After the Monster season 4 premiere introduced fans to the core character at the heart of the series, we begin to inch closer to the events that unfold in the opening sequence, i.e., the death of the Bordens.
Episode 2 takes us into May as the episode opens with Bridget serving up lunch to Abby and an older woman who has come to visit, one who does not have much of a filter as she goes on about the Irish and love for sex. It’s ironic as we then cut to Andrew’s workshop, where he’s having sex with Bridget, having taken her up on her offer from the premiere. During sex, Andrew calls out the name Sarah as he climaxes, and we learn that Sarah was the name of his first wife, though he makes it clear to Bridget that she is not to speak her name.
After they finish having sex, Bridget informs Andrew that she is with child, and panic quickly sets into his eyes. He questions her use of prophylaxis, as she assures him she does, but it’s more of an art than a science, and he does mount her quite frequently. He doesn’t offer up much to say as she informs him she will have his bastard unless he pays her, at which time she will get rid of the child. She makes it clear that if he does not pay up, she will have no choice but to inform Mrs. Borden of the situation.
Bridget’s affair with Andrew takes a dangerous turn
We cut to the Borden house as Bridget tends to Lizzie, who is experiencing a strong fever and pain for the second month in a row. Bridget offers to examine her, and Lizzie lies back so that Bridget can. She finds that Lizzie’s hymen is imperforated, and Lizzie presses her for how she can stop the pain. Bridget informs her that she can have a doctor make an incision in the membrane or something else like it. Lizzie quips she has to have a husband to do that, but Bridget notes she does not and orders a medical massager.
Upon the device’s arrival, Bridget helps to assemble the device used by doctors called the Chattanooga which is essentially a device with a phallic head designed to stimulate the sensation of sex. She fires the machine up, but it proves to be a bit more than they were expecting, and they opt not to use it.
The following day, the Borden family gathers for dinner, which is when we meet Lizzie’s sister, Emma. Lizzie inquires about where Emma has been as Abby interjects that she has been looking for a husband, but she coldly shuts Lizzie down when she tries to ask questions. Over dinner, Abby informs Andrew they must fire the housepainter, as her earbobs went missing, and she blames him. She then informs Bridget she is to take Lizzie into town as Andrew hands her a coin and asks her to pick up his newest axe at the post office while she’s in town. We know this to be code for "handle the problem and get rid of the baby,” which Bridget promptly does, as she drinks a concoction designed to end the pregnancy.
Funny enough, Andrew really did need Bridget to pick up an axe, which she does while in town with Lizzie, who she surprises with matinee tickets to a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Lizzie is entranced by the lead actress, Nance O’Niel, whom they have the chance to meet after. She invites Nance to dinner at the Borden house, and Nance accepts the offer, though she has quite a strict request for the meal’s menu.
Later that evening, Lizzie goes to Bridget’s room in the hope that she’ll read to her. Despite being unwell, going through the pain of losing the child within her as a result of the concoction she took, Bridget welcomes Lizzie in and continues the story of Elizabetta, the blood countess.
After the disappearances of the young maidens, the countess blamed her handmaidens for their murders and served them up to the angry mob. The first handmaiden had her fingers torn out, the second was burned alive, while the third was beheaded. Following their deaths, the countess ordered their bodies to be drained so she could bathe in their blood, and just like that, she discovered a new hobby.
Bridget pauses their reading of the story as her pain intensifies and she gets out of bed and squats into a bucket as she informs Lizzie she is passing a fetus. Lizzie does not question her on her omission but instead asks what she can do to help as Bridget instructs her to mix up a concoction, which she drinks to stop the infection. Bridget then tells her the truth about her father and their affair. Rather than leave her, though, Lizzie asks to sit with Bridget and remains with her until the fetus passes.
Lizzie and Bridget devise a plan to kill the Bordens
The following morning, Bard proposes to Emma, who flawlessly enacts the proposal plan that Abby coached Lizzie through in the premiere. She happily accepts the proposal but later tells Lizzie that she has no intention of marrying the man. She’ll string him along for a few months before cutting things off, as she has no intention of being tied down to a man or letting him anywhere near their father’s money.
Lizzie’s curiosity is piqued as she asks her sister how much their father is worth and is shocked to learn her father is worth $300,000. She then proceeds to point out that when their parents finally die, Lizzie will be left with but 5% of the estate, while Emma will get the rest, as their father does not respect her and knows how feeble-minded she is.
Later in her dovecote, Lizzie vents her frustrations to Bridget, who tries to assure her that $15,000 is more than enough money for her to live comfortably. Money is freedom, and with it she can be free, so free that no one can tell her to do anything. Bridget kisses her forehead, and that escalates into something more as the pair kiss before Lizzie pulls away. Bridget closes the space as Lizzie asks why she did that, and she admits she did it because she felt like it, as the pair kiss again, this time more passionately.
Following their passionate moment in the dovecote, Bridget resumes her duties, working to dust the house as she tells Lizzie how she would love to bring her to Paris, which is beautiful in May. She talks about how they could drink champagne and enjoy oysters before realizing this is something they could not do in May, as oysters are filter feeders, so in summer they get a bacillus in them, which could kill someone if eaten. This gives Bridget the idea to poison Lizzie’s parents with oysters; however, Lizzie quickly shuts the conversation down and informs Bridget she should be ashamed for even saying it.
We cut to Abby, who is lying in bed with a warm towel on her head, suffering from a headache, the cooing of Lizzie’s doves echoing in her head and driving her mad… so mad that she grabs one of her husband’s axes and begins slaughtering Lizzie’s doves. Lizzie walks into the dovecote to see the horrific sight of her beloved birds being slain by her stepmother, who lashes out at Lizzie and blames her for pushing her to this breaking point. Abby shows absolutely no remorse for her actions, going as far as to tell Lizzie she should be grateful, as she’s removed the burden of a hobby which has prevented her from finding a husband and leaving the house.
A distraught, blood- and feather-stained Lizzie makes her way to her father’s workshop, and he doesn’t even blink or eye over her appearance. Lizzie begs her father to do something and show that he cares for her for once in her life rather than continue to overlook the cruel treatment she endures.
As we expected, Andrew is of no help and turns the conversation around to make himself the victim in this situation. He quips that Lizzie has done nothing to help him. He has no son, no respite from the droning of shrill female voices that go on and on and on in a house that he toils for night and day. All he asks is that she doesn’t bring him her troubles, showing that he doesn’t give a single f-ck about her murdered birds. He questions whether that is clear or if she’s too thick to understand.
“I understand,” a dejected Lizzie remarks as she turns and leaves her father.
Following the conversation, Lizzie returns home, enters Bridget’s room, and informs her they’re going to kill them.
Lizzie and Bridget’s plan to kill the Bordens with the oysters fails
Lizzie helps Bridget prepare oysters for the new summer menu and enact their plan of killing Andrew and Abby with the bad oysters. Lizzie isn’t sure if the plan will work, as Bridget assures her it will as she walks her through what they call vibriosis. First, they’ll vomit; they’ll vomit blood. Then they’ll have blood coming out of their ass, eyes, and every orifice.
Bridget brings in the oyster soup she and Lizzie prepared, placing bowls of the dish on the table for the Bordens to enjoy before leaving the room. Andrew says grace before Abby and Andrew both begin indulging in the dish, before Abby begins feeling unwell. And that’s when those with weak stomachs will want to look away as Abby and Andrew begin projectile vomiting and then shitting themselves as Lizzie sits calmly watching the scene unfold around her before exiting to fetch the doctor.
The doctor comes to check on them and informs Lizzie and Bridget that he’s not sure Abby and Andrew will make it through the night. He notes that Abby mentioned oysters, and a good fishmonger would have told them it’s dangerous to eat oysters in May, as he exits. The following morning, Lizzie and Bridget are surprised to hear Abby calling out, disappointment setting in for both as they realize their plan did not work.
When they reach the stairs, they find Abby and Andrew at the top looking disheveled but very much alive. Abby makes it clear to Bridget that she should fire her, but she does not and instead orders her to prepare breakfast. Lizzie heads to her dovecote, and Bridget comes to comfort her, assuring her they can try another poison.
Lizzie has other plans, though, and tells her she knows how they’ll kill them as the camera pans out to the axe Abby used to murder Lizzie’s doves on the table. A plan has been hatched, and now we’re starting to see how we’ll reach the moment that opened the premiere where Lizzie attacked her parents with the axe, though there still is more to this story and things might not be as they seem.
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