Media Witchery of 2024, Part 2!
Today we'll look at some of the witchery seen on TV last year...
There’s been some absolutely wonderful witchy TV the last few years. Some of my favorites include Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021), Motherland: Fort Salem (2020), Marianne (2019), and of course Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-2020). Some of the cheesier stuff, meh, it doesn’t really interest me. I was prepared to love 2018’s A Discovery of Witches, as it had all the right ingredients (Oxford setting, cool scholarly backdrop, etc.) but it was just, sorry, really bad. For me, it felt really dumbed down and derivative. (Do check out the British series Hex, though, from 2004-2005).
2024 had some offerings, too, though nothing really knocked my socks off (though I still have a couple of things to watch, like Hysteria!), and I noticed the trend towards either Hallmark-style “good witch” stories still dominate, or silly stuff with too many supernatural special effects. Some good shows occasionally have a “real witches” episode (like PEN15, or Broad City, or even …And Just Like That) and I definitely want to see more of this.
Gotta say: One of the most hotly anticipated witchy series of 2024, Mayfair Witches, was kind of disappointing. It had all the right ingredients, including gorgeous cinematography and an impressive cast, including Alexandra Daddario as Rowan Fielding, Annabeth Gish as Deirdre Mayfair (she’s terrific in an underwritten role), Jack Huston as Lasher (an odd bit of casting that grew on me), and the great Harry Hamlin, dapper and darkly secretive, as Cortland Mayfair. Rowan is played well by Daddario (a wonderful actress who I loved in True Detective, The White Lotus, and We Summon the Darkness), an independent, somewhat self-destructive young doctor who is suddenly beset with disturbing visions of her witch legacy. But alas, though the first couple of episodes had a strong start, and the show has an artfully atmospheric look and pleasingly spooky vibe, the writing became quite lackluster as the story progressed.
To be fair, Anne Rice’s novels were not always superbly written, either: the first novel in this series, The Witching Hour, had some compelling chapters set in earlier historical periods, but the contemporary scenes of dialogue often felt trite and awkward. But adapting literature to television means improving on the original wherever possible, and this one fell short, much like A Discovery of Witches did.
My personal theory about this seemingly pervasive trend for witchy shows to be mostly bad is that producers may think that having witchcraft as a premise already relegates the series to a genre story, and that people interested in horror or witches will automatically watch it no matter how good or bad it is. Sure, witches are a hot commodity in media and have been for ages, and the proliferation of streaming series has tapped into this evergreen trend and will continue to do so. That doesn’t mean we don’t desire, and deserve, better witchy TV. Apparently we’re supposed to be happy with crumbs, while continually hungering for a feast (or at least a substantial potluck). Sigh.
Enter Agatha All Along which was, well, not too terrible. This is a 2024 spin-off of the 2021 horror-sitcom mini-series set in the Marvel universe, WandaVision. I enjoyed that show for its high-end production values, intriguing pop culture themes, and great cast, but ultimately found the set-up a bit too gimmicky. Agatha All Along is focused on Wanda’s weird neighbor, Agatha (Kathryn Hahn), who we learn—via a silly song in the series finale—was the force behind all the weirdness.
The spin-off begins with a rather clever nod to its origins by paying homage to another television series (as WandaVision did with shows like Bewitched and The Brady Bunch). But instead of a popular sitcom, it’s a recent crime drama (Mare of Easttown, which I loved), and Agatha is a detective investigating a local homicide case. After a run-in with a colleague and ex-lover (Aubrey Plaza, who, having authored a witchy children’s book and named her production company Evil Hag, is apparently required to be in at least one witchy movie or series per calendar year), Agatha realizes she’s in a WandaVision-style simulation, and isn’t a police detective at all. She remembers she’s an ancient and powerful witch who is required to go on a quest, and gathers some witchy helpers to accompany her. They’re women who are all struggling at life in one way or another, and then there’s a teenage dabbler who seems to know all about Agatha’s storied past, and she’s flattered enough by his fan-like devotion to invite him along.
The cast is brilliant, especially the legendary Patti Lupone as a seasoned psychic, and the actors manage to effectively transcend the somewhat pointless story. The plot seems mainly focused on a journey down the “Witches’ Road” immortalized in an old folk song that was reprised by the rock star mom of one of the witches; and the song is performed (beautifully) in every episode as the witchy travelers face various challenges, complete with era-appropriate costume changes. There’s plenty of witchcraft references in the opening and closing credits, the dialogue is peppered with clever nods to New Age witchcraft and pop culture, and the young acolyte’s bedroom is full of beautiful magical tools and posters of witchy movies and artists. Agatha All Along is is fun to watch, often funny, with great special effects. But overall I wasn’t terribly impressed with the first season of this series, which seems flashy and self-aware and witty, but devoid of depth or lingering meaning. But I will definitely watch Season 2.
Up next: more witchy television! Stay tuned and thanks for reading.