The Society season 1, episode 8 recap: Poison

The Society ruins the Thanksgiving celebrations with some good old-fashioned poison.

Whereas the last episode had a problem with the time jumps, The Society finally slows things down to let things happen naturally. “Poison” picks up immediately where the last one left off and directly from Elle’s perspective. She’s anxious and terrified that someone will eat her poisoned pie. The tension is infectious, and either way, we know Elle is screwed. If she comes clean then Campbell knows that about the attempt on her life and if she doesn’t, others could die.

The literal poison isn’t the only thing infecting the town of New Ham. Lexie, aka the girl who has been clearly upset with Allie’s leadership, has been spreading her own brand of hatred throughout her friends. It isn’t that noticeable, at least to Allie, until an ill-timed Thanksgiving skit which plays out Cassandra’s death. Not only is it uncomfortable for Allie, but it’s really horrendous to watch as a viewer. How much empathy do you need to lack to essentially ridicule Allie for one of the worst moments of her life and then play off Dewey’s death as a joke? It doesn’t come as a huge surprise that Allie doesn’t take this “joke” well. Clearly, Lexie didn’t learn Harry’s lesson that words have just as much effect as an action.

However, Elle is really the A-plot here. She’s mainly been subjected to the background for most of The Society because Campbell has dragged her back whenever she tries to reach out. After witnessing Allie take some pie, Elle knows it’s only a matter of time before it spreads. Desperate to prevent the casualties from growing, she tries to eat as much as possible before Campbell interrupts. Sadly, someone swoops in at the last minute to grab the pumpkin pie and offer it to a different table. No stopping it now, kids are about to get sick.

More from Show Snob

• The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 6 recap “Wanga Banga Langa!”
• Lawmen: Bass Reeves season 1, episode 7 preview: Non-spoiler thoughts for Part VII
• Goosebumps season 1, episode 6 recap: “Night of the Living Dummy”
• Beacon 23 season 1, episode 3 recap: “Why Can’t We Go on as Three?”
• Upload season 3, episode 2 recap: “Strawberry”

While I personally think making Campbell a psychopath makes his arc a little too obvious, Toby Wallace really kills it in this episode. Every second he’s on screen, there’s a certain menace and ticking clock until Elle is found out. After dinner he comes into the bathroom to tell Elle they made a good decision by going to the celebration. Then, when she says her pie wasn’t good, asks if she’s going to try again. So not only did Campbell not have any, but he almost seems to tease her to come out and admit her guilt or suffer forever.

It doesn’t take long for the poison to kick in and everything to take a turn for the worse. Will gets a momentary reprieve by finally sleeping with Kelly which leaves Allie alone when she first experiences symptoms. He gets to her side while Bean tries her best to help out but Gordie tells Will to have Kelly round up the infected to the clinic. While there are other New Ham residents who are sick, Allie and Elle are the two main ones that the show cares about. Allie getting sick certainly ups her paranoia that someone wants to kill her like Cassandra while Elle believes she’s being punished via convulsions and death for her part in all of this.

Like Toby Wallace, Olivia DeJonge does a fantastic job throughout “Poison”. After she gets an IV, she asks Helena if she can ask for God’s forgiveness. The look on her face is heartbreaking, not only does she genuinely believe she’s dying but she also thinks she deserves it. Helena tearfully tells her that she’ll be okay because of the IV and Elle loses it. She wants it out because if she doesn’t die then she’ll have to face the consequences of her decisions here. Campbell will torture her for this and the people of New Ham will only shun her further. It’s devastating to think that Elle views death as her only escape from the life she’s been subjected to here.

However, MVP of this episode clearly goes to Kelly, who officially takes on the role of the town doctor. She’s been slowly trying to learn but now she’s thrown into the first situation where she’ll have to really step up. Assigning patients to bed, she frantically tries to get everyone Pedialyte to stay hydrated before learning to administer an IV on the fly. Just as things are at their hectic peak, Becca comes in ready to give birth early. Kelly only has a second to process the news before separating her from the rest of the sick people and getting ready to deliver her first baby.

With Becca safely tucked away, Kelly, Gordie, and Bean try to figure out what exactly happened. The girls think it’s food poisoning but Gordie says people are recovering too quickly. Gordie suggests a virus but Kelly thinks it would be weird for everyone to get sick all at once. The group finally settles on poison after realizing that Elle’s convulsions point towards that.

Everyone recovers midway through the episode and it’s time for The Society to figure out who the real culprit is. Gordie doesn’t think Allie was poisoned on purpose but they do decide to send the Guard to anyone’s house who cooked food at home. All except Lexie, who gets taken in for questioning instead. She’s humiliated by the Guard members who force her to change in front of them, demonstrating how power can corrupt anyone. It’s almost like a display about how accurate the Stanford Prison Experiment was.

However, no one knows that Elle is the real perpetrator because Campbell covers for her. When Luke and Will come knocking, he claims to have tasted the filling himself. Yes, it’s clear at this point that Campbell not only knows but has been toying with her guilt. He happily points out to her when they’re alone that the two are one in the same. She was willing to let all of those people die rather than face him. He’s ecstatic because they will never be alone in this society where they don’t fit in. She’s horrified at the suggestion because she made every attempt to eat all of that pie herself rather than let someone else suffer. Looks like she’s stuck with Campbell for the long run after this.

Just as quickly Kelly and Will began, they are officially over. He spent the entire night at Allie’s side and Kelly realizes that he truly loves her. She has no ill will or anything, in fact, she’s the one who encourages him to be honest. Kelly would rather focus on being a doctor and healer than someone’s girlfriend for the time being. She heads over to Harry’s to try and help him handle his depression as well as making him go for a walk outside. It kind of showcases how differently people cope with change. Kelly is able to adjust and strive whereas Harry hasn’t been able to handle this new world.

Allie hasn’t flawlessly taken power or her new position that well either. These past few episodes of The Society have shown that she’s become a capable and respected leader. However, when confronted by Lexie about what the Guard did, she essentially tells her it doesn’t matter. Yes, forcing her to change in front of them was humiliation (although not exactly “torture”) and they should be reprimanded for that abuse of power. It’s an uncomfortable moment, forgotten when Allie gets in front of everyone and delivers a solid speech. She officially opens up elections as well, and based on Lexie’s look, the politics in New Ham are about to become pretty dirty.

It’s not exactly a major plot, but as mentioned before Becca does go into labor. She doesn’t give birth yet but this turn of events does bring the drama into Sam’s and Grizz’s burgeoning relationship. It’s a little odd that Grizz is so against Sam being a father and Sam not just telling the truth. He likes Grizz and Becca already knows that Sam is gay. Why can’t they just loop him in that Sam isn’t the biological father?

What did you think of this episode? Be sure to tell us in the comment section below!