The Mirror

Though Sonya now thinks of Maine as home, she is overjoyed to visit her mother Winter in Boston. The next day, Sonya dresses with care, hoping to project a combination of femininity and strength. At Ryder’s office, she runs into her ex-fiancé Brandon. He insinuates that the only reason Sonya got a chance to pitch to Ryder is because their former boss put in a good word. Sonya ignores him, and Brandon refers to her as a “bitch.” Brandon’s ambush fills Sonya with a renewed sense of purpose, and with Cleo assisting her, she gives a great presentation.

Trey brings the pets back to the manor, and Owen joins him. Trey tells Owen that Dobbs has been ringing the doorbell since he returned, enraged that there are people in the house again.

Sonya and Cleo discuss their party with Winter, who promises to come with Sonya’s aunt Summer and both sets of Sonya’s grandparents. The next day, Sonya and Cleo head back to Maine. To capture the beautiful day at the manor, Cleo suggests she and Sonya paint. Sonya captures the manor and its trees in the light, happy with her work.

Later, Owen and Trey join them, and Sonya recounts the story of her encounter with Brandon. When Cleo and Owen are alone, she asks him what his first thought was when he heard Brandon swear at Sonya. Owen responds that he wanted to go to Boston and beat up Brandon. Cleo likes his answer and invites Owen to her room.

At 1:00 am, the doorbells and smoke alarms go off. The friends race out of their rooms and notice that the Gold Room doors are open and the room is empty. Sonya senses a chilly presence behind her, and a voice whispers that death lives at the manor. The Gold Room shuts. Cleo thinks Dobbs acted up because she and Owen slept together; their bodily pleasure reminded her that she had no body to enjoy the sensory world.

The next morning, Sonya learns that she got the Ryder account, and she and Cleo celebrate. Sonya teases Cleo about Owen, and Cleo tells her that she took her time to begin a romance with Owen, because she did not want to ruin her friendship with him. Now, however, she knows that she, Sonya, Trey, and Owen are family. That night, the four friends meet for dinner to celebrate Sonya’s success. When they return to the manor, they catch a glimpse of Clover and Jack, the little boy who plays with Yoda, dancing to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” before the spirits vanish. It is obvious they were having a party with the animals. Sonya laughs in delight. She and the others also dance.

As May proceeds, Cleo and Sonya plant flowers and herbs in the manor gardens. On a particularly productive day, Sonya feels happy they are filling the manor with life. She goes into the kitchen to pack for a garden picnic and hears the dumbwaiter hum in the pantry. Assuming Molly has sent over serving dishes, Sonya opens the dumbwaiter. She sees a huge black rat, and Dobbs laughs upstairs. Sonya screams, and Cleo rushes in to pull her away.

Sonya takes Yoda for a walk in the woods, hoping to calm herself. Deep in the woods, she comes upon the mirror. Shocked to see the mirror placed here, Sonya asks Yoda to stay and enters the mirror.

The year is 1805, and Sonya is seeing things through Arthur Poole’s perspective. Arthur is riding in the woods, content with his life. When he migrated to Maine from England, he was an impoverished boy, and now he’s built a thriving shipbuilding business and a beautiful manor. His older twin son, Collin, is set to marry Astrid Granville, and Arthur fondly thinks of the grandchildren he may soon have.

Hester Dobbs steps into Arthur’s path. He recognizes her as a witch and asks her to leave. Dobbs tells Arthur that Collin and Poole Manor belong to her. She slept with Collin after tricking him into drinking a sleeping draught. Enraged, Arthur tells Dobbs that he’ll ensure she leaves Poole’s Bay.

Dobbs replies that Arthur controls nothing—it is she who summons the wind in this place. She raises her arms, makes a wringing motion, and chants a spell. Arthur’s neck breaks, and he falls from his horse, dead. Dobbs turns to leave but senses Sonya’s presence and stops. She says the number seven has come unbidden to her mind, perhaps because it is a number of power. When Dobbs finally departs, Sonya tells the dead Arthur that just as he stood up for his son, she will stand up for him and his family.

Sonya steps out of the mirror and returns to the house to discuss what she saw with the others. Until now, no one knew Arthur’s death was a murder—it was believed he died in a riding accident. Sonya wonders if she gave the number seven to Dobbs. Perhaps she thought of the seven brides and Dobbs sensed her thoughts. Owen tells Sonya that they will find a way to hurt Dobbs just like Dobbs hurt their family.

Sonya’s and Cleo’s parents and grandparents arrive at the manor the day before the party. Sonya meets Imogene, Cleo’s grandmother, for the first time. Imogene tells Sonya and Cleo that their house is strong but holds a greedy evil force. The presence feeds on fear, so they must starve it. She gives Cleo a chain with three black stones for protection.

Sonya’s grandmother Martha seems apprehensive, and Sonya understands it is because she now knows the full story of Drew’s origins and separation from Collin. Sonya takes Martha to the music room and shows her Clover’s portrait. Martha decides to sit in the room by herself so she can speak to Clover. Martha talks aloud about Drew’s childhood and how much she and John always loved him. After Martha finishes, Clover plays Alanis Morisette’s “Thank You” on her phone.

As Trey’s mother Corinne predicted, nearly 300 guests show up at the party. It is a huge success filled with good food, wine, and music. Afterward, Winter tells Sonya she saw a man in a leather armchair smoking a cigar. Imogene saw Jack and Clover and many other spirits, but she also saw Dobbs, seething with rage. She tells Sonya and Cleo to get a good night’s sleep, as the protection from the party’s goodwill won’t hold for long.

The next morning, Imogene gives Sonya an amethyst obelisk for protection. She tells Sonya that the manor is on her side. Imogene and Cleo’s parents say goodbye and head to New Orleans. Before she leaves, Winter has a talk with Trey, asking him to look out for Sonya.

Sonya feels the familiar pull of the mirror, and this time, she finds it propped up in Cleo’s studio. She enters it and watches Collin paint a picture. His resemblance to her father breaks Sonya’s heart. Johanna enters the room and tells Collin that she is pregnant. He is ecstatic, but she asks him not to tell anyone about her pregnancy until after their wedding. Collin promises that he won’t tell a soul till Johanna says it is okay.

Sonya comes out of the mirror. The closet doors open, and inside, she finds a portrait of Marianne, the third lost bride. Marianne died in childbirth, delivering the twins Owen and Jane. Downstairs, Sonya sees a note written in a child’s cursive, stating he gave the dogs cookies, and realizes it is from Jack. Overwhelmed, Sonya finally breaks down in tears when Trey arrives at the manor. She tells the others that Collin never told anyone Johanna was pregnant—he’d kept that secret for the rest of his life.

Cleo launches the boat Owen built her, The Siren, on a Saturday morning. The friends all enjoy the day on the boat, but at 3:00 am that night, Sonya again wakes up to feel the mirror’s pull. She finds it in the entrance hall. The others join her, and Trey tells Sonya she doesn’t need to enter, but she tells him she must.

Owen joins Sonya, and they step into 1995. The perspective is Johanna’s, just wedded to Collin. She goes upstairs to take off her uncomfortable heels, and on her way back to the party, she spots a strange woman on the stairs. The woman grabs Johanna’s hand and yanks off her wedding ring. Johanna recalls the stories about an evil spirit in the manor and runs down the stairs. Something grips her neck, and Johanna’s body tumbles down the stairs.

Dobbs laughs in delight as she wears all seven rings. She opens the doors, and the wedding guests rush in and see Johanna dead. As screams fill the hall, Dobbs turns to Sonya and says that she feels her presence, but Sonya is too late to save Johanna. Owen and Sonya step out of the mirror, shaking in rage and horror. Cleo goes to get them water, and they hear her shriek and drop the glasses. They rush out and see Astrid’s Collin hanging from a rope, Astrid dead at his feet. All the dead of the manor appear with them, their weeping filling the house.