Mayfair Witches

While the first season of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches is ultimately a very different beast than the books upon which the show is based, it’s also in many ways, a better, more coherent experience. A slow-burn saga that is heavy on atmosphere and low on easy or immediate answers.

This adaptation has barely scratched the surface of just how bonkers it could possibly get. The glimmers of that promise yet remain, beneath a slow-burn story and a modern Gothic setting that continues to build out Rice's legendary world even further.

An AMC series that is occasionally fun but overall way too slow and careful, despite dripping with Gothic horror tropes.

Plays like a weak Gothic stepsister to last year’s more compellingly erotic AMC adaptation of Rice’s Interview With the Vampire. [16 - 29 Jan 2023, p.6]

Barring a yet-untapped reservoir of magic, this tepid cauldron of gothic horror looks like the product of plenty of toil that, as viewing commitments go, might not be worth the trouble.

A disappointment, a superficial and miscast take that left me cold. The themes of empowered women coping with male oppression are still in the mix, but what a dull mix it is.

There’s a point at which an alluring enigma begins to look like frustrating opacity. ... Absent characters worth loving or a plot clear enough to follow, what we’re left with is faint exasperation at a world that, for all its superficial and fleeting charms, seems to make no sense at all.

Unfortunate adaptation of what were some great books by Anne Rice. The cast is talented, but the script just couldn't find its way to anything compelling. None of the characters were developed beyond the most basic motives, and many of those were hazy or easily abandoned.

After 6 episodes of Mayfair Witches (based on Anne Rice’s popular book series) I’m dying for some action because thrillswise this show is drier than the deserts of Arrakis. Our heroine, Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario), is a San Francisco based neurosurgeon who learns she is the heir to a powerful witch dynasty. Cue supernatural shenanigans and hunky demon. Mayfair Witches is certainly glossy but its story is bland even when liberally seasoned with eye candy, demons, psychics and a place rich in magical tradition – here it’s Louisiana. The problem with the show is that it’s a plodding beast of a story with pace and action that drag rather than race and it’s ridden by a cast that are as dull and uninspiring as the animal they’re perched on. The only magic comes in the form of Harry Hamlin’s Cortland Mayfair but even his sorcery isn’t enough to bring a glow to the dreariness. Mayfair Witches is a cake with lots of icing but no filling. It has plenty of looks but lacks any kind of heart and story. It also lacks humour. The same could be said of AMC’s other Rice show, Interview with the Vampire, which rinses and repeats the same formula of glitz with zero substance. I’m sure Mayfair Witches will appeal to Rice lovers but those of us who like our supernatural fare with lots of humour and spice will sadly have to look elsewhere.

Good start, descending into utter tripe and predictable cliched plot. No depth,, 1 dimensional characters.

After the first episode, it is clear that the series is “inspired by” and not “adapted from” Anne Rice’s novels. (The removal of Michael and Aaron has severe repercussions in the future). Overall, uninspired and frankly boring. Half way through the first season of Mayfair Witches nothing has gotten any better. Rowan is still weak, slowly wandering through every episode. Her constant state of confusion is only made worse by a collection of extended family who would rather chew the scenery than be the slightest bit helpful. Lasher is simply menacing, without any purpose. The biggest contribution Ciprien has made is "eggs Sardou". …and we STILL don't know what is going on. Episode 5 puts a hard stop on things. Nope. No, thank you. I'm out. Fireproof haunted house? Magic carving knives? Moving through walls? Millie's dead? Fifteen seconds with Stuart?? CAKE!? Just... no. Run way and don't turn back. This could have made a passable attempt at supernatural drama, but it is instead little more than a failed, flaccid reimagining of The Witching Hour that maintains no continuity with the source material. …other than being set in New Orleans and Rowan as the "designee" of the Mayfair legacy. If you are interested in the story, read the books instead. Not because of a whiny "the books are better" (which they are, but that's not the point), but because they are completely different. The story is different. The characters are different. It is interesting. It is coherent. It makes sense. It is worth the effort.

Slow, drawn out, base and uninteresting. Lifetime and CW get it on. Bah! I never read the books, although I did read the Vampire Chronicles, so I'm familiar with Anne Rice's writing style. This does not strike me as her work. But again, I did not read the Mayfair Witches books. Regardless, this show is boring and uninteresting. And so is the current Vampire series. However, I did enjoy the 1994 and 2002 movies. So my take away is the modern versions are boring and stupid. This is consistent with almost every other show and movie in recent years. Most of what comes out these days is so poorly written, even when it's drawn from good source material, it is unwatchable. This show is more of that. There is an entire generation of incompetent, inept buffoons faking it at being writers in the entertainment industry and they keep putting out crap shows. When I hear about a show that might interest me, I just assume it will be bad, and I'm rarely wrong. The only new show I liked from 2022 was Wednesday. We are suffering through the dark ages of entertainment and the plague has swept through and killed off all the beloved IPs.