The ads'll have it

I keep hearing ads for Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches on AMC in the podcasts I listen to. For old audio series I am on, they sure do have updated commercials.

Mayfair Witches is out with season two right now, but I can't make any comments on it, as I haven't start it. I've got it on my AMC app list on my (now listed as renewed on Amazon) Roku 3. 

The show really does look interesting, but I've recently completed the first season of another AMC "witch" series called Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale. It's based on the V. V. James book titled Sanctuary: A Novel of Suspense, Witchcraft, and Small Town Secrets. 

Synopsis via Amazon of the series is:

Sarah Fenn, a modern-day witch, uses her powers for good, living in the town of Sanctuary. Though her daughter, Harper hasn't inherited Sarah's powers, when local teenager, Dan dies during a party, Harper is accused of killing him - by magic.

The first (and so far only) season is seven episodes, rated TV-MA and has some content advisory in the beginning of each episode (Flashing lights, violence, alcohol use, smoking, foul language, sexual content). Each episode does feel long and slow moving, for it being roughly 55 minutes each. 

I have mixed feelings about the series. It's new enough that it's a different spin on what we think about supernatural /sorcery. But it's old enough that it's reusing a lot of basic elements and themes, for being based in the United Kingdom (shot primarily in Ireland, according to the internet). Meaning, they're loosely premising a piece of this as being the UK's answer to the Salem Witch Trials. 

Which, after watching just the series and not reading the book, is far from being on the same side of the street. Let alone in the same circle of friends. 

Yes, this is (again) a supernatural /sorcery show. The kind we saw in science fiction shows of the early 2000s (Charmed, Buffy, etc) but it's got a dramatic flair that will keep you watching it as one of those train wrecks you can't look away from, instead of a popcorn-on-the-edge-of-your-seat show. It's interesting because it's about a star sports player who dies suddenly at a raver in the middle of nowhere and the main suspect is the "only registered witch in town" because the daughter dated the kid at one point. It's a lot of back and forth between the towns people and the suspect because she can't say "no" to anyone for fear of being retaliated on and killed because she's a witch. She wants to do what's right and keep her family safe, yet, she knows she's doing bad things in the process. 

I don't want to spoil this because I know people will want to watch it out of boredom and I actually want to see how season two progresses. I'm interested in the books (there are two) because sometimes the book is better than the video. 

I'm just torn because it's got some good to it and it's not something we've seen 100% before. But there are points in it, that are such eye rolls, you know you've seen the scene in another show. That's why it's not new new, but it's not old either. 

It's like when I watched Young Dracula. It's mind numbingly boring and a way to pass the time, but I also saw the connections to history with it. How you have to stand on the shoulders of the past in order to get to the future type of thing. I learned a little more about a Renfeld (but also because of the book A Taint in the Blood: A Novel of the Shadowspawn). 

So Sanctuary taught me that there's other worlds of witches out there and they can attempt to make a living on a small little island and help people. It's not just magic every second to fake people out. It's like in real life we go to psychics, mediums, tarot readers. This story is a woman who has a magic shop and works to help people relieve some issues. In turn, she's got her own little coven of a few close friends and she uses them to gain energy. But they use her big time in other ways and she unwillingly agrees. #Spoileralert #Nospoilers.

If you want to see something to pass the day, try this show. If you hate it, you hate it. If you like it, you like it. I'm not going to judge. I'm just making a suggestion of something else to binge for a minute in case you're stuck inside because you're sick, it's bad weather, or you're just looking for something to do. 

If all else fails, read a book. Go outside and play (if you can). Do something creative. I'm going to get ready for bed; it's almost 8:45pm and I've been going to bed way too late the past month. I've been super bad about this. 

Cheers;