Turn: Washington's Spies S2E8 - "Providence" Recap

Ben and Caleb arrive at the camp to find the carnage left behind by the Queen's Rangers and the false grave of Hewlett, not knowing that Hewlett is still alive. Caleb proposes that they break Abe out of jail themselves. The wounded Simcoe expects that he and his men will find Hewlett's dead body soon enough but Hewlett was resourceful; he hid in the carcass of a cow to survive the harsh cold.

The Americans are still based at Valley Forge and Washington wants to attack New York city based on the intelligence Abe provided about the number of British troops in New York, apparently no more than 3,500, but Washington's rival Charles Lee doesn't know if this is the best move. But Benedict Arnold is hungry to get back out into battle and ready to take lead of this move. But before a decision can be made on pursuing this attack, Washington gets a visit from Lafayette who brings good news; the French have decided to ally themselves with the Americans in the fight against the British. It's cause for a celebration in the camp.

News of this alliance spreads fast, including to Abe in the New York prison and Major André, whose relationship with Peggy is moving along quite nicely. She wants to elope with him to New York. But the loving conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Robert Rogers, who has come to collect his payment for retrieving the stolen intelligence back. He wants his money so he can claim back his freedom and explore the Northwest Passage just as he always wanted. So Major André sends him to the Customs House to get his money.

Benedict Arnold is further angered when he learns that Washington will be sidelining him. Despite Arnold's wishes, Washington will be keeping the injured man benched from further battle. Arnold will be getting a promotion that gives him a position in power in Philadelphia but it's not enough to soothe this burn. This alliance with France would not have been secured without Arnold leading the victory at Saratoga. But Washington has seen the way Arnold has still been showing physical difficulties getting off and on his horse, but Arnold is livid to not be getting another opportunity for glory on the battlefield.

Ben and Caleb make it to the New York prison and Caleb meets with Abe, but Abe doesn't want to be broken out. He wants to keep his cover story intact so that Hewlett can rescue him. But when Abe learns that Hewlett is apparently dead, he considers being broken out before sticking to his resolve. He knows that he can keep making business work in the prison and that the jailer thinks he has some worth. Caleb is upset; he shaved his beard in order to try to rescue Abe. But Abe points him in the direction of Townsend instead, saying that Culper and their spyring is not dead. Abe also suspects that Hewlett may still be alive.

Hewlett was successful in his efforts to get back to Setauket and Abe's wife helps him to recover. She and the Judge are glad to see him again. The Judge refrains from telling him about Abe's imprisonment but Abe's wife insists on telling him about Abe's imprisonment and Hewlett insists that he will write to the jailers and secure Abe's release immediately.

Peggy receives a letter from Arnold, causing André to ask her to stay behind and meet Arnold. The stage is set for André to secure Arnold's treachery but it's starting to look as if André might lose his love on the way. He insists that they may be able to secure her father's blessing if they play this right and that she wouldn't have to lose respectability. If he can turn Arnold, this could cause Mr. Shippen to give his approval, since it could earn André more land and money and thus make him a more suitable match for Peggy. For now, Peggy remains committed to André but we'll see if they can make it out of these last two episodes with their relationship intact.

Simcoe returns to Setauket to deliver the bad news of Hewlett's death to Anna, who is emotional at the news. Simcoe is more than happy to console her in this dire hour but they're interrupted by Hewlett turning up with some of his soldiers for back-up. The two exchange hidden insults and it's unclear how much Anna is able to put together regarding what really took place at the rebel camp. But she's ready to leave with Hewlett so Simcoe is the one left without a thing for today.

Rogers has gone to the Customs House to get his payment but ends up being attacked by four men in masks. Rogers fights off his attackers and turns his attentions to the man who seemed to be in charge of all this but then he learns that the King was the one who gave the order to kill Rogers. Being that the Crown is in terrible financial shape, they can no longer afford to pay their hired mercenaries. So Rogers must make his way off to fight another day, albeit without his money.

Turn: Washington's Spies airs on Mondays on AMC at 10PM.