Finally, the cadet units got to see what they could do under live fire.

The cadets faced both their final training exercise and their first live-action on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1 Episode 8.

That, plus the Bellweather Unit got to work out intrasquad tension all in the course of one episode.

At least that secret that Tally has been carrying for the past three episodes came out in the open really early on.

What a sneaky way was disclosed. Tally got injured on the salva jump from the chopper, and Raelle did what came naturally, attempting to heal her.

That's how Raelle learned why Scylla had disappeared after the Bellweather wedding: Her unit mate had tattled on Scylla to Anacostia.

That was great: the unit mate that Raelle got along with was the one who betrayed her, even if it was for her own good.

Just what the Bellweather Unit needed when heading into Citydrop, the final training exercise which would determine their next destination: going to War College or becoming war meat.

Naturally, neither Raelle nor Tally could let go of their disagreement long enough to get through Citydrop.

Instead, Tally insisted on explaining her actions when Raelle was in no mood to listen.

No wonder they tussled and set off a sound-plague boobytrap. Their heads just weren't in the game.

Abigail, on the other hand, was in her moment, eager to show off what she and her unit could do.

If, say, the other two weren't squabbling.

And, thanks for Tally's following Anacostia's orders, Abigail had no clue why there was suddenly tension between Tally and Raelle.

After the sound plague set Abigail's preordained future plans back a notch, Tally finally fessed up to what had happened.

Which, of course, made Abigail pissed off at Raelle for bringing a Spree to her cousin's wedding on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1 Episode 5.

That was certainly understandable since Spree assassins killed Abigail's favorite cousin, Charvel.

But that only made Raelle mad with both of her teammates, because she couldn't bring herself to believe that Scylla was Spree, at least not yet.

Citydrop itself was kind of a letdown.

First, the units had to avoid some boobytraps the evaluators had set up for them to avoid, or in the case of the Bellweather Unit, crash right into it.

It was not a stellar start by any measure.

The trio started coming together again by, of course, breaking protocol instead of resting after getting covered with sound plague.

Raelle chose the always wise approach of confronting the Sphinx-like Anacostia to find out more about Scylla.

But instead, she found Lt. Helen Graves, with whom she thought she had served guard duty back on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1 Episode 2.

Only Helen had no idea who Raelle was, and sent her back to her unit, as dysfunctional as they were.

To their credit, Tally and Abigail broke curfew to back Raelle's bad play. Only they got jumped by two evaluators who decided to test them.

And barely lived to regret it, as Tally and especially the berserker Abigail beat the crap out of them. 

Then they got reprimanded for it, for being too rough, which makes no sense. Think the Spree would cut them any slack in battle?

But that seemed to do the trick, as the trio began to work together better in the next exercise. In fact, all the cadets were becoming a team (even Abigail and Libba, of all people).

Raelle finally began to question what she knew, especially after she was grilled by Helen and Anacostia. It became clear to her that she was a target wanted by the Spree.

Now, about that fiasco when Alder's forces attacked the Spree armory that Anacostia pulled out of Scylla's mind on Motherland: Fort Salem Season 1 Episode 7.

Tally can't be the only scryer that Alder has. The brain trust was monitoring the attack by scrying.

So why wasn't there a scryer with that assault force, who could take a peek inside before they blundered inside and set off that explosive boobytrap?

Supposedly they had done a recon of some sort before the assault, but not that effectively apparently.

Fortunately, Alder determined that the Spree weapons had been aboard those two trucks that left before the assault, and Izadora was able to track those.

(Doesn't this Army have drones for surveillance? Why waste magic when technology would do the trick?)

Wasn't it lucky that the cadets on their Citydrop were close enough to be sent into action to stop the attack?

Alder's generals thought it was a bad idea, and so did Anacostia. So naturally, Alder went ahead with it.

The upshot of that showdown was that the Bellweather Unit was changed by their first taste of action.

First, that Spree made a mistake taking on Scylla's form when confronting Raelle, who took her betrayal out on her.

For all Abigail bitched at Libba, she truly felt Libba's death, her first taste of loss during battle. It was timely for Adil to show up to comfort her.

Finally, Tally saw through Alder's lies, which led to the civilian deaths, as did the disillusioned Anacostia.

Alder's spin on events made their valiant efforts seem that much less honorable.

To follow the war against the Spree, watch Motherland: Fort Salem online.

Did Raelle get over Scylla to quickly?

Has Tally become more realistic?

Is Abigail less jingoistic?

Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.