"Tempted" Episodes 12-15
Secrets, sprouting in darkness, grow treacherous; urges, stifled and suppressed, increase as Caleb sustains his flickering essence with the dwindling happiness of his foes.
Still in denial, Jack attempts to push aside his anxieties over Caleb’s lingering influence, refusing to believe Livvie’s complicity in Caleb’s seduction. Despite his dream of Livvie as a temptress and betrayer, Jack tries to convince himself that Livvie is still the pure, childlike woman of his fairytale ideal, the helpless damsel he rescues from the lecherous serpent. Kevin, likewise, sees himself in a knightly role, feeling the need to protect Eve from the menacing clutches of the mysterious newcomer Ian. However, hidden beneath his chivalric zeal are tinges of desire and jealousy, Kevin’s unacknowledged feelings for his former wife clouding his perceptions of Ian and fueling his suspicions.
As in Poe’s classic short story “ The Tell-Tale Heart,” secrets, long-buried, begin to manifest themselves, bringing ruin. Ian is literally crushed by his own secrets—trapped under a file cabinet containing incriminating documents from his past. Livvie looks within a mirror and, hearing Caleb’s music box, seems to glimpse the darkness of her hidden self—the part of herself that longs for Caleb’s will-destroying embrace, the part which yearns to do his bidding and will end up carrying out his malevolent plans. Later, gazing down lovingly at Eve’s baby, Livvie is reminded once again that his could have been hers and Caleb’s child, the beginnings of a family she craves. Gabby, like Livvie, is forced to confront her irresistible desires for Caleb and his magic, desires so strong and compelling that no sacred retreat can keep them subdued.
Even the most noble, altruistic emotions, “Tempted” reveals, can become addicting and destructive, as Eve’s powerful maternal instinct gradually reaches sanity-endangering extremes. Justifiably and perceptibly aware of Caleb’s dangerous “residue,” Eve become so panic-stricken over Daniel's safety that her hysterical reactions and Ian’s arrogant dismissal of her worries wear away at the loving bond the couple shared. She also begins to doubt her abilities to protect her newborn son, blaming herself for her first baby's death and questioning her own capacity to be a good mother. Everything she holds dear she fears she will lose, so she clutches tighter, suffocating herself and her loved ones with her smothering dread.
|
