‘Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches’ Recap: ‘The Dark Place’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Grief truly is one of the most fascinating emotions and it produces one of the most frightening experiences that we will ever take part in. For this is a period in time, where we will feel stunningly hopeless, to the point where something as simple as getting out of bed in the morning is a horrific chore. Yet at the same time, we also feel empowered, as though this is going to be our greatest challenge and our finest hour, and this strange combination of positive and negative emotions is what puts us in such a scary place. Since we simply don’t know what to expect from our own heart or mind at any given time of day, nor do we have any idea of what our mind will motivate us to do when those emotions shift and take hold.
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If anything, this particular aspect of grief is top of mind today, simply because that wild experience is precisely what Rowan dealt with during this week’s episode of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches on AMC. For ‘The Dark Place’ indeed saw Rowan in quite the dark place. Because she believed that she was utterly alone now, and without family or answers about her past and well… that put her into a deep pit of despair, and rightfully so. Because that is grief in the raw and this sequence of the story, truly put that painful experience on display. Since Rowan was at times lucid and joyous and able to work and focus, and at other times… she was despondent and broken and prone to tears and the show deserves a grand round of applause for showing us grief in this manner and for using it… to move the story forward.

Because while she grieved, she also worked to close out her adopted mother’s affairs and of course, explore her past since the curiosity was strong and there was nothing to stop her now and that led… to some emotional surprises. Such as the fact that the adoption agency her mother told her she was plucked from back in the day, wasn’t doing adoptions when Rowan was handed over to her mother. A reality that only emboldened her to understand her past further and oddly enough, quirks of fate allowed for that happen. Because eventually, she was suspended at work, because of her grief. Since there were concerns it would indeed consume her at a critical moment with a patient, and that down time and the darkness it plunged her into further, brought forth an encounter that would change Rowan’s life.

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For she ran into Ciprien Grieve one fateful night and when her powers put him down and out for a brief period of time, she was able to get hold of his phone and learn that her heritage and family line resided in New Orleans and well, with grief surging through her veins… and her emotions and logical center a wreck because of it… she used this time off to head out to New Orleans to finally learn more about her herself and the family line that she now knew about. A move that led to all kinds of surprises. Such as how the house that related to the Mayfair family had quite the sorted past, full of its own share of despair and doom, one that was also oddly… coming back to life while she worked to find a way to be taken to that house, to see who resided there and could help her learn about her linage. 

Because her mother… was finally free from the effects of the drugs she’d been fed for years on end, giving her clarity at last and renewed hope at a real future. For now, she could live as she wanted to, with Lasher in her heart daily and with her daughter at her side. For it became clear that Rowan was in New Orleans and ready to meet and that prompted her to escape the Mayfield home and Carlotta’s ugly clutches so she could finally hold the daughter that was ripped away from her. But alas, that simply was not in the cards. For there are indeed forces working against this family, and what should have been a joyous and beautiful reunion, ended in sorrow. For when Rowan and Diedre crossed paths, the latter, collapsed, leaving the former… in a state of devastation. 

Which of course begs the question, is Diedre dead? And the answer is we simply don’t know. But something horrible has happened and while we wait to learn about her fate, we can relish in what was a truly moving episode from this series. Because it did a wonderful job of exploring grief and how it moves us and shapes us in the moment, and how it can push us to do incredible things either good or bad, in the name of quieting the screams it creates that echo in our hearts and minds. Not to mention, this episode really did a wonderful job of moving the plot along in an organic manner, by getting Rowan to New Orleans post haste and well, now that she is ‘home’, it will be interesting to see what she learns about her past, and the danger that now surrounds her. Until next time.

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