Witch Creek Road S3 E3 Explained (Spoilers)
Episode 3 (aka Hailey and the Serpent)
The episode opens with police cars racing down the street, presumably toward the bar from the previous two episodes. The Serpent walks in the opposite direction. He's smoking, and asks the question,“What do you think?” seemingly to no one. Then his cigarette smoke replies, “I think it's time to leave, is what I think.”
Meet Tenebris, a smoke demon. The Serpent smokes in order to give Tenebris a body, albeit a temporary one.
The Serpent agrees with Tenebris, to which Tenebris replies, “With the girl.” The Serpent protests, claiming, “I've existed since the beginning of time, and I've been reduced to babysitting.” Tenebris reminds the Serpent that this was part of his deal with the old man, “For you body. For your money. For all the drinking and whoring and indulging you do with said body and money.”
The Serpent returns to his apartment, and we learn the girl he and Tenebris were discussing earlier is Hailey (from Season 2). She asks if the Serpent has brought home any “little friends”, to which he replies no, because “they very rarely know when to leave.”
The Serpent blows some smoke into a wine glass, to trap it so that Tenebris can form a body without the smoke immediately dissipating. Tenebris doesn't like this, but the Serpent points out that it's only going to be for a few minutes, while they discuss their next move. The Serpent tells Hailey that the Wolves are in town, and that it's time to leave. Hailey doesn't understand why the Serpent is concerned; she's convinced that she and Gun can kill them, and points out that she and Gun “are Gluttony. The Eater of Monsters.”
The Serpent replies that, “The old man tasked me with hiding you for the time being, so that's what we're going to do. Hide.”
Tenebris asks if they should warn the old man that the Wolves are in town. The Serpent replies that he's sure the old man fine.
We cut to the old man, and see that the Wolves are standing in front of him in his office.
THE SERPENT AND TENEBRIS: Though very little is known about the Serpent and Tenebris as this point, the two of them are bound to one another. In addition, while the Serpent can inhabit bodies, Tenebris requires a source of smoke (such as a cigarette) in order to manifest himself – the main reason the Serpent is always smoking.
TENEBRIS' NAME: A few readers picked up on the fact that “Tenebris” has a very fitting meaning in latin:
THE WOLVES: The Serpent refers to the Wolves as “Demons. Furies. Morrigna. Whatever you feel like calling them.”
The Morrigan were a trio of Irish goddesses associated with war and fate. The Furies were a trio of Greek goddesses associated with vengeance.