‘Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches’ Recap: ‘The Witching Hour’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of ‘Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches’.
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Ask anyone on the street what goes into a successful and fulfilling life, and you’ll get back some fairly similar answers. For some will speak to how chasing one’s dream and/or finding a career that nourishes the soul… is a big key to finding all of that. While others will speak to a need to finding a partner in life that fills your spirit with love, since that too… can do wonders for a person. And a great deal of people… will speak to the importance of keeping our family close to us and that we should make sure that we start one of our own. Because family provides us with a powerful connection in this life. One that makes us feel as though we belong and teaches us how to love, and what skills we have, and how to get what we want in life, and people are able to offer up these answers for one simple reason.
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In that, this is knowledge that generations of people have come to learn, courtesy of the structure of our world and our expectations of one another. Which makes us part of a grand tapestry really, one that should be celebrated. But what’s genuinely fascinating about all of this… is that we tend to forget that all of this isn’t a universal experience in this life. For some folks, were adopted or grew up in an environment that didn’t provide them with that structure and understanding. Prompting them to take a vastly different path to uncover those answers. And we cherish the majority experience so much, that we don’t talk all that much about what it is like to be a person that doesn’t fully understand the bonds of family and the lessons that provides us. But we should. For we are all the same people, and no one should feel left out or left behind, and we should know how to help them… and that is why a new series on AMC is of note. 

For Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches is a story that plunges us into the world of a woman named Rowan Fielding, who early on in ‘The Witching Hour’, seems to have it all. After all, she is a successful doctor, one who is stellar at her job, and she has a loving woman she calls mom, in her life, and goes about her day with purpose and direction. But in reality, Rowan feels as though, a great deal is missing in her life. For she is adopted and has never known her family’s lineage and not having that deep connection, and not understanding her past and her roots… leaves her searching and wanting. But a grand moment of tragedy is about to change all of that. For her adopted mother is near her end, and when she dies old secrets about the family line and truths about stunning abilities that Rowan harbors, will come to light and will change Rowan’s life forever. For it turns out that she comes from a long line of powerful witches and is about to embark on a stunning journey of discovery and power untold. 

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Which is… the perfect way to explore the central theme of this story. For we quickly come to understand what it means to not know family inside and out and not know our lineage and be denied the standard experiences that life has to offer. That leads… to some fascinating and powerful moments for certain, the kind that help us learn how hard it is to be in the dark in that manner and how difficult it could be make connections and find fulfillment, regardless of success… because of what we are missing. Making this opening chapter to a grand story, a masterclass in education and discussion about a topic that is less taboo and more ignored, and the show deserves a round of applause for letting us walk in a pair of shoes we never knew were sitting by the doorstep. However, while that alone could have been enough to carry this series premiere, it has so much more to offer its audience.
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After all, this is a world filled with mysticism and magic, the kind that works here because all of it is grounded in wonderfully organic characters and concepts that never once try to outshine the fundamentals of the story. Which in turn draws you deeply into this story since you want to know more about the Mayfair family line and its power and its obvious ties to darkness and how Rowan relates to all of that. Plus, in addition to some powerful horror elements that reinvent the witch for the modern era… there just so happens to be some wonderful commentary on our modern world present here as well. Specifically, regarding how women are viewed, and how we have so much farther to go regarding equal rights, and the show also deserves credit for adding this into the story. Since this too, is a topic that isn’t talked about enough, and needs to be spotlighted in such a frank manner, so we can recognize and combat the problem in real time when we see the nonsense that Rowan goes through here, in front of us.  

If anything, all of these elements come together to provide us… with a perfect series premiere. Since this story does a wonderful job of establishing the mystical and magical universe, we are about to explore in a manner that leaves us eager to continue the journey post haste. But it also establishes that the characters and their experiences, will be just as important as exposition, since their journey toward growth and agency will teach us a great deal about the human experience and family, and it also doesn’t hurt, that stellar acting is what will send that across. With Alexandra Daddario (Rowan) leading the charge in such matters with her vulnerable and earnest performance of a woman that is indeed looking for the missing pieces in her soul, and despite the potential dangers that await her, she will stop at nothing to have what she wants and that is going to make for one stunning season of storytelling. One that is going to take us upon a moving and haunting journey through worlds quite foreign to us. Until next time.   

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