Mayfair Witches - Season 1
Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches, or simply Mayfair Witches, is an American supernatural thriller drama television series created by Esta Spalding and Michelle Ashford, based on the novel trilogy Lives of the Mayfair Witches by Anne Rice. The series stars Alexandra Daddario as Rowan Fielding, Harry Hamlin as Cortland Mayfair, Tongayi Chirisa as Ciprien Grieve, and Jack Huston as Lasher. It premiered on AMC on January 8, 2023, and is the second television series in Rice's Immortal Universe, following Interview with the Vampire. In February 2023, the series was renewed for a second season.
Mayfair Witches - Season 1
Development rights to Anne Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches book series were still held by Warner Bros in December 2019, when Rice began shopping a package combining film and TV rights to both The Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches.[3] Rice was reportedly asking around $30 to $40 million, plus a $2.5 million buyout of Warner Bros.' rights, and the new owner would hold the rights in perpetuity, not just as an option.[3] In May 2020, it was announced that AMC had acquired the rights to The Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches for developing film and television projects.[4] Anne and Christopher Rice would serve as executive producers on any projects developed. Rice said, "It's always been my dream to see the worlds of my two biggest series united under a single roof so that filmmakers could explore the expansive and interconnected universe of my vampires and witches. That dream is now a reality, and the result is one of the most significant and thrilling deals of my long career."[4]
Mayfair Witches focuses on an intuitive young neurosurgeon who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations.[1]
Ultimately, the Mayfair Witches season 1 finale held my interest and curiosity for the most part and was a good enough conclusion to the first installment to make one curious as to what will happen next. It remains to be seen if season two will push the boundaries a bit more or be content in the space it has created, which while good enough on the whole, has some promise to be even better.
AMC has gone all in on the works of Anne Rice with the development of the Immortal Universe. In a similar fashion to the novels, the Immortal Universe is a shared universe exploring the lives of witches and vampires. The connected narrative began on AMC with Interview With the Vampire and has spun into Mayfair Witches. Both series have been met with positive reviews and renewed for second seasons, even before the Mayfair Witches season 1 finale.
Rowan has been on quite the journey of self-discovery with finding her powers in this first season. When audiences first met her, she was unaware of her powers. There were moments when Rowan made things happen, killing more people than she should be comfortable with.
As she became more comfortable with her powers, Rowan discovered her life as a Mayfair witch is directly connected to Lasher (Jack Huston). Despising being attached to a demon who is obsessed with her and her lineage, Rowan seeks help to remove Lasher from her powers and attach him to another of the Mayfair witches.
Ciprein arrives just as Rowan is leaving the mausoleum. He tries to get the baby away from her, wanting to give him to the Talamasca. Rowan catches on to what Ciprein is trying to do and leaves with the baby Lasher, ending the season on a bit of a cliffhanger.
That being said, Alexandra Daddario has been exceptional as Rowan through the entire season. Mayfair Witches gives Daddario such a great outlet for her to show her talent. She takes this character on such a journey of self-discovery, with Rowen only coming into her powers in the final stretch. I cannot wait to see where Daddario takes Rowan from this point on.
Episode 8 of Mayfair Witches season 1 starts with Keith running in the woods trying to escape. Rowan is following him even though she is hurt and losing blood. Lasher appears and asks her to stop and let him do her bidding. She sends him to chase down Keith and kill him. Lasher follows Keith to a random shack in the middle of the forest and burns him alive. Rowan gets a vision of Lasher killing Keith and she is happy.
She brings Ciprien to the Mayfair house and takes him to the room where they keep the bones of the designee. Ciprien touches the skull and sees one of the Mayfair witches asking to be told about the prophecy. Lasher appears to her and delivers the prophecy to her. The prophecy says that at the witching hour, over the bones of the foremothers, Lasher will embody a new form. A form with power that has never been seen before. The 13th witch is the doorway.
We got answers to the various questions we had throughout the season. We know who killed Deirdre and why, while we also find out about the deal between Lasher and Cortland. And to be honest, I think Cortland got what he deserved!
It's a good thing that Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches was already renewed for season 2, because tonight's finale left the fate of the Mayfair legacy (not to mention the world) hanging in the balance. The fantasy series, which is based on Anne Rice's The Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy, makes up one-half of AMC's Immortal Universe thus far. Alongside its predecessor Interview with The Vampire, the show has expanded on Rice's version of New Orleans and the rich supernatural mythology she created.
Screen Rant spoke with Chirisa, Hamlin, and Huston about their thoughts on the Mayfair Witches season 1 finale. The actors shared how they approached some of the episode's emotional reveals, their take on the family legacy, and their thoughts on the dizzying love triangle with Rowan.
Screen Rant: Tongayi, Ciprien has really just come to understand how twisted some of the branches of the Talamasca are in this episode. How has changed his outlook and his motives at the end of the season?
Harry Hamlin: You know, I only found out that I was her father when I read the episode where it was revealed. But she's Cortland's daughter and, at the same time, she's the 13th witch. She carries not only my DNA, but also the family heritage, and that's something that I'm going to need to protect. That's why I tried to take the baby. But at the same time, I'm totally terrified. Not only of Rowan but also of this infant Lasher. I don't know what's gonna happen next season, but he's my nemesis for the moment.
Tongayi Chirisa: We haven't discussed anything yet, but she was out here in LA, and we had a brief chat. We were wondering what the plotline would be, the fact that my boss has got her, and what's going to happen if she makes it to season 2. Does she also have interesting powers that haven't manifested yet? Does she get roped into the Talamasca?
Jack Huston: Interesting, that's a good question. I think he could do it. He can do anything. But I think it's all a discovery of powers. The resurrection thing is interesting. I wonder if there could be something in that for next season. Who knows?
In the season finale of Mayfair Witches, Dr. Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario) gives birth to her child and opens a portal, discovers that Cortland Mayfair (Harry Hamlin) is her real father, and embraces her demon lover, Lasher (Jack Huston). Showrunners and executive producers Esta Spalding and Michelle Ashford say she's just getting started.
With her newborn baby in hand, Rowan's final words of the season cut deep. "You can't control me," she proclaims as a bolt of lightning strikes down, almost hitting Ciprien (Tongayi Chirisa). She walks away as thunder roars, a storm of her anger and newfound freedom foreshadowing what's to come in season 2.
SPALDING: The beginning of this story is not just Rowan discovering her powers, but also we see Rowan's birth in the pilot. And to really save and bookend that origin story at the end of the season and to have the story of Rowan's birth be a part of the fulfillment of this prophecy, which is what the finale is about, it just felt like a great shape for the end. We [wanted to] land all those things at once, to understand who that masked man was with Deirdre in the pilot and why that was all about something Cortland was doing to make this prophecy come to fruition.
SPALDING: This is the moment where we should pick up the very heavy Lasher [the second book in Anne Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches series] and say this is the teaser. We've gone to the second book and again, we have only so many episodes, [so] we're gonna mine it for the wonders, riches, and strangeness that is there. That's kind of really the tease more than anything. There's a whole section in the book where Rowan is in Europe and there's some stuff in Scotland and there's a bunch of generations in Scotland. Of course, we touched on Scotland in this season, but that has been really exciting to think about for the second season.
The show premiered on AMC this past January and, the next month, the network renewed it for a second season. Although the author has already proven her worth - her book Interview with the Vampire was also adapted into a horror TV series for AMC - the quick renewal news is certainly a big deal.
Mayfair Witches is an AMC series that has already been aired in full but is currently available for streaming on AMC+ and Prime Video so anyone with a subscription to either service will get to swiftly catch up on season 1 of the show.
No word yet on how many episodes season 2 will feature, when it will premiere or if production on it has even started but given the fervor surrounding season 1, we expect folks behind the project to soon start working on new episodes. 041b061a72