Yahoo Lifestyle Mayfair Witches EP Unpacks Rowan and Lasher’s ‘Seductive’ Struggle in Season 2 — Grade the Premiere!
Remember that Robin Williams movie Jack, where his character ages so rapidly that he looks like a full-grown adult in elementary school? That’s basically where we find ourselves in Season 2 of of AMC’s Mayfair Witches — if Jack was also a bloodthirsty entity with a deep sexual attraction to the woman who gave him life.
Sunday’s premiere picks up shortly after Rowan gave (re)birth to Lasher at the end of Season 1, and the little devil growing like a weed. At just five days old, he’s already pulling out his teeth and dripping blood onto Rowan in her sleep, something most kids don’t start doing that until they’re at least toddlers. And a few days later, now in the body of a young adult, her tries to make out with her, a moment she quickly sweeps under the rug and never speaks of again. Because, you know, yikes.
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Rowan begins to wonder what Lasher even is, to which her cousin Dolly Jean suggests, “something new.” (Thank you. Very helpful.) Out of other options, Rowan turns to her ex-boyfriend — geneticist Sam Larkin, who’s on the cusp of literally curing blindness(?!) — for an off-the-books testing of Lasher’s genetics.
“This is a someone straight out of [Anne Rice’s] books,” showrunner Esta Spalding tells TVLine of Ben Feldman’s character, adding that “it was fun to have a human wandering into the world of the witches, especially someone who already knew Rowan as a doctor and a scientist, and who is a scientist himself.” Lark reentering Rowan’s life at this particular juncture will help “show the two sides of her, the scientist and the witch, at war over the course of the season.”
The premiere also expands the Mayfair family tree, introducing us to Moira, the telepathic sister of Rowan’s cousin Tessa. (R.I.P.) Unlike most of her relatives, Moira isn’t drinking the Lasher Kool-Aid, demanding to know why he let her sister die. Rowan explains that the Lasher who failed Tessa isn’t the same Lasher who’s now busting the seams of his OshKosh B’Gosh, but she remains skeptical. Moira’s skepticism is great news for Ciprien, whom Albrecht formally assigns to capture Lasher on behalf of the Talamasca. Step one is converting a Mayfair to their side, with Moira seeming like the easiest target.
The premiere ends with Lasher returning from a night on the town, but he’s not alone. It seems that he met a nice girl at the club and has decided to bring her home… after killing her. Rowan locks Lasher up while she disposes of the body (a mother’s work is never done!), but he doesn’t stay captive for long, escaping the manor and fleeing into the night.
With grown-up Lasher now on the loose, Rowan finds herself in yet another difficult position: “There’s something she tangibly has to try to protect the family from, but she also has a vested interest in making sure she stays connected to Lasher because of that power,” Spalding says. “It’s going to be an interesting season, one that’s much more about the family and Rowan’s leadership of the family.”
“Rowan is embracing her witchy identity this season,” Spalding adds. “She’s really entranced with her powers, but she still has that good doctor mentality at the start of the season, where she thinks she wants to use her powers for is healing and doctoring. She’s discovering the seductiveness of just simply having power.”
Spalding teases that we’ll see how Cortland, who is still trapped in a mental prison, has led the family thus far, “and how his leadership has backfired.” And Moira isn’t the last Mayfair we’ll meet before the end of the season, hinting that “the family is much larger than we thought.”
Did you enjoy your return to Mayfair Manor? Grade Sunday’s premiere in our poll below, then drop a comment with your full review.
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