The season premiere of Mohawk Girls, created and directed by Tracey Deer and written by Cynthia Knight, picks up one week after last season’s finale. As the title “Apologies Week” suggests, this week is all about making amends for the multiple transgressions committed by our favourite four Mohawk ladies.

Right away we learn that yes indeed Caitlin went through with her planned abortion. That question now out of the way, the rest of the episode can focus on all of the apologies. The town apologizes to Caitlin, Anna apologizes to Thunder, Bailey apologizes to Thunder, Zoe apologizes to Caitlin, Zoe apologizes to Lollipop, Butterhead apologizes to Caitlin— sort of. It seems everyone is apologizing to or for someone or something. However, the unspoken apology is left to Caitlin, but I will get to that later.

This week Zoe (Brittany LeBorgne) finally begins to atone for her meltdown that occurred in last season’s episode entitled Bridesmaidzilla. Lollipop (Devery Jacobs) has decided that the all too perfect Zoe must submit to her every desire, which includes such demeaning acts as bathroom scrubbing and an emergency pedicure. Zoe attends to this new master whilst “aching to serve” her new Dom played by Kyle Switzer. Speaking of her new Dom, we catch another glimpse of Zoe’s new game playing playmate as Zoe takes one more step into her world of kink.

Bailey (Jennifer Pudavick), clearly tired being the good girl who follows the rules, has yet another confrontation with her father Sose (Glen Gould) and Auntie Velma (Ashley Michaels) regarding her rebellious behaviour. As a result, Bailey again looks for love in the wrong places and settles—this time with newlywed Trumpet (played by Kevin Loring)—as she reminisces about her one night stand, with  the aid of Trumpet’s sexting. We see Bailey attempting to do the right thing by avoiding a  married man, but by the episode’s close it seems clear that resistance, at least for now, is futile.

Fish-out-of-water Anna (Maika Harper) spends this episode picking up the pieces of her shocking Blood Quantum reveal. The entire town now knows she is not the critical 50% Mohawk blood that guarantees your position at Kahnawa:ke, and Anna starts this season right back where she was in the series premiere last season. However, instead of the hopeful and lively Anna we are so accustomed to seeing embark on  new adventures at Kahnawa:ke, we see a woman grieving the loss of her newly won acceptance, not to mention her fear of losing Thunder.

Anna seeks out advice from her surrogate father figure Sose who supplies our lesson on Mohawk culture. We are told by Sose that “Blood Quantum was a white system imposed on our people. It is not our way”. He suggests to Anna that “there are other ways to connect with our culture and feel you belong here” and that she should not give up so easily. Anna apologizes to “Be Still my Beating Heart Thunder” (Kyle Nobess) and he reassures that it is difficult to stay angry with her. It seems Team Thana might live to see another day.

And finally we come to Caitlin (Heather White). Now that we know she deliberately ended her pregnancy, we are left to live through her consequences. Caitlin is in a world of hurt; filled with guilt and shame. Zoe apologizes to her for not being present for the procedure as she had promised and for telling the other girls of Caitlin’s secret. Caitlin continues to battle guilt and fear, using that guilt to justify settling for a man like Butterhead in order to quell her long held fears of being alone.

Caitlin however, is not impressed with Butterhead’s boyfriend behaviours. In a last ditch attempt to turn Blockheaded Butterhead into her Warrior, Caitlin agrees to school him in the art of being a good boyfriend. Alas, the blockhead fails and after a heart to heart with Butterhead’s baby mama Mean Girl Vickie (Rachelle White Wind), Caitlin gains the strength to forgive herself and finds the courage to leave Butterhead.

Hat Tip to Tracey Deer and Cynthia Knight for tackling such a contentious and often times polarizing decision with such grace, and also to Heather White for once again playing Caitlin with so much honesty.

So what is next for our ladies now that the apologies have been made and everyone seems to be back in each others good graces? How long can Bailey enjoy an affair with a married man? Will Caitlin continue on her journey to healing? Now that Anna is forgiven by Thunder, can Tulip forgive her too? Let me know in the comments below.

Written by Carolyn Potts

… And reaching the penultimate episode of the season, Tracey Deer (creator, executive producer) and Cynthia Knight (executive producer) provide us viewers with a solid episode entitled “Bridesmaidzilla.” We start this installment with Zoe (Brittany Leborgne) now questioning her own mental health. She is still caught between a need to maintain her controlled good girl persona and the desire to let loose and submit. Her distress has now reached a point that she has sought the help of a counselor, albeit for a VERY short session.

Before we jump into the festivities celebrating Lollipop (Devery Jacobs) and Trumpet’s (Kevin Loring) impending nuptials, we are given what I call “the lesson of the week” for non-First Nations viewers. First we visit Anna (Maika Harper) at the university studying with a couple of her “white” classmates. As we have seen before, Anna is caught between cultures. She now represents the “Mohawks” instead of the “white girl with brown skin,” and she is now defending the very people who deny her her “Mohawk-ness.” This suggests an authenticity no doubt many people of mixed race can relate to. Anna again addresses a few of the more commonly held stereotypes of First Nations culture (the “rez” is scary, the oft times misconstrued history of scalping, and the need for FNMI people to “get over it and move on”). Then we pop in on Bailey (Jennifer Pudavick) who is out on yet another first date. This week’s challenger for the right to be Bailey’s prince is Rashid (Fajir Al-Kaisi), the gentleman she met speed dating during “Dating Mohawk Style” who is, ironically, from India. Deer and Knight also use this setting to briefly touch on a few more stereotypes: the despair commonly associated with life on the reserve, and the myth surrounding FNMI predisposition for alcoholism. By the way, Rashid fails to measure up. Bring on the next contestant!

Meanwhile, Lawrence Bayne returns as Caitlin’s father flying in from Stoney to attend Lollipop and Trumpet’s wedding. He has, it turns out, been in town for a couple days enjoying the bachelor parties and has not bothered to contact his only daughter Caitlin (Heather White). Caitlin’s disappointment in her father is once again clearly visible (I have to say that Heather White has, over the course of this premiere season, owned the most complexly crafted character of the show. Ms. White has this remarkable ability to suggest a bevy of emotions with a single glance that I feel many actors lack).

Finally the ceremony begins just in time for Zoe’s alter ego, Bridesmaidzilla, to take control. Her commanding nature sets the scene for the comic conflicts that so often occur at large family events. We have up until now only explored Zoe’s identity as a newly realized submissive. Now we finally come to realize why it is so hard for her to submit to this trait (I know, a bad pun). Zoe spends her time herding wedding guests throughout the festivities to ensure the perfectly orchestrated wedding. Sadly, her hard work is overshadowed by her need to control, and the wedding guests revolt against her bitchiness.

We return for a final look at Caitlin, once again left to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. She is caught between her need to be loved, and the men in her life that seem incapable of giving her that love. Both her father and Butterhead (Meegwun Fairbrother) choose to continue their poker game, leaving Caitlin and Butterhead’s daughter (Kahsennonkwas Luna Berry Deer-Toelle) to dance the father-daughter dance together. Once again we can see Caitlin put aside her heartbreak and do her best, this time for the little girl she recognises in herself who was all too often disappointed by her father.

Meanwhile, Anna, who has been taunted all evening by yet another gaggle of competitive women vying for Thunder’s attention, decides to forgo her three-month waiting period. Team #Thana sneak off to do the deed.

We conclude with Zoe’s/Bridesmaidzilla’s meltdown. She explodes from the pressure her public and oh so proper, face has created. Unable to enjoy any part of the evening, she lashes out at the guests she tried so hard to please yet again. Regrettably, this devolves into the now cliché food-fight so often relied on for comic relief in these tension filled moments. It does however fit the storyline, and is appropriate for Zoe to do so, but I feel this bit was both predictable and ultimately detracted from an otherwise strong performance.

So, tell me what you think. Will Anna regret her impulsive decision to sleep with Thunder? How will Zoe recover from her public melt down? How will Caitlin cope with the betrayal of both of her men? Let me know in the comments.

Mohawk Girls airs Tuesdays at 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET on APTN.