Salem :Review

Salem
 
Cast:
Janet Montgomery (Mary Sibley)
Shane West (John Alden)
Seth Gabel (Cotton Mathers)
Tamzin Merchant ( Anne Hale)
Lucy Lawless (Countess Marburg)

 

 

Salem is one of my all time favorite TV shows. It is definitely not the fairy-tale type of magic but a very mature version of a witch show which revolves around rituals and satan itself. It is based on the witches of Salem in 16^th century and how they got into power in conservative christian based England and controlled regions due to their political and satanist influence, Everything about this show is Medieval and eery, starting from the towns to costumes to the language itself. It does not tell you witches are human too and deserve affection from the society but it tells you the exact reasons why people tell their children to stay away from them which reminds you of why it was a very common practice, witch  hunting and witch trials and why hanging women in the name of witch trials was justifiable back in 1600’s.

Despite all, it really is not a horror show in sense of trying to scare you with jump scares. As I stated it is a mature version of a Witch show, it gets political, gets a little romantic, there’s family feuds and church hysteria. It has a story going on behind the witch trials and the fact that 16^th century Salem witch trials were real makes it even more interesting to watch, knowing what were the practices back then for women and the society, and also how easy it was for the magistrate to convict any woman and falsely accuse her for witchcraft and hang her in front of the folks.

 

Mary Sibley (Janet Montgomery)  was an innocent girl who fell in love with a man who left for war outside of country, after realizing that she is pregnant with his child, a conservative society would never have accepted that so she used supernatural powers to eliminate the fetus to avoid punishment from the magistrate of the town. Leading her to her journey of becoming the most Powerful witch of the time and controlling politics, power and people through magic. On the other hand the reality of churches and the power seeking magistrates and men of God were also revealed in this hysteria. For some individuals who prefer the supernatural shows to be like a fairy tale, this show is not for you. There is no wand fighting with lights coming out of it like Harry Potter or a woman creating dragons to fight the enemy’s giant snake made of smoke. It is mostly based on reality and the realistic approach. The show has a balance of  nudity and action so one cannot watch it for the sole purpose of seeing erotic content like most of the new shows on Netflix and this show does not have immense action, It actually  toys with your emotions and gets you attached to the characters which shows the show has a deep impact on the viewer and the direction is amazing. The character development was very rich and thoughtful, The first few episodes are boring and if you are not consistent you may end up giving up on the show but as soon as the storyline expands, it takes you to a whole another level.