Mayfair Witches: Season 1 & 2 (Blu-ray Review)
DIRECTED BY: Haifaa Al-Mansour, Michael Uppendahl, Axelle Carolyn
STARRING: Dakota Alexandra Daddario, Jack Huston, Tongayi Chirisa
RATED: 15/Region: A/1:66/1080P/NUMBER OF DISCS 4
AVAILABLE FROM Acorn
Mayfair Witches: Season 1 & 2 – The Witching Hour That Hit the Snooze Button (Then Finally Woke Up)
AMC’s Mayfair Witches is the kind of show that feels like it was conjured in a foggy New Orleans alley by a group of producers chanting, “Make it sexy, make it spooky, make it prestige TV!” Unfortunately, Season 1 spent so much time lighting candles and whispering prophecies that it forgot to actually do anything for the first few episodes. Still, there’s something hypnotic about the whole mess — like a slow-burning séance where the table never quite levitates, but you keep watching because you swear it might.
Season 1 introduces us to Rowan Mayfair, played by Alexandra Daddario, who once again proves she has the most intense eyes in the business. She’s a neurosurgeon who discovers she’s descended from a long line of witches with family baggage so heavy it needs a moving truck. Daddario’s doing her best to sell the gothic melodrama, even as the script alternates between Interview with the Vampire-level atmosphere and “CW show with a budget” energy. The problem? For a show about a coven of witches, it’s surprisingly stingy with actual magic. Instead, we get moody stares, slow reveals, and a pacing that could make molasses yawn.
That said, the bones of Anne Rice’s universe still shine through. The show nails the setting — New Orleans has rarely looked so alluringly cursed — and there’s a certain intoxicating vibe that builds as you sink deeper in. It’s messy, sure, but it has a pulse. You can tell the creative team really wants to make this Rice’s next big TV legacy. It just spends most of Season 1 figuring out what kind of show it wants to be: gothic horror? family saga? supernatural soap opera? Turns out it’s a cocktail of all three — shaken, stirred, and occasionally spilled all over the floor.
Then came Season 2, which feels like the writers collectively downed a double espresso and said, “Okay, let’s actually do something.” Suddenly, the show develops momentum, characters grow spines, and the supernatural nonsense kicks into gear. It leans harder into the weirdness — demonic entities, family curses, dark rituals — and that’s exactly what it needed. The tone is bolder, the pacing tighter, and the world finally feels alive instead of perpetually brooding. The show doesn’t just find its footing; it starts running, albeit in high heels on uneven cobblestones.
Daddario’s Rowan becomes less of a dazed observer and more of an active force, which makes the story infinitely more engaging. The production values also get a bump — the shadows are moodier, the spells prettier, and the blood more convincing. For a brief moment, Mayfair Witches actually lives up to its tagline. It’s sexy, spooky, and more self-aware, even if the plotting still occasionally feels like someone threw the entire Anne Rice bibliography into a blender and hit “pulse.”
But let’s be real — the show is still far from perfect. Internal logic continues to play hide and seek, and for every thrilling twist, there’s a subplot that feels like it wandered in from another series entirely. It’s ambitious, yes, but not always coherent. Still, at least it’s fun now. It’s finally embracing its own absurdity, and that makes it infinitely more watchable.
By the end of Season 2, Mayfair Witches has transformed from a slow-motion séance into an actual supernatural party. There’s chaos, there’s camp, and best of all — there’s life. It might never reach the literary heights of Anne Rice’s novels, but it’s starting to carve out a scrappy, weird, and entertaining little niche of its own.
So, is Mayfair Witches great? Not exactly. But is it good enough to keep watching while rolling your eyes in delight? Absolutely. Think of it like witchcraft itself — messy, dramatic, occasionally nonsensical, but impossible to look away from once the candles are lit.
Extras
- Show Me More: Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches
- Season 2 Panel at Comic-Con 2024
- Episode Insiders
