***The following is review/breakdown followed by a detailed recap of episode 306 of FROM, “Scar Tissue,” and it contains spoilers for the episode.***

The episode had a few really important scenes when it came to the mystery, but most of the episode was more just about moving the story forward.

The episode opens with Tabitha and Jim arguing. This scene really highlights that Jim is doing a very bad job parenting. He acts like it was so difficult for him to take care of the kids when she was only gone a few days, which she points out, but even in those few days, Jim did not take care of his kids. He ran off, more than once, even if it was to go after Tabitha. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel that Tabitha should have left originally either, but the kids weren’t alone when she left. Jim repeatedly left Julie to take care of Ethan alone, and in fact Ethan almost died in the first episode when he ran out at night when they were once again, alone. I did enjoy, however, Tabitha yelling at him for it, even if she hasn’t been the world’s best mother either. It sounds like from what Julie said before that neither of them were really around after Thomas died. We do in the scene get a bit more insight though into how Tabitha is still affected by the town meeting from the episode before. I did also enjoy when they are screaming, and you hear the creature scream from outside. Julie thankfully was just over it and is letting her mother know that they are affected by their arguments, and this time probably everyone heard them. Even Ethan is aware they are having issues.

There is a very interesting conversation with Jade and Boyd at the bar while he’s talking about the numbers from the bottle tree. It’s always great when characters share information, and I love seeing Jade trying to piece it together, because I always feel like he represents the fans trying to figure out the series. Jade says that it is possible that the place Tabitha went to in Maine occupies the same space as the lighthouse and that it’s not so much as a wormhole but a dimensional rift. This theory actually could hold some weight, especially because there are two bottle trees in the real world like there are in the town, which makes me think they are in the same place as well. If you think about what happened to Dale, it’s the same thing: two objects in the same space, but he got stuck on the way. I am also very curious if the one bottle tree in Maine, the one Tabitha and Henry never made it to, could have possibly been a faraway tree in the real world, but at this point we may never know.

There are a couple of other scenes that, as I mentioned, move the story along, but don’t necessarily have to do with the mystery or the main action since there is such a large ensemble cast, but they stood out enough to mention. There is a nice conversation between Donna and Tabitha where Donna gives her advice, one between Kenny and Julie about her smoking pot, and also one between Donna and Kenny and his decision to move to Colony House. Another is the storyline with Randall and how his injuries are doing.

One of the main points of action in the episode, however, is with Henry and Victor. It’s nice that Henry is trying to give Victor support in any way he can, and it was great that he went with Victor to help whether he wanted him to or not. When they get in the cave, it’s very interesting that the room they are looking for is not where Victor remembers. I feel like it’s more plausible that the creatures actually moved it for some reason rather than Victor just making a mistake, because the writers seldom do anything without meaning in this show. When they finally get to the room he’s looking for, the dining room set up is really creepy and also seems a bit reminiscent of a dark Alice in Wonderland. It’s interesting to note that the creatures take things from the humans, even if we don’t know why. When they run into the creatures, I think It’s odd that the one female creature looked human while the other did not, but perhaps they can’t keep it up while they are asleep. The biggest question, however, is why they let Victor and Henry go.

We didn’t really get much on Jasper this week, but hopefully we will get whatever secret he has in the next episode.

The other important thing that happens is of course with Fatima and using the ultrasound. It’s unclear if she told Ellis only about the rotten food or also about the blood. Since they aren’t mentioning it, I’m guessing it’s possible she told him everything, but at the same time, I feel like he would have been more freaked out if she did. I did like that she wanted Boyd to go with them to see Kristi. She clearly sees him as family now. Also of note in this scene is of course when Elgin sees the kimono woman again, this time also in the photo he took of Fatima. Since it was in this photo, I would think she obviously has some connection to Fatima. I doubt she can help them get home though, as it seems more like what happened with Sara to me when they got her to try to kill Ethan.

Obviously the one big reveal of the episode, is that Fatima may not be pregnant, although I have to wonder if we can believe that. She still is adamant there is something growing inside her, and it’s possible they just can’t see it.

The other action of the episode that is connected to the mystery part of the show is with both Tabitha and Jade. Tabitha is having visions of the creepy kids again, but this time in her house, which is a bit different.

Jade’s talk with Dead Tom brings up some interesting things. It’s curious that Jade seems to believe Tabitha’s visions over his own. This goes back to pretty much the same thing with Boyd talking to Father Khatri. Is something actually causing this apparition of Tom, and if so, is it malevolent, or is it possible it is all in Jade’s head? Seeing Tom isn’t super helpful to him or the mystery either way, although I did really like the humor in the scene regardless.

We do learn a bit more about the puzzle when Jade talks to Ethan. The fact the two trees had the same numbers in the bottles is very interesting, but I’m not sure what it means. I really want them to find the pattern and discern if the numbers have anything to do with traveling through the tree, although since the other faraway trees do not have bottles, it may have nothing to do with it.

The other big thing that happens in the episode is that Tabitha realizes that she had nightmares of the town as a child. What does it mean, and do the three stones represent anything? Also, why is she dressed the way she is? It doesn’t look like modern clothing. Lastly, I believe the ward statue in her dream might be different. Looking at the photos available of this one it also appears to have its eyes closed unlike the others, which is a bit strange.

Over all, it was a good episode, although not the best of the season.

RECAP

Jim is in bed while Tabitha stands at the window. She tells him she had a nightmare but when he asks says she doesn’t want to talk about it. Tabitha says that when she was out of the town she should have done more. Jim gets out of bed and walks over to her, saying that she did the best she could. She asks him how he would know and that; he has no idea what she could have done. She gets angry saying that he’s saying things that aren’t true just so she’ll feel better. She just wants him to be honest. He yells back that she wants him to read her mind so he will say what she wants to hear. Jim says that she wants him to be the bad guy, fine, but he was the one who stayed behind holding the kids together while she ran off to deal with whatever she was doing. Tabitha says that she was trying to save their daughter. He asks if it occurred to her that they could have done it together, but thinks she wants to do everything on her own. He stops what he’s saying and goes back to the bed, but she calls him a coward and says for him to tell her. Jim says that she wanted a divorce because it was easier to cut and run and deal with Thomas’s death on her own rather than trying to put their family back together. She says that she was already on her own, which he denies. Tabitha says that he got to throw himself into his work and wasn’t there while the kids woke up crying or sat in Thomas’s room staring at his toys. She says that he’s upset because he had to take care of the kids while she was gone for a few days, but she took care of them for a year while he was off doing God knows what. He screams at her she’s wrong, and then the monsters outside start screeching. He leaves to go downstairs and slams the door.

Tabitha is looking at papers at the table when Julie comes in asking where her father is. Tabitha tells her that he went to the lake with some people to get the rest of the food and he’s coming back tomorrow. She says to go tell her brother she’s making breakfast. Julie questions that’s why he left and that it has nothing to do with the screaming match she heard. Her mother apologizes for her hearing, and Julie says she’s pretty sure Colony House heard. Her mother tries to talk to her, but she just says she’s heard it before and at least some things are getting back to normal and that she’ll get Ethan. She leaves.

At the bar, Jade is talking to Boyd about what he thinks he figured out. He has the numbers from the bottles pinned on the wall. Boyd questions he thinks it’s a code. He says or it could be an algorithm; he doesn’t know. What they do know is that Tabitha got pushed out of the lighthouse in the woods and somehow ended up in Maine, which is impossible, unless she experienced some kind of quantum event or wormhole or any number of theoretical events that would allow her to get from the lighthouse to Maine. He then theorizes that the lighthouse could occupy the same space as the place in Maine and that maybe it’s not a wormhole so much as a dimensional rift. He starts to explain how they are different, that a wormhole is a shortcut through space and time, but Boyd stops him. He says that he thought he had something exciting to show him, and it’s clear Jade thinks it is exciting. He tells Boyd that he understands why he might be skeptical but that something tells him that it has to mean something. According to Tabitha, the bottle tree was important to Miranda, who is the only one who had a connection to the town before she got there. Boyd asks him if he looked at the bottles in the other tree, but Jade didn’t know about it. Boyd tells him about finding it and that it didn’t have a portal but did have bottles. He pulled one down, and the paper inside said 1864. Jade pulls the same number off of the wall and asks him where it’s at.

Henry is looking at the big toy car in Victor’s room when he comes in. He tells his son he figured he’d wait for him. Victor talks about the car that belonged to Mrs. Davis. She bought it for her son who was really sick because she thought it would make him smile, but she saw the tree before she ever got home. Henry says that maybe Victor could show him around the town, but he says he has something important to do. Henry asks if he can tag along, but he doesn’t think it’s a good idea as it’s dangerous and he doesn’t want him to get hurt. He tells his father though that he can walk with him for a bit on the way. He says he would like that, and they leave.

Kenny gives Marielle the last of the supplies from the ambulance. She thanks him and tells him to go home and get some rest.

Outside, Kenny is stopped by Boyd who asks him if he’s all right. He says he is but doesn’t want to talk.

Boyd goes into the clinic. Randal is moaning, and he watches him, unsure if he should go all the way in. He eventually turns around to leave but is stopped by Kristi who tells him that the ambulance was stocked, and there was a portable ultrasound. She tells him to tell Fatima to come by to look at her baby. He says he will and asks her not to mention to Randall he stopped by. She agrees.

In their room at Colony House, Ellis tells Fatima that they have to go to see Kristi, that there has to be some kind of medical explanation for what’s happening. She doesn’t want to and says she doesn’t want everyone looking at her like he is, like he’s afraid of her. Ellis says that he’s not and whatever is happening isn’t her fault. He just wants to help her. She says that maybe it will go away on its own.

Boyd knocks on their door saying he has some good news. Ellis tells her that he’s scared too but they can’t do it alone. They tell Boyd to come in.

Donna is putting bricks and chunks of concrete in the pool in front of where Dale’s body is when Tabitha comes up and says she is sorry about what happened. She asks if they were close. She says he was a pain in her ass for almost two years but had some good moments. Donna says he would have loved this, her hauling the stones around town. The only thing he would have liked better is if she left him there to rot so he could ruin everyone’s breakfast. Tabitha says she was there when he went through, and he was only trying to help. Donna says she’s sure he had a shitty remark on the way out. She asks if Tabitha is ok and says she knows the meeting couldn’t have been easy. Tabitha says she feels like everyone expects her to have all the answers and she feels like she let everyone and her family down. Donna says that her family thought she was dead. They don’t need answers; they just needed her back. Tabitha asks what if they were right and she wasted the only opportunity they will get. Donna says that Dale went through the same tree and that could have been her. She says not to try to be a hero and go spend time with her kids because she’s lucky to be there still, not to take it for granted. Tabitha hugs her and says she’s sorry about her friend. Donna is clearly still affected by what happened.

Victor and Henry are walking through the woods. He questions that Victor wants to go into the tunnels where the creatures live. Victor says he has to, as there is something down there that will save everyone. They arrive at the tunnels, and he tells his father he should go, but Henry says he’s going with him. He just got his son back he isn’t losing him again. If he is doing it, they are going together. Victor reluctantly agrees. He pulls out a tin of toy soldiers to use so they don’t get lost, like breadcrumbs. He tells him to follow close and to be very quiet. They enter the cave.

Ellis says that they’ve seen things there that don’t make sense and that maybe the cravings are just the effect the place has on pregnancies, and it doesn’t have to mean something is wrong with the baby. Boyd tells them about the ultrasound machine, which is what he came to tell them. Fatima doesn’t want to go. Ellis asks him to give them a second and Boyd goes out. Ellis tells her that they can’t just hope that it gets better. She says she just wants the baby to be okay.

Randall is awake. Marielle comes over to change his bandages. She needs to make sure there’s no infection. He’s rude to her as always. She takes off the bandages. She says that there is no sign of infection, and the stitches are holding, but there will be bruising and discomfort. He says he wants to see it, so she gets him a mirror. He asks her to give him a minute, which she does, and then he looks at his reflection.

Kenny pulls out drawers in the kitchen looking for something. He goes outside to find Julie smoking pot. She asks him not to tell her parents and he agrees. She asks if he wants some and he says not to push it. He asks her if she knows where the screwdriver is that his mother always kept in the junk drawer. Julie says that her dad gets fidgety when he’s nervous and probably just moved stuff around. She realizes why he is upset and says that with her mom being gone he probably didn’t think about it. Kenny tells her it’s fine and not a big deal. He goes back inside and stops at his parents’ memorial altars.

In the cave, Victor places toy soldiers on the ground as they move through the tunnels. Victor says that Jasper should be there, but he doesn’t see it. The whole chamber was full and now it’s not. Henry says that maybe they took a wrong turn. Victor says that Jasper was sitting there and a cloak and a wheelchair and that the bad things were there sleeping. Henry says they should go back so he can get his bearings, but Victor says he knows where they are and that they need to go deeper. They can’t leave without Jasper; it’s important. They continue on.

Ellis comes out of Colony House and says Fatima’s coming, she just needs a minute. Elgin is taking photos with the Polaroid camera as Fatima comes down the stairs and takes one of her. He tells her he’s putting together a photo album, a collage on the wall. She pretty much ignores him and heads outside. She tells Ellis that she doesn’t want to say anything to Kristi until they have to, and he agrees. She asks Boyd if he’s coming, and he says he’ll do whatever they need.

Jade finds the bottle tree. Tom, the dead bartender appears cleaning a glass. He says that it’s ironic, a drunk is looking for answers in a tree filled with bottles. Jade just asks him why he’s wiping the glass and he says, “a man does what a man does.” He questions that Jade thinks the tree will tell him anything. Jade says that he thinks the place has a design and nothing is there by accident. Tom says that maybe that is his problem. He asks what he means. He says that nature has a design, and that is not nature. It’s just something somebody put there. It might mean something or maybe it’s something someone made because they thought it meant something, maybe someone like him just looking for answers trying to figure things out. Tom comments that he’s standing there puzzling over it like it’s a part of the original design. Jade says that Miranda had visions of this place and the trees, and you don’t have visions that don’t mean anything. Tom questions about what he sees: the civil war soldier, the guy crushed by the rock in the root cellar. Jade says they are completely different. When he asks how, Jade says he doesn’t know; maybe it’s a waste of time. Tom asks if he’s mad, and says he should work on that, because the Jade that built a multimillion-dollar company when everyone said he shouldn’t, that guy had thicker skin. He tells Jade if he wants to beat the place maybe he should sober up and give that guy a call. Tom is gone when he looks back.

Ethan is looking at Tian Chen’s book when Tabitha comes in the kitchen. She asks him where his sister is. He says she went for a walk. He asks her if she thinks Tian Chen is with her husband, and Tabitha says she hopes so. He asks if she thinks they were happy when they got married. She tells him that she’s sorry he heard she and Jim fight and that they are trying to do their best for the family. He says he liked it better when they first got there, because everyone was too busy being scared to be angry, and he wishes it could be like that again. Ethan asks what Jade is doing at the bar and if that’s what they were fighting over. She tells him Jade is trying to figure out a puzzle.

Tabitha hears noises upstairs and goes to investigate. She sees two of the creepy children upstairs say saying “ankhooey.” She tells them she tried to help them. Another one starts up the stairs, and she cowers in the stairwell. Ethan hears her yelling and comes up. They disappear. She tells him she’s okay. They go outside.

Donna is still working with the rocks when Kenny comes over. He says it’s nice she’s doing it. She says Dale would have hated it and asked if all he gets is a pile of rocks. Kenny comes down in the empty pool and says it’s not just rocks; it’s dignity. Everyone deserves that. She agrees. She tells him he doesn’t have to be there; he’s already been through enough. Kenny says he was wondering if she had some extra space at Colony House for him. He says that his mother is the only thing that ever made the house feel like a home and that it was meant for a family; she’d want the Matthews to have it. She tells him they always have room for him. He questions if they are still throwing the sex parties, and she laughs and tells him to pack his stuff before she changes her mind.

Jade is in the bar still working on the numbers when Tabitha and Ethan come in. She told Ethan he could help with the puzzle. Jade agrees. He says that there’s a second bottle tree and not only that, but the messages in the bottles are the same between the two trees. The placement is different and the numbers on the second tree are written out in cursive, but if you line them up side by side they are the same, and some of them repeat. He doesn’t know what it means, but he is optimistic somewhere in the dates is a number, a key, to something they need to understand. He asks Ethan if he wants to help him find it.

Marielle tells Randall that he needs to apply the antibiotic cream every time he changes the bandages. He’s rude again. She gives him the cream and bandages. He asks why she’s pretending she is okay. He doesn’t mean about Nicky, but rather about what happened to the two of them and Julie. She tells him just to make sure he changes the bandages. Randall says that she can pretend all she wants, but she was there the same as him, and he asks her what if it’s not over. She starts to say that whatever happened to them wasn’t real, and he asks her what real is anymore. Randall says it has to be easy for her there: she has someone to sleep next to every night, and she can pretend she’s okay. It’s not like that on the bus; he doesn’t get to pretend, and it’s terrifying. She tells him not to go back to the bus then; they have room there. She says that no one there has to be alone and that she will talk to Kristi.

Henry and Victor continue deeper into the cave. Henry tries to get Victor to leave, but he won’t. They find what he is looking for and go into an open area that has a table set up with Jasper sitting there. There is also a creature asleep on the floor. Victor takes Jasper and puts it into his bag. He goes to leave, but Henry sees Miranda’s scarf on the table and takes it, getting upset. The creature starts to wake up, so he silences his father. Suddenly one of the female creature who looks human tells Victor that if he keeps coming down there one of those days they’ll make them stay. Victor and his father run out.

Julie comes up as Randall is taking his stuff from the bus and she asks if he’s moving out. He tells her Marielle said he could stay at the clinic. He also says when she asks how Marielle is doing that she’s acting like nothing ever happened. He asks how she is doing. Julie says that she gets stoned a lot, because it helps. Randall asks if she has any on her, which she does.

Victor helps his father up into the truck to try to calm him down. Henry asks why they had his mother’s scarf. Victor says that he doesn’t know; they like to take things, and he doesn’t know why. Henry asks him what the place is, and he says it’s somewhere he comes when it gets too loud sometimes. He used to hide there before the people came. Henry gets upset, but Victor tells him everything is okay now that they found Jasper, and they can save people. He tells his father that Jasper knows things. He takes him out and sits him on the table. Victor says that he heard Jasper tell Christopher a story about the place once, and they have to make him tell it again. Henry tells him that it’s a toy. Victor just says that they will make him tell it again.

Back at the clinic, Kristi is ready to do an ultrasound on Fatima, assisted by Marielle. She starts the ultrasound, but her uterus is empty. She tells Fatima that she’s not pregnant. Fatima says that that is impossible and to keep looking. She starts freaking out, and Kristi says she’ll do it again and explains the image to her and shows her where the baby is supposed to be. Fatima says there is something inside her and she needs them to find it. Marielle says there is nowhere else to look. Ellis says that she needs to tell them.

Elgin is hanging up the Polaroids on a string across the room. He picks up the one of Fatima and sees the kimono woman in it behind her. Suddenly she is there with him and tells him to help her, and she can save him; she can save all of them. She says she can help him go back home. Suddenly Clara is there and asks if he is all right. The woman has vanished. He tells her he’s fine. She just says she likes the collage and leaves. The picture of Fatima is back to normal when he looks again.

Jade talks about the fact that some of the numbers repeat means there is a pattern somewhere. Ethan says that the two on the one paper is backwards. Jade says it’s the same with the number seven: they are only backwards sometimes. Ethan asks why, but he doesn’t know. He tells him that if they figure out the pattern, they can figure out the shape. Jade goes over to talk to Tabitha. He tells her that whatever the kids are, they aren’t going to hurt her; they want her help. She says she’s basing that on something a dead woman saw in a vision forty years ago.

She suddenly notices his drawings of the scarecrow things on the table and asks what it is. He tells her they are wards scattered around the settlement and that he’s guessing they are protective. Tabitha has a memory of herself as a child shown in flashback form. He asks what’s wrong. She says, “three red stones,” and another flashback is shown of a little girl among three big stones covered in what could be red paint or blood. A tear running down her face, she asks if he saw three big red stones in a circle. She remembers hiding behind one and then screaming. She gets upset and tells him that when she was a little girl, she would have the same nightmare over and over. It wasn’t just Miranda. She saw this place too, but she just didn’t know it.