I probably had my expectations for this show raised too high after AMC's new "Interview With the Vampire" series. The creators did such a good job with Anne Rice's vampires that I thought they'd have a similarly good take on the witches. Sadly, "Mayfair Witches" is a pretty tame undertaking, starring Alexandra Daddario as a neurosurgeon named Rowan Fielding who discovers that she's one of the powerful Mayfair family, a New Orleans based, matrilineal dynasty with supernatural gifts. These gifts are largely due to the influence of a dark spirit named Lasher (Jack Huston) who has been bound to a "designee" of each generation of Mayfairs since the 1600s.
The show looks expensive, largely set in and around New Orleans, where Rowan comes in search of her roots. She soon finds her mother Deirdre (Annabeth Gish), who has been in a semi-catatonic state for decades. Other members of the family are played by veteran character actors Beth Grant and Harry Hamlin, and Daddario has been steadily improving as an actress as her profile has risen, so the show doesn't lack for good acting talent. A significant amount of time is spent tracing Lasher's history with prior generations of the Mayfair family. The period sequences are some of the show's high points, beautifully executed with excellent production design. The effects work is also top drawer, and used to pull off some suitably creepy and memorable scenes of witchiness.
The writing, sadly, hits some major stumbling blocks. There are some good notions here, like having flashbacks to the life of the first Mayfair witch, a Scottish midwife named Suzanne (Hannah Alline), who was wrongly persecuted. We're also introduced to the curious Talamasca organization, which keeps tabs on supernatural entities in Anne Rice's universe. One of their agents, Ciprien (Tongayi Chirisa), becomes a potential love interest for Rowan. However, there are just as many bad notions. There are far too many characters who appear for an episode or two, and then quickly exit the story. For a show that's supposed to center on a family, there's not much time or attention paid to developing most of the familial relationships. Instead, too many of the threats are external, like the Talamasca and a rather silly mob of modern-day witch hunters. I'd much rather be digging into the sordid pasts of Grant or Hamlin's Mayfair elders, or spending more time with Lasher.
As much as I like Alexandra Daddario in this show, Rowan is not a strong heroine. She displays some minor resistance to becoming the prophesied chosen one of the story, but ultimately doesn't seem too bothered about being roped into the Mayfair antics. And frankly, she's completely outmatched. Lasher is easily the most interesting character in the show. He's the dangerous, unpredictable one who keeps the story moving and has the most fascinating relationships. He's the enabler of all the magic and violence we see, and is the one who appears in every time period and every era of the Mayfair story. However, his relationship with Rowan is anticlimactic and frankly not very sexy, despite the show not being shy about showing sexuality onscreen. There's way too much mythology being expounded on, and not enough meat. Rowan's relationship with Ciprian is similarly pretty boring, practically perfunctory.
I've never read the "Mayfair" books, but the adaptation seems significantly toned down regarding the more controversial elements. Whenever it moves into horror territory the results aren't bad, and I appreciate that the show's portrayal of magic tends to be less wondrous and more unsettling. However, it's really only in the last episode that we get anything truly weird and gut-wrenching. If the show gets more seasons, I'm sure it'll move into the more risky material. However, there's not much in the first season that distinguishes "Mayfair Witches" from similar shows like "A Discovery of Witches" and "True Blood." I expected more operatic guts and glory from an Anne Rice adaptation, and instead this is something much more lukewarm. The few attempts to be more socially relevant, the way that "Interview" managed so beautifully, don't really lead anywhere either.
I'll probably give "Mayfair" another season to course correct, because everything necessary for a much better show is right here, but so far it's a disappointment.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment