How To Hang A Witch

It is 2:27 am, and Sam is woken by Susannah, who is tapping on her window. Things have gotten worse. Susannah's sister has been admitted to the hospital, and Lizzie's brother and cousin got in a car accident; one of them has died. Alice's uncle has had a heart attack. Susannah says she knows Sam isn't as bad as Lizzie thinks: Susannah’s skill is reading people. She warns Sam that Lizzie is coming after her, as she blames Sam for everything that's happening. Susannah asks her to meet her in the woods behind the Walgreens the next day.

Vivian is already gone the next morning and seems to be avoiding Sam. Elijah and Sam talk about the house in the woods and the nature of death. Sam says she needs to be more accepting about spells and asks if there is an identity-revealing spell they can do on the parchment Elijah found. Elijah thinks it's funny that she's becoming a witch. Sam asks if Elijah's fiancée could still be around, and he thinks there's a large chance that she is. He won't say her name because names have power, but she was a major player in the witch trials. This confirms Sam's belief that his fiancée was named Ann, one of the leaders of the girls who accused people.

Elijah has a spell book for Sam. Sam skims it and finds something called the Origin Spell, though Elijah cautions her that whoever originally did the spell might know Sam is trying to find them. Sam thinks they must risk it. Elijah does not think his fiancée is behind it since the dead can't conjure. The list of ingredients is intimidating, and Sam asks Mrs. Meriwether for help. Sam is warmly greeted by Mrs. Meriweather, who says all the ingredients are local plants. Sam confesses it's a spell, and Mrs. Meriwether is cheerful and nonjudgmental: She and Sam's father used to do the same thing when they were kids. They put the ingredients together when Jaxon comes in, shocked by what they're doing. He says he's worried because people thought his mom was dangerous before when she hung out with Sam's grandmother. Mrs. Meriwether stands up for Sam's grandmother, but Jaxon tells Sam that she's right when she says she hurts the people around her. Mrs. Meriwether tells Sam to let Jaxon process. They continue to put all the ingredients together and put some potion on the parchment. The red potion makes the shape of a feather, and Mrs. Meriwether recognizes the crow woman's symbol. Sam runs next door to tell Elijah that it's his fiancée, but Vivian interrupts, offering to visit Sam's father. Sam says she needs to meet a group at the library and runs away from Vivian, worried that this might destroy their relationship for good.

Elijah explains that Sam has exposed herself as a threat to his fiancée, who might have known where she lived but didn't know that she could do spells. Jaxon interrupts this conversation, and Elijah keeps talking to Sam over Jaxon, who can't hear Elijah. Sam apologizes to Jaxon and wants to clear up misunderstandings, but Elijah tells her there's no time. Jaxon realizes that Sam is talking to Elijah at the same time, and he and Sam quarrel before he walks away. Elijah tells Sam that he doesn’t want her to get hurt. Elijah says that people reported seeing his fiancée throughout the years; she might still somehow be alive. He thinks she's the unknown enemy Cotton was referring to in Sam’s dream. Elijah thinks the curse and his fiancée are the same force. Sam realizes that both Cotton and Elijah's fiancées were part of what caused the witch hysteria, and if they were the ones to start it, they are now the ones to stop it. She also thinks branding a Mather as a witch and making the family responsible for a new set of deaths would be good revenge. They think the way to fix it is to uncover Elijah's fiancée’s lies, but first, they need to know where she is. Elijah is worried about Sam's safety, but Sam says she won't be able to live a happy life unless she breaks the curse. She declares she won't be like her ancestor and sit back to watch things happen. They hear police sirens and leave the sidewalk; Elijah says the police officer is looking for her. They need to get back to Mrs. Meriwether to do a location spell.

Sam and Elijah break into the Meriwether's house, and Jaxon finds them. Despite needing to hurry, Sam tells him that she does care about him but that she needs to sort herself out first. This makes Jaxon relax. She explains to Mrs. Meriwether and Jaxon that she thinks Susannah is next to die and that her dad isn't far behind. Mrs. Meriwether takes them both to the kitchen to work. Sam is convinced Elijah's fiancée is setting Sam up to take the fall for people's deaths because of bad blood between her and Cotton Mather. Mrs. Meriwether confides that the last time she saw Sam’s grandmother, she insisted she had seen the crow woman and was going up to her house. Mrs. Meriwether blames herself for not being able to help and for not believing Sam's grandmother. Elijah makes a basket full of plants appear on the counter, which surprises Mrs. Meriwether, who is thrilled at the evidence that spirits exist. Jaxon also wants to do a spell to help Sam fight, but Sam says she is too inexperienced when it comes to magic. They find a truth serum and decide it's a good option since his fiancée depends on manipulation. Mrs. Meriwether finds a protection spell with a drawing that looks exactly like Vivian's necklace. Mrs. Meriwether said Sam's grandmother had that necklace with her the night she died. Elijah gets it from Vivian's bedroom to help them. Jaxon apologizes to Sam for not understanding what she was going through. The three of them begin to make the potions. The police come to the door looking for Sam.

Jaxon comes back from talking to the officer at the door. The Descendants are missing, and the police think Sam is involved. Elijah can't find them. He reports that the whole town knows they're missing, and it's only a matter of time before there's a search party. Sam imagines of mob outside of her door. Elijah thinks that it's a trap from his fiancée, knowing Sam will come looking for them. They finish the location potion, which reveals that Susannah and the descendants are at the crow woman’s house. There’s another knock at the door, and Mrs. Meriwether goes to answer. After a moment, Jaxon goes and finds his mom slumped against the wall, holding a sleep spell in her hand. Jaxon takes the spell from her and instantly becomes drowsy himself. Sam feels bad but knows she needs them to stay protected while she goes to the house. Elijah helped her plant the sleep spell to keep them safe. Elijah says his fiancée was upset because she couldn't control his love for his sister, and she wanted to be the only person in his world. He said that he could see in her eyes that she was happy his sister was dead. He speculates that they need to take away her sense of control but also expose her fraud in a public way. Elijah suddenly becomes dim and flickers out. Sam knows his fiancée has done something to him.

Sam goes toward the crow woman's house, and when she scratches her cheek, she realizes this is exactly what she saw in her dreams with Cotton Mather. She films on her phone in case she dies. Inside, the wooden table is covered with jars, candles, and bowls, and there's a fire in the fireplace. There are four stools, and the four remaining Descendants are standing with nooses around their necks and eyes closed like they're sleeping. Vivian steps into the room, and Sam is horrified. Sam tries to figure out how to release the girls, but Vivian says if she tries to help, they'll all die. She makes their stools wobble. Vivian confesses to causing the rash and killing John, and she says she will kill the girls and make it look like Sam's fault. Vivian says it's a business arrangement, and Sam has a choice. She asks which girl should hang. Sam remembers that Cotton didn't stand up for the accused women, and she chooses herself. Vivian is appalled that Sam would die for somebody who threw a rock through her window, and Sam realizes that Lizzie was the one who did that. Sam now understands why Vivian moved the family to Salem. Sam asks Vivian how she found the spell to bring Elijah back, and Vivian says it took a long time with a lot of experimenting, during which she broke the barrier to death and gained eternal life. Vivian realized she couldn't bring Elijah back because she wasn't the full cause of his death: She needs Sam, whose ancestor was part of the cause, to help bring him back to life. Sam understands Vivian probably tried other Mathers, like Sam's grandmother and even her father, but couldn't get either of them to do it willingly. Vivian cuts Sam's hand and puts her blood in a bowl. Sam puts the protection necklace under the edge of the book on the table as Vivian pours. She makes a circle around a noose. The other girls see what Sam is doing and try to distract Vivian by asking questions. When Sam says she wants to change her mind and not be a willing participant, Vivian threatens to torture her father. Vivian begins to chant and her appearance changes. She no longer looks like Vivian but like her earlier form as Ann, who looks both stunning and vicious.

Everyone is shocked by her change of appearance. Elijah appears inside the circle. Vivian is pleased that Sam can see him and says she wishes she was able to see spirits too. Elijah can't move out of the circle and tells Sam to leave, but Sam won't go without helping him. Vivian takes Sam’s hands and ties them behind her back. She makes Sam get on the stool. Vivian drags something in a gray blanket toward them while Elijah takes the potion bottle out of Sam’s jacket pocket and puts it in her hand. Vivian puts the noose over Sam’s head and mixes more things in a bowl. Elijah loosens the rope around Sam’s wrists. Vivian magically removes the stool but instead of hanging, Elijah holds Sam up just enough that she only looks like she's starting to hang. Vivian starts to chant, and Elijah flickers. A skeleton sits up from the blanket and moves toward Elijah, fitting into his body and revealing that Elijah is holding Sam up.

Vivian is furious and tries to complete the spell, but nothing happens. She finds the protection necklace under the book and throws it away. Elijah lifts Sam out of the noose, and she runs toward Vivian, throwing the truth potion on her. The potion splashes over them, and Vivian’s appearance becomes streaks of both young and old as the potion works in some places but not others. It's working on Sam in the same way, and they both begin to blurt out things they don't want to. Sam asks Vivian why she is using all the Descendants when just one would have lured Sam there. Sam realizes the pattern of Descendant deaths every century is Vivian thinking she's perfected the spell to bring back Elijah.

Sam tries to save Alice, whom Vivian is torturing, and Vivian is furious that Sam chooses them over her. Elijah tells Sam that she needs to focus and that she is powerful even if she doesn't think so. Vivian is jealous of the way Elijah looks at Sam. Vivian wonders if the spell she used to kill Sam's mother gave Sam magical abilities and says she'll make sure Sam's father suffers. She says the police will find evidence that Sam killed the girls, and her father will think Sam is a monster before he dies. Sam is determined not to die and let people think of her that way. She tries to push back against Vivian, and Vivian sees Cotton Mather appearing inside Sam and helping push back. Sam throws Vivian's journal and spell book into the fire, and they fight in front of the flames. Sam picks up a poker and hits Vivian in the head. She is about to hit Vivian again, but Vivian says Cotton's name as she looks at Sam, and Sam realizes the inside-out truth spell has brought her ancestor out of her.

As Cotton tries to force her to hit Vivian, Sam forces herself to pause, understanding that killing Vivian will continue the curse. Susannah's stool moves, and Susannah drops. Sam is at war between herself and Cotton, who wants to kill Vivian, while Sam wants to help the Descendants. Sam tells Cotton that Vivian wants to repeat the trials and prove that Sam is like him. Sam sees the four girls hanging and knows what she needs to do. She concentrates on the beam that's holding all of their ropes and pictures at splintering. It works, buckling downward. The girls fall to the ground gasping. In a mix of Sam's and Cotton's voices, she says that Cotton was mistaken in not stopping Vivian 300 years ago, but she won't do the same thing by killing her now. Sam tells Cotton that he and Vivian were bullies, crushing everybody around them. With this, she feels Cotton release his grip. Vivian says she did so much for Sam who has no loyalty, but Cotton answers through Sam's mouth that he's sorry for Vivian's pain, but Sam is not the cause of it. Vivian tries to hit Sam at the poker. Vivian says she got revenge for Sam on the people who hurt her and that no one ever chooses her. Elijah tells her nothing will change unless she makes different choices.

Cotton Mather gets out of Sam and watches Sam hold Vivian as she cries. Sam realizes that all the bad things that happened in her life were because of Vivian either getting revenge or trying to protect her. Cotton tells Sam that she broke the curse because she refused to play out the role that was expected of her. Sam realizes there's no gain in hurting other people. Four accused and killed women rise from the Descendants' bodies and untie the teenagers after helping them up. Cotton tells Sam that he's surprised to find a witch in his own family. He tells Sam she will grow into a powerful woman and warns her not to use power the way he did to label and bully others. A young girl comes out of Vivian's body and walks over to Elijah. She breaks the circle surrounding him with her foot, and Elijah's bones and blood fall out of him. The former Vivian no longer looks angry, and her young face glows. The other witches and Cotton glow and then fade into nothingness. Elijah helps stop the bleeding in Sam's hand and confesses that he loves Sam. She's kind and brave. They kiss. Sam says he doesn't want to go through life without him, and he says that she has her life to lead. Just then, the door flies open, and Jaxon appears. Another beautiful girl appears next to Elijah, and he and his sister reunite. Abigail looks at Sam and calls her the witch of Salem. She says that her father just woke up. Elijah tells Sam he'll always love her, and then disappears with his sister. Jaxon says he's sorry he wasn't there to help, and the Descendants tell him he's lucky he missed out. He asks where the crow woman is, and Sam says that she's gone.

Sam comes downstairs to find Mrs. Meriwether and Jaxon, who have made a huge breakfast. Mrs. Meriwether says it's a meal for four, and Sam's father will be home shortly. Sam tries not to cry and goes to get her father's favorite mug. On her doorstep is a single black-eyed Susan, and even though no one is there, Sam knows that it's from Elijah.