes straight to Sarah's house. Sarah is perplexed, pointing out that Harper didn't have the gift of witchcraft. She's registered as being non-magical. Sarah points out that their kids grew up together and they're close, but you can tell Abigail isn't thinking about it anymore. Before she leaves, Sarah tells her to tell her husband to pay more attention to her. They share a hug, but it's stiff and forced.
Harper goes running, then she has a drink. She hear people talking about how she's Dan's girlfriend and she sinks into her seat.
Sarah goes to the police station to talk with Maggie. She demands to know why her daughter is being accused of murder and wants to see the tape. Maggie tells her she needs to speak with Harper first.
More questions than answers
Ryan confirms that Harper isn't listed on the magic registry. They go to talk to family friends who confirm that Dan and Harper were together, and that Luke is someone who's always looking for attention. Maggie realizes she'd been at the house before years ago. There had been an accident and people were screaming loud enough for the neighbors to call the police. When she arrived, Abigail was there with her husband and a young Dan, who'd fallen down some stairs. They told her everything was fine, but they were all acting strangely. She doesn't think there's a connection, but you never know.
Sarah visits Dan's grave to see if she can pick anything up, but nothing comes through to her.
When Harper gets home, Sarah confronts her. Harper thought it was clear that she can't use magic, but there's no proof since only her mother was present at her determination ceremony it could be contested. Maggie arrives and has more questions for Harper about her relationship with Dan.
Beatrice (Holly Sturton) asks her father, Albie (Keith Mcerlean), about what he did after he dropped her off at the party. She wants to know if he got into a fight with Dan. He says he would have broken Dan's neck himself after how he talked to her.
Abigail goes walking with her husband, Michael (Barry John Kinsella). A woman approaches and says she can't believe the rumors about Dan. Abigail explains to Michael that people believe Harper killed Dan, but Michael says that's impossible because she doesn't have magic. Abigail isn't so sure. She calls upon her friends, asking them to stand with her in her time of need, but they tell her that she shouldn't shut Sarah out of her life because she's always helped them in their time of need, including when Abigail was desperate for Michael to get a job so she begged Sarah to help her.
The plot thickens
Maggie and Ryan go to Jake's school and question him about his text messages with Dan. Apparently he'd expressed his feelings to him and Dan didn't feel the same way. Jake is nervous, agitated.
Sarah and Pierre (Daniel Adegboyega) try to find a way to prove that Harper doesn't have magic and couldn't possibly be behind the murder. She tries divination but can't see a clear image. Sarah wonders if what's happening now is payback for when she helped him before, when he fell.
Abigail, having thought a lot about her situation, decides to go to Sarah's house and demand that she bring Dan back to life. If Sarah brings him back, she will have Jake drop his statement. Otherwise her daughter will be risking the death penalty.
New episodes of Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale are available on Thursdays on AMC Plus and Sundance Now.
