What You Need To Remember Before Season 2

‘Mayfair Witches’ Season 1 Reveals Rowan’s Complicated Upbringing

The first season introduces us to Rowan Fielding, a neurosurgeon living in San Francisco and a tough cookie with a complicated family life. She’s a workaholic who prefers casual hookups to actual intimacy, her adopted mother Elena (Erica Gimpel) is dying, and the grief is overwhelming. In the aftermath of Elena’s death, Rowan is forced to confront her origins, including the mystery of her biological mother. While Elena previously told Rowan that hers was a closed adoption, Rowan later learns things aren’t all they appear to be.

Around the same time, Rowan begins displaying powers, with a more sinister side to her gift revealed in a confrontation with her boss, whom she accidentally gives an aneurysm. It seems that Rowan both fears and embraces her powers, foreshadowing a darker side to the character. After Elena’s death, Rowan becomes determined to figure out the true origin of her powers. It’s also revealed that before Elena died, she contacted a mysterious organization named the Talamasca, which has a history of tracking down people with paranormal gifts, and told them about Rowan’s existence.

Rowan Meets Her Family and the Talamasca in ‘Mayfair Witches’ Season 1

As the season continues, we’re also introduced to Rowan’s biological mother, Deirdre (Cameron Inman), first as a teenager and then as an older woman (Annabeth Gish). Deirdre grew up in the Mayfair mansion in New Orleans and was raised by her aunt Carlotta (Beth Grant), who forbids her from interacting with the demonic entity known as Lasher. Unfortunately for Deirdre, she is enchanted by Lasher, falling victim to his manipulative promises of power and claims that he can free her from her aunt’s control. On one fateful night, Deirdre sneaks off to a party at her uncle Cortland’s (Harry Hamlin) house, where she sleeps with a partygoer and ends up pregnant. After Rowan is born, Carlotta hands her off to Elena, who is also revealed to be a Mayfair cousin, while telling Deirdre her baby had died. When we find Deirdre in modern-day, she has fallen into an invalid state in the years since Rowan’s birth, with Carlotta drugging her to keep her away from Lasher’s influence. However, Rowan’s arrival in New Orleans upsets this balance, as Lasher finds Rowan and uses her to wake up Deirdre.

As an excited Deirdre goes to meet Rowan at a hotel, she is unexpectedly murdered in the elevator before they can reunite. At her mother’s funeral, Rowan is introduced to hundreds of members of the Mayfair family, whom she is meeting for the first time — including Cortland and his daughter Jojo (Jen Richards), Cortland’s Dolly Jean (Charlayne Woodward), and Rowan’s cousin Tessa (Madison Wolfe). Some of the Mayfairs are revealed to have magical powers, thanks to the family’s connection to Lasher. After Rowan is named the Mayfairs’ designee, she is the only family member who can directly communicate with Lasher, though she’s reluctant to do so in the beginning.

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‘Mayfair Witches’ Season 1 Reveals Lasher’s Sinister Motivations

Season 1 also delivers flashbacks to the first-ever Mayfair witch, Suzanne (Hannah Alline), who lived in Donnelaith, Scotland in the 1600s and was a talented healer. The flashbacks are intertwined throughout Rowan’s present-day story and showcase Suzanne’s powers, along with her first interactions with Lasher. After almost being burned as a witch, Suzanne calls upon Lasher, who does her bidding and kills the townspeople in retaliation. This is when we learn Rowan’s bloodline is intertwined with a powerful prophecy, one that proclaims the thirteenth witch in the Mayfair bloodline will serve as a door for Lasher to be reborn into the physical realm.

Lasher, a mysterious figure himself, has been appearing in Rowan’s dreams, attempting to seduce and manipulate her as well as ensuring she depends on him for information about her family. However, Rowan wants to sever ties with Lasher and participates in a ceremony to transfer his connection to another member of the family. Tessa appears to be chosen, but Rowan seems conflicted about what she really wants from Lasher. While Rowan seeks to escape her responsibilities as the Mayfair designee, she appears to be as enamored with Lasher as every other Mayfair witch before her. Their relationship is complicated further by Rowan’s growing feelings for Ciprien. Everything with Lasher comes to a head when a group of local witch hunters kidnap and kill Tessa, and Rowan uses Lasher to avenge her cousin’s death. This is the turning point when all of Lasher’s manipulation pays off and Rowan gives in to her darker tendencies hinted at the beginning of the series. During the witch hunter saga, Rowan reveals her pregnancy, and it’s initially assumed to be Ciprien’s baby.

After Rowan calls upon Lasher to avenge Tessa, a new bond is formed between them. She has a rapid pregnancy and by the end of the season, gives birth to Lasher’s physical incarnation into an infant. Her destiny as the thirteenth witch is fulfilled, while Ciprien discovers that his boss at the Talamasca, Albrecht (Dennis Boutsikaris), has been working with Cortland to ensure Lasher is reincarnated as Rowan’s baby. The series ends with a darker, powerful Rowan using her abilities to turn Cortland into a statue after it’s revealed that Cortland raped Deirdre and is, in fact, her biological father. The trailer for Season 2 hints at the complications of Lasher’s rebirth and even suggests Rowan may be forced to kill him. Considering Rowan’s complex affections for Lasher, there will be no shortage of thrills as she faces off with the Mayfair family’s greatest asset. Either way, the repercussions of Rowan’s decision to give in to the darkness are sure to make for an exciting second season.

The first season of Mayfair Witches is available to stream on AMC+ and Netflix in the U.S. Season 2 premieres January 5 on AMC.

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Mayfair Witches

Release Date

January 7, 2023

Creator

Esta Spalding

Cast

Alexandra Daddario
, Tongayi Chirisa
, Jack Huston
, Harry Hamlin
, Hannah Alline
, Beth Grant
, Annabeth Gish
, Ravi Naidu
, Jen Richards
, Ian Hoch
, Geraldine Singer
, Emma Rose Smith
, Charlayne Woodard
, Suleka Mathew
, Deneen Tyler
, Melissa Chambers
, Nadine Lewington
, Jay Howard Thames
, Keyara Milliner
, Dennis Boutsikaris
, Madison Wolfe
, Leslie Castay
, Erica Gimpel
, Tobias Jelinek
, Cameron Inman
, Billy Slaughter
, Jim Gleason
, Robert Aberdeen
, Joshua Mikel
, Jessie Terrebonne
, Chris Coy

Main Genre

Drama

Franchise

Immortal Universe

Cinematographer

Joseph E. Gallagher, Evans Brown

Creator(s)

Esta Spalding
, Michelle Ashford

Distributor

AMC+

Main Characters

Rowan Fielding, Lasher, Ciprien, Cortland Mayfair, Carlotta, Jojo, Suzanne, Millie Mayfair

Producer

Esta Spalding

Production Company

AMC Studios, Gran Via Productions

Sfx Supervisor

Matt Kutcher

Story By

Anne Rice

Writers

Michelle Ashford
, Esta Spalding

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WATCH ON AMC+