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Hola amigos, buenas vibras para todos.
**Hello friends, good vibes to all.
Very honestly I am not a person who is a fan of witch stories, they have never caught my attention even though I can watch her series and movies without problems. I'm also not much of an Anne Rice fan since she writes in a gothic, vampire-filled genre where I don't know, comfort just doesn't get it. So, what are you doing doing doing this review? - Well, because first of all I consider myself a movie buff so I usually try to watch everything that comes my way. Just because I don't like them doesn't mean that I don't end up enjoying them, in the course of the plot things can happen that really make the story appealing enough to change my vision and opinion a little bit.
Mayfair Witches is a series that I got when I was reviewing the latest releases and it caught my attention that it starred Alexandra Daddario and that it was an AMC production, a house that usually does great things (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Walking Dead, Gangs of London, McMafia and a long etcetera). For me they were enough ingredients to embark on this story full of prophecies, witch hunts, spells, demons and everything you can imagine behind a plot of this style. There is a lot of drama, mystery and fantasy and no, it is NOT TERROR. I say this emphatically because I've read that it is and well, this already seems like Déjà vu. Without further ado, let's talk a little bit about this adaptation of Anne Rice's Best Seller as a series.
It all starts with Rowan Mayfair (Alexandra Daddario), a woman who has a quiet and successful life in San Francisco where she is one of the best neurosurgeons and despite being very young she is always trying to find her place and opening doors for herself. Being a very complicated specialty she has an intuition, as a kind of gift that facilitates her work in a certain way, the thing is that Rowan is not aware of that. Little by little the questions are coming by a series of events that are happening which generates that at the end of the day she learns that she is a descendant of a vast list of witches who have lived throughout history.
Evidently all this takes her by surprise because there are many things to assimilate and those abilities that she knew she had but did not know the origin are beginning to come to light so she will have to find a way to manage it. But there is also another detail, her family or the Mayfair witches are tied to an evil entity that has always been after them for long generations and Rowan is not being the exception to this persecution so we have another thing to add to the list of changes in the life of this doctor. The truth is that the series at first makes you a little hesitant to continue watching it or not but it must be said that little by little it is taking shape and the curiosity is getting slightly bigger which in the end makes you finish watching it without much difficulty.
The stories of witches, everything related to New Orleans, Salem and obviously all the background that goes back to past centuries in Europe is super interesting, it's not my thing but it is something that I understand can attract the attention of many. The thing is that I feel that this series touches all this well but it's the approach that I didn't really like, I saw it as a love story? where beyond being tied to Lasher (Jack Huston), the entity I told you about, you can see that there is a connection that goes beyond, that transcends and that can derive in something sentimental although it is known that it is not like that. It wants to be something dark and sinister but this detail makes me not end up landing in that area, it softens everything and that's where it lost me. Maybe that's how Rice's books are, I don't know, but that hesitation turned me off.
If you're thinking that you're not going to see it because you might get scared, I'm telling you, there are moments of tension, a suspense that goes hand in hand with the supernatural that sometimes is cool but it doesn't get to be anything serious. I liked that the story goes on two tracks, one in the current line where we have Rowan facing her new reality and the parallel one that is the history of her ancestors so we have a better context and we know where all this lineage of witches comes from. What is the reason for this? - Well, the intention is that behind more than 400 years of history there is a prophecy that has to be fulfilled and that some characters will seek, in the most unimaginable way, to make it happen. This is the concrete end of this story.
There is an important plot twist that I must say I didn't expect, as it's supposed to happen, which for me was something that made me reconsider the final rating slightly for the better. I will always look for those resources and I think they are very necessary to make the series come to life; of course, as long as they are used correctly to grab the viewer off base. Let's talk about the characters. Alexandra was decent, it's not the best role I've seen her in, I liked her better in The White Lotus for example, but I feel it's not her fault but the character as such. I don't know, I had a hard time seeing her being a witch saying spells and cursed phrases, maybe it's a me issue but I didn't get to click with Rowan. I repeat, what you see on the screen is pretty good but for some reason it fell short for me.
And Lasher, who is the other main character, seemed extremely cheesy for a demon. I understand that not everyone has to be with horns, a trident and fire spewing from eyes and mouth but a little more evil and presence would have been better. Otherwise there is not much to say, Ciprien Grieve (Tongayi Chirisa) is one that I found cool. He is a serious character that belongs to an organization that deals with supernatural issues and that its members have a special gift; his is very particular and he has some weight in the plot as well. Keep an eye on this character.
A 7/10 for a series that if you like these witch stories and everything that can be derived from them you will most likely give it a better rating. The series is not bad, watchable, entertaining but as I have already said several times it was not for me, there was not something that made me change my mind. It consists of eight episodes of 45-50 minutes each. I leave you the trailer so you can take a look at it.
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Bueno mi gente por hoy es todo, espero que les haya gustado. ¡Un abrazo a todos, nos vemos en la próxima!
***Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it. ¡Hugs to all, see you all in the next one!