Mayfair Witches is still struggling to find its spark in Episode 3

Mayfair Witches Episode 3, “Second Line,” explores death and the possibility of what comes after, or at least, it tries to, but the actual exploration is relatively shallow.

This episode frustrated me in many ways, mainly because we’re almost halfway through the show’s first season and it’s still unclear what the actual plotline is. In comparison, Interview with the Vampire had Louis turned into a vampire by the end of the premiere episode and made it very clear what we could expect from the rest of the season.

I’ve already mentioned this in my previous reviews, but Mayfair Witches season 1 hinges almost entirely on the character of Lasher, yet we know virtually nothing about him except that he’s “bad.” All we’ve seen Lasher do so far is creep around in the background, fool around with witches, and start a small fire. Hardly a threatening big bad, yet every character is terrified of him. Why? I don’t know. They never go into specifics. It’s just vague hand-waving about how Lasher is evil, and no one can let him get his hands on Rowan.

Despite all this, he gets his hands on Rowan very quickly. To Jack Huston’s credit, he and Alexandra Daddario have excellent chemistry. When they finally have a real scene together, it starts making sense why Huston was cast and how Lasher is so easily able to seduce the Mayfair women.

But it’s not just the Lasher problem. For a show about dark abuses of magic and a powerful, centuries-old family of witches in the deep south, Mayfair Witches has very little mysticism, supernatural elements, or, well, witchcraft.

Spoilers ahead for Mayfair Witches Episode 3

The third episode begins with another cold open set in 1681 Scotland. These cold opens aren’t working for me. You wouldn’t even know their purpose if you didn’t Google it. Maybe the goal is to slowly build up to a reveal of the Mayfair origins and Suzanne’s importance as the first Mayfair witch, but right now, these flashbacks are just distracting.

In modern-day New Orleans, Rowan must deal with the immediate aftermath of Deirdre’s death. It’s not the best way to meet her family members as she comes face-to-face with Carlotta for the first time. Out of all the “villains” on this show, Beth Grant as Carlotta is the most frightening. In this episode, we see how far Carlotta is willing to go to protect the Mayfair lineage from Lasher, but more on that in a minute.

With Deirdre dead, Rowan doesn’t really have anyone else to turn to in the city except Ciprien. She doesn’t know Carlotta enough to trust her yet, so she leaves with Ciprien and takes refuge inside his apartment. It’s theoretically the safest place for her in the city because it’s protected by the Talamasca. That’s why Lasher starts a fire to trigger the alarm and lure Rowan out into the open the second she’s alone.

Rowan comes face to face with Lasher for the first time during a quintessential New Orleans second line, a parade that, in this instance, is being held in honor of a man’s funeral to celebrate his life. Lasher shows up disguised as a woman and converses with Rowan, convincing her to drink some unknown substance that seems to open her up to him and allow Lasher easier control. It doesn’t take long for him to seduce Rowan, and the two share a steamy kiss in the middle of the parade celebrations.

Their interlude segues into a dream sequence where Rowan runs into “Deirdre” at the Mayfield house. She soon realizes that the “Deirdre” in her dream is not her real mother. It’s just Lasher in disguise telling her to trust him and surrender to him. When Rowan comes to, she returns to Ciprien’s apartment, and he escorts her back to safety.

Carlotta chooses a new victim

Meanwhile, with Deirdre now dead and Lasher on the loose, Carlotta puts a sinister new plan into action. Carlotta essentially sacrifices Deirdre’s former maid Delphine as punishment for her letting Deirdre leave the house. Without Deirdre, Lasher is no longer bound to anyone, and Carlotta needs to fix that to prevent him from going after Rowan. She convinces Delphine to wear Deirdre’s skeleton key necklace and then locks her in the basement to trap her with Lasher.

The next time we see Delphine, she’s beating her head against a wall as Carlotta listens from the ground floor. Lasher doesn’t like being bound to this particular host.

Out of all of the antagonists on the show thus far, Carlotta seems the most sinister to me at this point. You can always count on Beth Grant to deliver. But again, I don’t fully understand the rules governing Lasher’s abilities. If he’s “bound” to Delphine now, will he be unable to find Rowan again?

Every time we touch

Even though Mayfair Witches Episode 3 does little to progress the plot, it does provide some lore regarding Lasher’s motives and Ciprien’s abilities. Lasher is especially intrigued by Rowan because she’s the “thirteenth witch.” Cortland Mayfair is aware of this and is apparently in league with Lasher.

As for Ciprien, he explains his powers to Rowan. Whenever he touches someone, he sees glimpses of their past. He can also use objects to see past events. While Rowan is with Lasher, Ciprien investigates Deirdre’s death but cannot get a clear reading from the elevator. Somehow it has been cleared of all memories. He is forced to interact with Deirdre’s body to see who killed her. But even that memory is damaged, and Ciprien only sees a brief image of a man stepping into the elevator with her before it fades away. He sends a sketch to the Talamasca to investigate further.

Seeing into Deirdre’s past allows Ciprien to witness the moment Carlotta took Rowan from her. He tells Rowan that her mother loved her and never wanted to give her away. Even if Rowan never meets Deirdre, she can take solace in learning the truth about her upbringing.

Episode 3 culminates with Rowan granting Ciprien access to dig into her past, specifically the memories where her powers manifested so he can slow them down and figure out what triggered it and how she can control it. Now that she’s in New Orleans and has met Lasher, Rowan will need to learn how to protect herself.

However, the last time Ciprien touched Rowan, her power was too much for him and he almost died, even while wearing gloves to protect himself. The episode ends on a cliffhanger as the two touch hands once again, believing that now the mutual trust between them will keep Ciprien safe. It’s a strange place to end the episode in terms of pacing, but next week is the midseason episode, so I’m hoping things finally move along then.

Odds and Ends

• This episode introduces Ciprien’s stepsister Odette Grieves, a surrogate carrying a baby for a gay couple living upstate.

Episode Grade: B-

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