2.13 - "THE WITCHING HOUR"
Directed by Brannon Braga
Written by Adam Simon
Reviewed by Gavin Hetherington
As a special note, this is my 100th article on SpoilerTV. Couldn't have picked a better article to publish as my 100th. Here's to 100 more!
THE CHARACTERS
SEASON GUIDE
Click on a title to be taken to the review for that episode. Need a catch-up of season one before starting season two? Be sure to read the
ultimate catch-up review of season one.
2.01 - "
Cry Havoc" (April 5, 2015)
2.02 - "
Blood Kiss" (April 12, 2015)
2.03 - "
From Within" (April 19, 2015)
2.04 - "
Book of Shadows" (April 26, 2015)
2.05 - "
The Wine Dark Sea" (May 3, 2015)
2.06 - "
Ill Met By Midnight" (May 10, 2015)
2.07 - "
The Beckoning Fair One" (May 17, 2015)
2.08 - "
Dead Birds" (May 24, 2015)
2.09 - "
Wages of Sin" (May 31, 2015)
2.10 - "
Til Death Do Us Part" (June 7, 2015)
2.11 - "
On Earth As In Hell" (June 14, 2015)
2.12 - "
Midnight Never Come" (June 21, 2015)
2.13 - "
The Witching Hour" (June 28, 2015) -
Advance Preview
'THE WITCHING HOUR' REVIEW
You don't know how hard it was for me to see this episode a couple of days early and not be able to thoroughly talk about it with anyone. I had to let my feelings out but couldn't, which is why I'm so relieved everybody has seen the finale now and I can talk about every insane thing that happened in it with you all. Seriously, what was this episode but the best damn finale of a show I've seen in a very long time. I am floored and I have the worst 3-day hangover after seeing this episode, especially considering I've seen this finale 3 times now. Everything about it was, just, horrifyingly beautiful. The writing, the directing, the acting - everything brought it to life. It felt like there really wasn't anything else to lose (like Mary) so they went all out, blowing the screens off every single television this episode was shown on. Like I said in the tagline for my advance preview - I am dead. It's not just Mary or Tituba or the Countess who are dead, or briefly John, but I am too. I think I speak for everyone when I say every single Heathen is dead after seeing this finale. Where do I even begin?
"I said I would die in Salem."
"My son... you already have."
Shock f*cking horror. The first devastating thing to happen in this finale was the death of John Alden. I couldn't quite believe my eyes but I could have totally seen it stick considering Mary has basically lost everything - her power over Salem, her friends, her son - why not throw her true love in the mix? I loved the way it happened though, as the scenes with the Indians were so beautiful, so heavenly, that I really should have thought "he's dead" but the transitions were so organic that I didn't expect it. That was definitely my first mouth drop of the finale. It also would have been obvious considering both Native Americans are dead and the only option for them to be present would be in ghostly form or John was dreaming. But John dead? It didn't register at first because I didn't want to believe it. It would have meant further pain for Mary and that was the last thing I wanted, and I really want Mary and John to have their happy ending. The scenes in the fields were beautiful though and distracted me for a brief moment, lulling me into a false sense of security that everything was okay, before boom, he's dead.
"Oh, that was an awful mistake."
Mercy had a whopper in this episode too, and for a few moments I was sure she was going to die. I wanted her to die at the start of the season, but now I'm glad she didn't. Props to the punishment scene because that was a fantastic scene, but that was the first moment I thought she'd die. "You took me away from my true mother, how can that be unpunished?" The Dark Lord biting her finger tip off was excruciating. Could have been worse, right? She could have been pecked to death. Then I thought she was going to die when she went to strike the Countess. So much tension but played so well with Mercy breaking down in tears and the Countess looking at her with disappointment. The Countess was very fair in throwing her out - shows she's far more tame than the Dark Lord. The third time I thought she'd die was when Isaac found out she killed Dollie. That was Isaac's only full scene in the episode, which is a shame but understandable, until we see him sitting near Dollie's grave (spelled Dolie which could be the right way of spelling it actually). Brannon Braga said in an interview about the finale that Isaac wasn't in it very much and he wants to do more with Isaac next season, so we have that to look forward to Heathens! What the whole ordeal has done to Mercy is return her to the streets of Salem to be that 'beckoning fair one' that haunts the town. I love when Isaac runs away after Mercy reveals her new sort of followers, that Mercy vows to rule them even if it has to be in their nightmares. We leave Mercy in a horrifying way where she could become Salem's boogeyman, which she already is but hopefully that will be developed and realised in season three.
"Oh my God... OH. MY. GOD." - Me during this episode
My poor, poor Tituba. She hardly spoke in the finale but she had one of the biggest roles in it, and definitely the most horrifying scene. During that punishment scene that I loved, the Dark Lord reveals he knows all about her and that his mother wouldn't bare to see her live. I thought shit, her punishment is going to be worse than Mercy's! I was relieved when he basically just banished her, thinking she was safe for the time being. Until the shots of her walking through the forest. When they kept going back to her, I thought something would happen. Then the Dark Lord started to make the dead birds reanimate and it went back to Tituba and there was a crow and it was reflecting Tituba in its eye and then the birds started to come into the shot and... I need to start a new sentence. But I couldn't breathe for this scene. The atmosphere was built up with the wind and seeming serenity of Tituba getting away, but we know better. It felt very Alfred Hitchcock, and I absolutely love the film
The Birds so I loved this scene. In fact, for my review of Dead Birds I was going to use the tagline from the film - "the next scream you hear could be your own" - for my heading, but ended up using something else, but I like the connection. Must have been woman's intuition or something. But I was thinking Tituba would get away - I was hoping she would get away. I don't want Tituba to be dead, and she died brutally. When she started running, I was yelling at her to run faster, or use some sort of spell to protect herself, or a spell to kill the birds, but I guess she must have known better than to escape the punishment of the Dark Lord. The screams. The pecking. The super-fast camera shots. It was brilliant, nothing short of pure brilliance but I really didn't want Tituba to die. I wanted her and Mary to team up again, but that's just wishful thinking, like Mercy being a princess. Maybe Tituba isn't dead, like it has been suggested. Death is a funny thing and John was resurrected, as were birds, so what's to say Tituba can't come back? She's basically a necromancer, right? With her new look, she could become the next militia man. Who needs eyes anyway?
"The world is a much darker place now that your light has grown as dim as the rest of ours."
ANNE HALE! What a naughty little witch! I loved every minute of it though, to see how far she has come from pilot to sophomore finale, or should I say, how far she has fallen, as she was the most shocking character in the finale - yet in a way, you can understand her actions. The Anne and Cotton scenes were some of the best this season as everything came to a head and I couldn't have been more excited by them. Seth Gabel and Tamzin Merchant both delivered powerhouse performances as I believed every word they said, every emotion they portrayed. Both sides held good arguments and I could see how both were torn to shreds by the other's words. "I traded his life for yours." That line, that beautiful little line caused the first ripple of Mather destruction. Cotton crying out was when we knew Anne had crossed the line even he can't forgive. And what's funny is there were moments where Cotton seemed open to forgive and forget, where he seemed swayed by her words until Anne reminded him of the night she saved them both from thugs that almost killed them. Anne had a great point, as they would have killed them or done much worse, but Cotton only saw that his perfect Anne killed somebody. "It was him or us." The next scene between the pair was when Cotton finds out about Anne's love spell. The entire exchange between them was captivating. "If only you loved me when I really needed you to I might not have had to pledge myself. I might not have to quicken your love with my first spell." Of all the things I was surprised with by Anne in this episode, her honesty is one of them. I wasn't expecting her level of honesty, especially when Cotton seemed content with leaving Salem with her to be happy. It's what Anne always wanted, but she knew she couldn't leave Salem. Cotton's choice to love speech was epic too - "Because I did love you. I loved you since almost the first we met. I just needed a little time." "I didn't have time." The desperation from Anne was stunning and Cotton plunging deeper into despair with his newfound situation was just golden. I can't say enough good things about their scenes together in this episode because they were literally fantastic. And when Anne began to walk towards Cotton with Brown Jenkins in her hands, I was like "Anne, what are you doing?" And then she shoved the rat down Cotton's throat. It mortified me. Totally reminded me of Mary and Tituba forcing the toad down George's throat and it showed me just how alike Anne is to Mary. They both ended the season as the other character, really. Mary began season two as a villain of sorts, and now Anne ends the season as a villain of sorts, as I started out thinking Anne was the good witch and Mary the bad, but now it's reversed.
All hail Mary, who is the best female character on television right now. We see from the very first scene the effects the success of the Consecration has had on her. She is devastated, and I was too. Poor Little John. I loved the first scene with the witches gathering around his bed. The exchange Mary had with Anne was the most interesting, and when the Countess said "In your place she'd have done the same thing", it made me wonder - would she have? I think she would have, to save the life of John. If Anne was in Mary's position, with a child about to be the vessel to the Dark Lord, and Mary was Anne trying to save her love, I do think Mary would have done the same. But of course, Anne doesn't have a child born to be a vessel and Mary isn't exchanging children to save her love, so the question is slightly irrelevant. But moving on, it was even more of a blow when we thought maybe Little John was still in there, and when he was speaking to her saying "I need you... your songs, your stories, your kisses", I thought, like Mary, he wasn't all gone. It crushed me when he started talking about Mary's night of being turned into a witch and giving birth to her son to be taken for the devil (nice inclusion of flashbacks by the way), as we could see on Mary's face her pain. I like that Mary's clothing reflects her downfall too as she wears what resembles to be rags, instead of the gorgeous dresses she wore last season and the majority of this season. Being a mother changed Mary's life for the better, I think, as we got her humanity back. Even if we briefly saw it in the very first moments of the pilot, when Isaac is being branded, of that sweet girl who cared for her friends, what I love most about this new take on Mary is that we have the opportunity to go back to that. Mary was always the villain we rooted for, but she failed on every level leading up to this finale and it seems like the only thing she did win at was saving John's life, which happened to be a good deed. She couldn't kill the Countess because the evil that would have allowed Mary to tear her limb from limb was gone, even if she loathed the Countess, she just didn't succeed in killing her. In my opinion, it's because those evil qualities from last season evaporated.
"I know it is him you want."
And what a beautiful moment it was leading up to Mary resurrecting John. I have to give a shout-out to my main man Sebastian who I always found fascinating, but never to the extent of actually loving him. Now? I love him. I never for a minute believed he would drain Mary of all her blood though it seemed like a possibility, and even though Mary wanted him to do it. Instead, Sebastian gave Mary the best gift of all - to be reunited with her lost love. A little out of character for Sebastian as he always seemed so territorial with Mary - especially considering he dispatched of Samuel because of it - but I'm hoping this was just the first of many signs that he's on the right side. I loved his talk with Mary about unconditional love, especially "I too am capable of unconditional love. So go, no conditions." Awww. Why do I have to have emotions, they're so annoying. I felt even more hurt when Mary found John and cast the spell to revive him. But of course, it's blood magic, and Mary has barely enough to live on as it is. It was the ultimate sacrifice and one that surely redeems Mary of all the terrible things she has done in the past. The road to redemption for Mary was a long and brutal one, but I think she finally reached the end. Ending the season with Mary being dead was a devastating blow, one that is softened by the idea that Mary will be resurrected next season. I'm sure she will - she is the heart of the show - but still, seeing Mary dead is something I never expected.
"A prayer doesn't have to be heard to be answered. Sometimes all that matters is the asking."
I had to dedicate a section to discussing my favourite moment of the finale - the scorching hot showdown in the church. The moment I was waiting for (I have a lot of moments I've been waiting for when it comes to Salem) happened in grand fashion. The dialogue between the Countess and Mary was just wonderful and I've always enjoyed their interactions, and this one was mainly because of their dialogue. Both Janet Montgomery and Lucy Lawless were goddesses in the scene. The Countess's bitterness towards Mary was fascinating and enjoyable because the Dark Lord wanted Mary, not her. I loved how Mary started the fight off with telling her she's in her woods and began setting the church alight. By the way, amazing pyrotechnics involved here. Mary challenging the Countess too to bring the rain was so deliciously good, and the fact that she couldn't made it all the better. I thought this was going to be it for her, as Mary put up an amazing fight, complete with disappearing and reappearing in other places, throwing things and jumping on top of her ready to finish her off. Then Anne appeared and brought the rain. I was yelling at Anne at this point, asking her what the hell she was doing, which led to an amazing line. "Let me die," Mary cries out. Anne replies: "I cannot for the same reason you could not let me. There is no easy way out Mary... for any of us." But still Anne, Mary could have totally killed the Countess at that moment (well, her body) so why, why, why did you have to stop her from doing so. Anne really has fallen far and stopping the defeat of the Countess, her mother, was a big indication to the side Anne chose.
"I am here for you. Always."
The Countess, oh what a wonderful villain. I felt sorry for her too, due to her love for the Dark Lord being rejected in the end, especially when the Dark Lord asks who would love a true God, and she replies "I will. I do." It was pretty bitchy of her though, to say she loved no one else her whole long life with her son in the room. Poor Sebastian. When she told Sebastian to basically kill Mary, I knew she'd be in trouble for that. She was very naive in thinking the Dark Lord wouldn't know about it and she had a very poor lapse of judgment there that ultimately doomed her. Anyone else notice that the Countess ate the piece of apple from the same knife that kills her body later on? At least, to me it looked like the same knife. I loved the imagery though, with the apple and the symbolism of it in regards to the fairy tale Snow White. Poisonous, and it was ominous that she would later die from the person who fed her the apple. Instead of killing her with a poisonous apple, the Dark Lord killed her with the knife instead. It was very traumatic to watch like Tituba's death scene - the multiple stabbing and her last plea to him of "I love you". I really did want Mary to be the one to defeat the Countess, but I guess it's all the more horrifying that the one person the Countess truly loved - the Dark Lord - kills her while her son watched and did nothing to stop it. I am going to miss Lucy Lawless but I'm very grateful she became part of the show. What a woman. I like how the Countess could still come back though, but the challenge would be to find a new actress who would do the role justice as Lucy Lawless did. "Someday perhaps. But not today. Goodnight mother."
"Mary? Mary? No. Mary. I love you. Please don't go. I love you. Please."
EPISODE VERDICT
I have the worst
Salem hangover ever since watching this episode three times now - once for my advance preview on Friday, again yesterday for fun, and today for this review. I cannot get enough of it. I felt like it merged all the best qualities of the gothic genre and churned out an unbeatable episode of television. This was absolutely the best finale of 2015. I doubt any other show ending a season this year will ever surpass this tension-filled finale. So many iconic moments plagued this finale in the best imaginable way. The best thing about the season two finale was that it kept me guessing all the way to the end - it kept me on my toes. I had no idea what was going to happen next and I ended up second guessing myself. I could not have loved this perfect finale enough.
The ending was just sublime. It sets up an unimaginable stage for season three, so what does that mean for next season? Salem is now the Dark Lord's dominion. Mary will be resurrected, as indicated by Brannon who questions how she will return. There was talk of royal marriage and a consummation, so the Dark Lord's goal will be to marry Mary. As far as
Salem will go, I doubt they'd go through with a consummation between Mary and the Dark Lord while he uses Little John's body. I'm guessing there will be a new vessel, or the Dark Lord's plan fails entirely. Tituba is dead, or is she completely? Mercy is now the boogeyman that will haunt the town, snatching children to make herself beautiful again like the Countess. Samuel is pegged to return, to escape Hell but in what way will he come back? Anne is going to keep Cotton silenced with her familiar deep in his bowels, but will she be able to keep that up? Sebastian is going to be going through some things as he now doesn't have his mother to boss him around - may we see some sibling bonding between him and Anne? And what of Isaac? Will he lead Salem into a new day? So many questions for season three, so let's hope an official announcement is made soon so we our minds can be at ease that
Salem will return in 2016. What a long wait, but if this year is any indication, it will be here before we know it.
EPISODE AWARDS
 |
Winner of Best Witch:
Mary |
Best Witch: Mary again. She almost beat the Countess's ass if Anne didn't intervene, and speaking of Anne...
Naughtiest Witch: Anne Hale! You beat the Countess for this award which shows just how naughty you were in this finale! Preventing Mary from beating the Countess, stuffing a rat down Cotton's throat, the list goes on! But I secretly love it.
Best Gentleman: Sebastian, for letting Mary go. I love him.
Best Spell: "Blood to love flow, quicken love's light. My love's life will grow as my soul takes flight."
Best Line(s): "A monster is but a God seen through fearful eyes." "I cannot for the same reason you could not let me. There is no easy way out Mary... for any of us."
Most Bewitching Chemistry: Anne and Cotton. Their scenes were simply wonderful and horrific and beautiful and amazing.
Best Moment: The church fight between Mary and the Countess.
Most Romantic Moment: Mary giving up her life for John Alden - "John, it's me, your Mary."
Creepiest Moment: The Dark Lord bestowing punishments on those who have wronged Mary.
Most Horrifying Moment: Tituba being pecked alive by birds!
Sweetest Moment: Sebastian letting Mary go to her love - "I too am capable of unconditional love. So go, no conditions."
THE SEASON TWO RETROSPECTIVE
Salem is the best show of 2015. Feel free to challenge that notion, but I cannot think of another show I have watched this year (and I have watched a lot of shows this year) that could beat
Salem in terms of quality and entertainment. This season managed to achieve the rarely done - deliver a sophomore season that goes leaps and bounds over the first. I mean, sure a lot of shows have better second seasons, but track records indicate a large majority can never really live up to their premiere seasons.
Salem is a show that will always have an upward trend, in my opinion. Season one was amazing. Season two was absolutely fantastic. But now we start next season (assuming a renewal) with the biggest, most explosive potential the show has seen yet. For a show that never disappoints, I'm worried I'm putting too much pressure on the creative team behind this show. But I have faith they will write us another season filled with the best material television has ever seen. Thank you, to everybody involved, for giving us fans the best gift of all.
And now, a few little top fives, even though I could have easily made these lists contain every single episode and moment this season has ever had.
BEST EPISODES
WINNER: "The Witching Hour"
The season finale of
Salem blew the stocks out of Salem. It was the most intense hour of television I've ever seen and I've seen a lot of television. Had no idea what to expect from every character. Pure love.
2. "Midnight Never Come"
3. "On Earth As In Hell"
4. "Dead Birds"
5. "The Wine Dark Sea"
But, of course, I loved every episode.
BEST MOMENTS
WINNER: The Consecration
The entire season built up to it, we rooted for Mary to win - and she lost. She succeeded in the Grand Rite, so we weren't really expecting Mary to lose this battle. It meant Little John became the Dark Lords' vessel - a devastating moment for Mary and John.
2. The Mary vs. Countess fight in the finale.
3. Little John's exorcism.
4. Increase Mather returns.
5. "KILL THEM. KILL THEM ALL!"
MOST HORRIFYING MOMENTS
WINNER: Tituba's Death
I love Tituba, she was a fabulous character. Seeing her pecked to death gave me a dry mouth because I couldn't close my mouth for about 44 minutes after.
2. Anne Hale drowns a kitten.
3. Cotton is the new George Sibley.
4. The Countess is stabbed to death.
5. Mercy bathes in Dollie's blood.
What did you think of 'The Witching Hour'? Let me know your thoughts on the season finale and this season in general in the comments and join me in the suffering that is the wait for season three! Why do breaks between seasons exist?!
If you enjoyed
Salem, my debut novel that was published in October 2013 could be what you're looking for to tide you over until
Salem returns. Download the book
for free on the Kindle, available in the
United States,
United Kingdom,
Canada, and many more places. The novel is an urban fantasy horror titled
Remnants of the Damned, the first in the
Abyssal Sanctuary series. Set in the fictional town of Lakefield View, the book explores the lives of five friends who work at a cafe and all witness a vicious murder. Within twenty-four hours, they are each confronted with living nightmares as they come closer to the truth about the town they live in and the magic that surrounds it. The only thing worse than being alone in the dark is finding out you're not.
About the Author - Gavin Hetherington
Award-winning author of 'Abyssal Sanctuary: Remnants of the Damned'. Gavin joined SpoilerTV in August 2014 and reviews 2 Broke Girls, Mistresses, Orange is the New Black, Pretty Little Liars, Salem, Scream Queens and Sleepy Hollow. Gavin will write previews for Devious Maids and Shadowhunters, and backs-up Empire, The Flash, iZombie, Once Upon a Time, Reign, Scandal and Supergirl. You can contact him at gavin@spoilertv.com.
I don't only want to hear your thoughts on this amazing finale, but also this season as a whole! I loved every minute of it and hope you guys did too! Share your opinions Heathens, the wait for season 3 is going to peck us to death :(
ReplyDeleteI Loved this season so much. It was like 100000x better than Season 1, i need Season 3 so much. Everything about it was perfect, every episode, every character, everything. Only thing i am disappointed with is Tituba's death. I mean it was amazingly done and all, but she is/was my favorite character and i really want to see more of her. I really hope she will be alive, but blind.
ReplyDeleteYay totally agree with you! Aww don't be too disappointed about Tituba's death, I'm sure we haven't seen the last of her. She is a necromancer and it's possible she can come back. I love Tituba too and would be very sad if she's just plain dead. Amazing scene though, Ashley Madekwe was fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI really love the actress, i was disappointed after they kicked her out of Revenge and thanks to her i found this amazing show, so it is sad to see her go. But in show like Salem, death means nothing
ReplyDeleteAshley Davenport :( So sad she wasn't even in the series finale (though there was no reason for her to be, she was part of Revenge from the beginning and I wanted her there til the end!) Yeah, death means nothing in Salem. Mary is definitely going to come back, pretty sure Tituba could too :) Let's stay positive!
ReplyDeleteI remember her on revenge! Ashley davenport!
ReplyDeleteYay! At least Ashley Davenport is alive somewhere, hopefully doing well for herself.
ReplyDeleteI definitely thought that season 2 was much tighter in its storytelling than season one. The writers had a clearer idea of the show's vision and the characters within that vision. Season 1 was entertaining and compelling, but season 2 has definitely been an improvement in my eyes. Salem is one of the few dark, gritty antihero shows with a female protagonist, which adds to its awesomeness. The subtle introductions of feminist issues has always impressed me, as has Salem's ability to toe the line between historical accuracy and crazy witchy melodrama. I've always loved a little flash with my substance.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what degree of control Anne will have over Cotton now that her familiar is inside of him, he looked pretty helpless in the last few moments of the finale, but I got the impression that she put her familiar inside of him not to control him, but so that she wouldn't lose him. I still can't believe she did it though, because I would have thought that since she'd fallen in love with him, she'd want him to keep his personality instead of being her puppet, but I guess she felt like she had no choice.
Brannon Braga, the co-creator is the only famous person I've heard of from my hometown and one of the very few from my state, so I wish him continued success both because of that and because Salem is awesome and deserves it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Couldn't agree more, especially about Salem being one of the few antihero shows with a female protagonist.
ReplyDeleteYou are totally right about Anne and what she did to Cotton. She doesn't really want to control him but to "protect" him in her own weird little way. A lot of what Anne has done has been due to her feeling like she had no choice, being pushed into doing the love spell among other deeds, but what Isaac said a few episodes before about how we always have a choice resonates here. I'm wondering more of how long Anne will keep it up with Cotton, because no doubt John will find out when things go back to normal and he won't be happy.
Very cool about Brannon being from your hometown! He seems like an amazing man - he shares my reviews on Twitter every week! Him, the creative team behind Salem and the show itself deserve all the success they should get. Thanks again!
Gavin, First Thank you so much for beautiful reviews of the S2 finales and like always I LOVE with pleasure reads your reviews, it move my emotion back to the series again with all the alive words you place together make me connect to Salem one more last time before place a smile on my face because we all suffer the pains of every single moments of S2 Finales !!! Bravo Gavin with Love , Hugs always !!!!! you have GIFT to write with WORDS make peoples move with the scene of storyline.Now I know where to read the most beautiful reviews as the scene are is from GAVIN His name !!!!!! Thanks again :)
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks so much for your super-long special comment for my super-long special review of this AMAZING episode of Salem! Like yes, yes, yes Adam I cannot agree more and you know we always have one of the same mind.
ReplyDeleteHaha we forgive Mary for everything :P Haha love your thoughts on Mercy, I'm sure she'll do more than just strut her stuff thinking she's the Queen of Shiba for a season - I love the idea of her being Salem's boogeyman. Amazing scene for Tituba, for sure! She's a necromancer, right, so she may not be dead, and she could sort of replace the militia man. Ashley Madekwe cannot just be gone - there is so much more to explore with Tituba! You could totally be right about Anne wanting to save Salem from the devastation of the Mary and Countess battle - save the church before it burned to the ground - and she was AMAZING in the episode in a deliciously evil way. I think Cotton wanting to still be with her was part of the spell - but the fact that he loved her before that makes everything oh so complicated. They're going to be so awesome to watch moving forward.
Glad you think the Countess could be one of the best villains ever considering how many shows we watch haha but I have to agree. Haha bravo Lucy Lawless, for adding to the fantastic amazingness of Salem. She was phenomenal. And I agree about Janet Montgomery, shame she didn't win her award at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards for Best Actress - nobody deserved it more than she!! Thanks for always sharing your amazing thoughts on this amazing show on my reviews each week, always love reading them! We will never back down until we get a Season 3!!
Thanks so much Jennifer, that really means a lot! That's exactly what I hope to do when people read my reviews - invoke the excitement and love you already feel for the show, but know that there's someone who also shares your feelings. Definite pain was felt during this episode and we definitely need to be able to recover together - hugs right back at ya! Aww thanks again, I really do appreciate your kind words :)
ReplyDeleteI for one agree with you about Mercy, it was interesting to see her turn on Mary after basically being her pawn for a season, but her own views of how much of a threat to Mary she is far exceed her actual capabilities and I'd like to see her go in a new direction if she's brought back for season 3. I laughed gleefully when John Jr satan baby Gollumed her because after all she did, she definitely deserved it. I assume that the Countess threw her out because she wasn't really worth much more effort and the Countess had other fish to fry by the name of Mary.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked by Tituba's death. I thought she'd be able to come back after a few episodes after being banished, but no! She was basically eaten alive by crows less than a minute into her escape. It was much more gruesome that I expected and I was so creeped out by the reflection of her demise in the eye of the main crow. That was a great device used by the writers and added a truly unsettling element to the episode.
I was surprised that Anne saved the Countess too. I thought she hated her, but I guess she was more intent on ruining Mary's plans than anything else.
The whole witch hunt aspect will be more interesting now that it has a huge monkey wrench thrown into it since its main proponent is pretty much completely out of commission. Maybe he'll become truly fanatical about rooting out witches if and when he's finally released.
I completely agree that the finale was a total firecracker of an episode and set up the pieces very well for a season 3 that I hope will be just as explosive, I can't believe that they packed so much into one episode and I wish I had more friends that watched this show because I can't stop talking about it! I'm so glad that Gavin started writing reviews because now there's a place to post about how awesome it is and hash over the details of each episode.
That's so awesome that he shares your reviews, I love it when public figures respond to their fans!
ReplyDeleteHe just quoted my tweet of this review, and said "Thanks to Mr. Hetherington for his attentive reviews this season!" I literally just died haha. He's amazing. Adam Simon and Seth Gabel also share my reviews weekly, and occasionally so do Shane West, Ashley Madekwe, Joe Doyle and Oliver Bell. Lucy Lawless and Elise Eberle favourited the advance preview of the finale. The official Salem twitter account shares them too, which is so awesome. They really love the Salem community and the fans and I feel very grateful they've shared my reviews - honestly made my life! Feel very lucky.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for always contributing to the discussions on every review! You have honestly made it very enjoyable for me to write these reviews.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen that version of Phantom of the Opera but it sounds awesome, and very similar to Mercy's fate! Good eye! Going to check it out now. And oh wow, thanks for sharing that Omen scene! I have the films on Blu-ray but haven't checked them out yet. Wow, that was a great scene and can see how Tituba's death paid homage to it, although I'm glad a truck didn't come and flatten Tituba too haha.
Maybe Mary wasn't praying to God but yeah, to lure the Countess to "her woods". Can you imagine if Anne helps the Countess get a new body next season? That would be messed up but I can sort of see Anne wanting to become closer to her mother, especially after saving her. Very Romeo and Juliet of John and Mary at the end, I just hope John doesn't kill himself!
Season 3 has to come, I agree. So many questions and so much to explore. I'm positive WGN America will renew it, otherwise, this would be their first ever show they ever cancel, and I'm sure they wouldn't want their first ever original show to be cancelled like that. Positive for Season 3 :)
Salem S1 is the beginning of storyline of pure love, with the Finale S1 Mary(alive) and John(dead) the Vow is complete (coin). Salem S2 finales Mary (dead) & John (alive) uncondition love Vow !!!! .S1&S2 show us how Mary & John bonds their VOW of love make us stand by them all the way to S2 finales make us sorrow with pains and uncomfortable feeling towards any characters harm this couple. As Adam say SALEM is about Romance & Witches !!!!! The most appeal to me was Mary and John VOICES make this series very exotic captures ours heart, I don't want speak what will happens in S3 because I trust Adam and Brannon lay out the beautiful storyline of SALEM for us to reviews and shares ours point of views here, that's the beauty of STORY :) like wise say : don't put high expectation for what you don't know yet and be happy with appreciate for what we have S2 finales.in the way S3 will be the most excited storyline in unexpected ways :))
ReplyDeleteThe Phantom of the Opera 1989 with Robert Englund is probably my favorite version. It's worth the watch. So are the first two original Omen movies. And you'll see from them how much homage this show pays to them. They really nailed it all around with right child actor. How awesome was this kid for this ep? He needs an award.
ReplyDeleteI hope we hear very soon on renewal. It would be tragic if we never got more. I agree, it's so rare to find a show that just keeps kicking it each season and getting better and better. We need more!
Oliver Bell totally needs an award! I'll let you know when I get around to checking the films out. I'm in need of some good horrors so they sound right up my street.
ReplyDeleteMercy, Isaac, Tituba, Sebastian, Anne & Cotton, Lucy, they all beautiful characters we love and hate and thanks to Adam & Brannon make us feel that way !!! Great Job :)) All the characters storyline must cross each other to built SALEM the Best Show ever in 2015 !!! Peoples speak about SALEM that make WGN give us more seasons in future :)) Dead or Alive of the characters is part of the awesome disturbing break down of ours feeling !!!! Bravo SALEM .
ReplyDeleteWatch the Omen movies, they will definitely tide you over a bit till we hear on season 3.
ReplyDeleteI think all the actors deserve awards for this. Sadly, Vampire Diaries will probably get all the awards again this year while shows like this one and Helix get overlooked.
Oliver Bell is so amazing. His acting is epic now, I can't imagine him when he gets older.
Wow you're totally right about the evolution of the show and its main love story. Love it! Mary and John are a huge appeal for me too - they make the show as their love seems so tragic yet everlasting. Impossible, forbidden love but somehow they still manage to find their way back to each other, even if it doesn't necessarily work out.
ReplyDeleteTotally trust Adam and Brannon in their vision for their show because they are so talented and have a plan in mind. You're right, and I totally appreciate what they've given us thus far. They haven't let me down yet :)
Carrigon, Love Phantom of the Opera movies .
ReplyDeleteIt's such a shame Salem didn't win Best Cable/Syndicated Show at the Saturn Awards last night, and Janet Montgomery didn't win Best Actress at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards :( I can't think of a show or actress more deserving of the recognition!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have put it better myself :) I hope my reviews have somewhat helped spread the love and recognition that Salem deserves. WGN America has a solid beautiful hit on their hands and they would be foolish to give it up. Our love for Salem knows no bounds!
ReplyDeleteJanet is so amazing. It was like each ep, she just nailed it and every scene was better than the next. She has an amazing acting range. I really thought they all did. Elise has been epic as Mercy, too.
ReplyDeleteTotally! Janet has such a range and she doesn't even look like she's trying to act - it's all so natural. I love her, I seriously do. I first saw her in a film called Wrong Turn 3 and The Hills Run Red - I didn't particulaly enjoy the Wrong Turn film (I love 1 & 2, and speaking of Wrong Turn 2, two of the season two writers of Salem wrote that film) but Janet was certainly someone I wanted to keep an eye on as her career blossomed. She has come a long way from those direct-to-video films and I can't imagine a better person playing Mary.
ReplyDeleteI knew she did Wrong Turn 3, didn't like that one. Wrong Turn 4 and 5 I just love. But sadly 6 was terrible.
ReplyDeleteWe just have to have her back for season 3. I'm thinking that blood Sebastian took from her might be what's used to revive her.
I've seen 4, but not 5 or 6. Looking forward to seeing number 5 then, not so much number 6 if you found it terrible. These sequels can be so hit and miss, and when they miss, they epically miss.
ReplyDeleteGood point about the blood Sebastian has. The Countess can't use it now, so what's he going to do with it? He'll do anything to save Mary I'd imagine.
Carrigon, same here about the bloods Sebastian have to safe Mary or John bring Mary to Indians because the magic Mary have is almost same Indians magic and Mary magic is dark and Indians magic more pure good way!!! I cought be wrong too :)
ReplyDeleteGavin, Thank you so much reply and just love read yours WORDS !!!!! Touch Down (sign) and bow to your great works dedication:)) thanks for the hugs and love for the Salem :))
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing you're getting so much love. It's great that they are so devoted to their fans and community and you got not only the creators, but also the actors to respond to you. Best. Production. Team. Ever! I can understand why they share them though, your reviews are always positive and thoughtful with great attention to detail and I'm sure that they appreciate reviews that draw attention to all of the work that everyone involved puts into the show.
ReplyDeleteBravo Gavin and well say Michaela Kollin
ReplyDeleteWe need S3. And from the tone of the show creator in the post mortem interview it does feel like we will get S3. Lots of story left to be told.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, the finale was fantastic. Here are some of my thoughts:
Mary - My heart broke for her. She tried hard but everyone has a breaking point and when she lost Alden and her son, her desire to die was completely understandable. Her throw down with the Countess in the church was awesome. She was willing to take the Countess with her to Hell. Too bad Anne Hale intervened. Although in the end, she did get her wish and even while dying she saved the love of her life. That final scene where John cries over her brought tears to my eyes. I hope Mary comes back - I don't care how. She is the heart of the show. But I wonder how she will return. Resurrected by the Dark Lord? Or saved by Indian magic?
John Jr. Fantastic portrayal of the Dark Lord by Oliver Bell. That kid is creepy to the max talking about his mother as his consort. Ew. But I loved the punishments that he doled out to Mercy and Tituba. Both deserved it. But what I loved the most, was him killing the Countess.
Tituba I wanted to feel sorry for Tituba but I didn't. She deserved that punishment for betraying Mary more than once. Anyways, I am pretty sure she isn't dead. She will be back. It will be interesting to see what her future trajectory will be. Will she learn the error of her ways and reconcile with Mary or will she be an independent third party?
Countess and Sebastian - Poor Countess spent so many years yearning for the Dark Lord and was rejected like she was nothing. That was cathartic to see. And Sebastian surprised me. Somewhere, buried deep inside him is a kind of sort of twisted sense of honor. The creators have said that he will be around in S3. Let's see what his journey will be like now that he is free from the shackles of the Countess.
Mercy - IMO, she is a lost cause. Gone completely nuts and over to the Dark Side. I hope S3 features a battle of sorts between Issac and Mercy. That would be great.
Anne and Cotton - Great scenes between the two. This season started with Anne fooling herself into thinking that she will do only good with her powers and it ended with her holding poor Cotton hostage, that too as an invalid like George Sibley. Her nature has now entered a very grey area. Neither good nor completely evil but somewhere in between. A lot of her actions can seem justifiable in some way but IMO, these justifications are a slippery slope that have taken her very far from her good nature.
I like your saying DebraFan :))
ReplyDeleteLucky, I can never get my mom to watch anything. We have completely different tastes in tv shows. She likes to watch shows that are much more understated than the over the top crazyfests that I enjoy. Weirdly enough, I do notice some similarities between the ways in which True Blood and Salem are plotted. The supernatural element is present in both too and apparently Salem is also filmed in Louisiana which I find very strange since it takes place in Massachusetts.
ReplyDeleteI'll always reply :) Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jennifer :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome thoughts, thanks so much for sharing! I also feel a lot more confident about a season 3 thanks to the post mortem interview. WGN America wouldn't make it's first ever original show be their first ever cancellation. It would reflect poorly on them, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how Mary will be resurrected but it may be a big combination of things - the Dark Lord reanimated the birds, bringing them to life, so why not Mary? And the big amount of blood that Sebastian took could also help in reviving her. It's going to be awesome to find out how she will rise again. Oliver Bell is amazing, no doubt about it, what a bright future he has ahead. Punishments were totally deserving and so ruthless - what a villain! Him killing the Countess was so horrific. Really, really horrific haha.
Yeah, Tituba did deserve her punishment and it was a truly awesome scene, but still didn't want her to die. I mean she might not even be dead so who knows? That's what I love about this finale - you still don't know what's going to happen next, even with characters seemingly dead. There's more to come from Tituba, I'm sure. She'll still have an important role to play in Mary's life (or afterlife).
Love your idea for Mercy and Isaac. I can see Mercy becoming the boogeyman of Salem and snatching children, and Isaac trying to defend the helpless children like he failed to do with Dollie. That's going to push and motivate him to become the hero Salem needs. Mercy is totally a lost cause though, you're right.
Anne has definitely slipped down the road of bad deeds though her intentions may seem good, at times. It goes back to choices and Isaac's wise words a few episodes ago. You're right though, her actions always have some reasoning behind them as Anne rationalises it - such as killing the man who attacked them early in the season, or saying she is protecting Cotton by what she is doing - but yeah, she's now in a moral grey area where I wonder if she will ever pull herself out of it, or be lost to it forever.
Thanks so much, and they really are the best production team ever. Would be a shame for it all to go to waste if the show isn't renewed. They need to tell the full story and it's only what the hard working team deserve.
ReplyDeleteMy mom sometimes doesn't have a choice in watching what I watch, but she grows to like them haha. She LOVED True Blood after a while and she was grateful I got her into it, so I keep getting her to watch stuff that she ends up enjoying. Shame about your mom not really liking the same stuff you like. And that's cool that Salem is filmed in Louisiana, haha yeah it's weird that it's not filmed in Massachusetts considering that's where it happened but must just be location issue related and Louisiana is more productive or something.
ReplyDeleteWrong Turn 5 is fantastic. It's got a Hannibal type main character, and the kills and ending are very good. 6 was horrible. It's not even watchable. I gave it a bad review somewhere on IMDB, it might still be in the comments there. I'm hoping if they do another, it will go back to what 5 was like.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Louisiana does have a bigger film industry, but I thought it was very strange when I found out and I feel so sorry for those poor actors who must be sweltering in their long sleeved black wool costumes.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely.
ReplyDeleteEverything that went down on this season finale was heartbreaking and exciting at teh same time.
ReplyDeleteThere is no "happy" ending in this season, Evil has won the fight so far.
The character development each character have gone through this two seasons is amazing.
We saw sweet " i wont hurt a fly "Anne Hayle becoming the next ruler of Salem, she is not that girl that helped people in the first season anymore, she has seen power and she loves it.
Cotton "Singing "Drunk in love" with a whore to "Drunk in love" with a witch" Matter and now has become a shadow of it's old self. I need Cotton to fight, i need him to cut himself open and kill Mr. Jenkins. He needs to! and teh sad part is that he loves Anne and Anne now screwed things up.
Tituba "Wicked witch of the dead" Tituba, she always wanted her freedom and freedom has always come to her with a prize. I still dont understand how you being a witch cant use a freaking protection spell if you know freacking crows are coming at you. Tituba gurl, im dissapointed, you shoul've know better.I hjust hope she takes the eyes of some ebautiful rotten corpse, she cant stay blind all the time ( She is not dead i refuse to believe that).
Isaac "the fornicator with a vengeance" is coming a long way, tho he is a secondary character the producers keep up his storyline interesting, you learn to care about him like he is a main character.
John "I will die in Salem" Alden, finally got to admit that he loved Mary only to loose her, he started this story being mad at Mary cause she betrayed him and in a certain way she did but he has always loved her and like Cotton, no matetr what their love one did, tehy will always be at their side even when they are a freaking dying.
Mary "Till death do us part" made the ultimate sacrifice, she had nothing at the moment, her son a monster, her friends betrayed her and she only saw kindness in the one that thought was gonna killed her, she had nothing to live for so she made her choice and let John live. I hope she lives, Tituba can bring her back to life right? or if there is somekind of hellish afterlife make Mary and Tituba a necromance and a leader witch to fight tguetehr and bring themselves back to life, right?, that can totally happen.
An amazing season finale full of twist that leaft yoy asking for more and i really need more of this show. Salem is so underrated, it doesnt get the love it deserves.
Freaking great review Gavin. Loved it as much as i love the season finale.
I cannot even begin to explain my adoration for this show. First time commenting, though I have read every review of yours this season and only yours ;) No one else had the same passion in their writing.
ReplyDeleteSo many thoughts throughout the season I can't even remember them all in retrospect. However since it seems you may know more about the development of the future seasons than I, I must ask my nagging question; Is Lucy Lawless officially done with the show, and tangenting then, was it ever confirmed that she can't take on the same appearance after finding a new body to use ?(I didnt realize it was a physical body, thought it was more of a manifestation attached to her relic) I would really hate to lose her, as she blew me away with her acting and involvement in her character.
My biggest complaints are likely Mercy and John Alden. But Mercy is more just my opinion sort of thing. They could of let her die in the finale. However, John Alden was just bad writing all season long with no payoff, for me anyways. He could of stayed dead for this. Beyond those two things it ended up quite well.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the countess has to have someone go and collect her after her to death to brought back I guess, so she might not back for a while. But seems like she will at some point before the show ends. Mary will likely be brought back by her son/Lucifer, maybe they will make that interesting.
But seriously they should write John Alden better or kill him off because they really don't know what to do with him. But it might of been is motivation has the key problem for me. The first 2/3 of his arc this season made up to nothing. Even the end result was not really that enetertaining.
For a long time, I was wondering what they were doing with John's character as he seemed to be a little lost after his initiation by the native americans. It was such a shame too because his story had so much potential as he was the new "witch hunter" but that went pretty much nowhere. Things got more interesting when Mary found out he was alive as it gave him purpose again as they worked towards saving their son. Now they're both parents that have lost their son so I can't wait to see where that goes in season 3. With Mercy, I feel like she has so much potential going forward too as Salem's new boogeyman. I wanted her to die at the start of the season as I was totally Team Mary, and I still am Team Mary but I love how they developed Mercy and what the future may hold for her. You are right about John though, how 2/3 of the season he was just floating around, then got kidnapped and chained for a couple of episodes, and only then he had purpose. I'm sure season 3 will be better for John :) Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts Tesla!
ReplyDeleteAww thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and leaving your first comment here, totally appreciate it and would have loved to talk Salem with you all season long! Maybe for season 3 you'll be a regular ;) Thanks so much for noticing the passion I feel for the show - it truly is incredible and I'm glad there are fans like you that feel the same for this amazing show!
ReplyDeleteLucy Lawless was phenomenal in her role as The Countess, she was like a Goddess and she elevated the show to new heights! Unfortunately yeah, should the Countess come back, she will be in a totally new body. Remember the flashbacks to her past when Increase Mather showed up, and it showed the Countess through time and she assumed different bodies every time she came back. The body she was using during season 2 is dead, which means Lucy Lawless won't be coming back. But who knows? Maybe flashbacks, maybe they can work around it? I mean, Lucy had nothing but great things to say about working on the show and the cast and crew loved having her, so it would be a shame if that was it. Don't rule anything out but don't get your hopes up too much for her to return - as heartbreaking as it is to me to say. The next body and new actress will have mighty big shoes to fill.
Thanks for your awesome comment Ron and thanks for always participating in the discussions here for Salem this season! Always appreciated! You hit the nail on the head in your own review of the episode there - evil won in the end which makes the future of Salem so bleak and ultimately wonderful for us as an audience anticipating where they will go next.
ReplyDeleteI think the most heartbreaking moment was when Cotton revealed he loved Anne before, and she had ruined things by quickening the process with her spell and thus tarnishing the trust Cotton had for her. How will they ever recover now? Anne has stepped over the line, I think, and it will take more than a spell for Cotton to forgive her.
Haha totally agree about Tituba. She's a powerful-ass witch and she didn't use one spell to protect herself, or kill some of the birds? Unless she let it happen because she knew she wouldn't die and she didn't want to p*ss the Dark Lord off any more than she already had. I hope she does survive and she isn't totally blind as I want some happiness for her.
You're right about John saying "I love you" a little too late, but this will be exciting to explore in season 3. Their love developed when John found out they had a son and they worked hard to save him - showing John that Mary had some humanity left in her, as well as goodness. Anne on the other hand has shown the opposite so let's see if Cotton will become the next John and Anne become the next Mary.
I'd totally love to see Tituba and Mary fight to get out of Hell, which is probably where they ended up. I can imagine season 3 being set in Hell for Mary, Tituba and Samuel - the good doctor - and they can all end up escaping. Or Sebastian will resurrect Mary, or the Dark Lord will. There are a lot of people that want Mary alive actually so who knows what will happen next!
So relieved you loved the finale as much as I did as I thought I may have over-sold it in my advance preview but I was so excited by it and loved it so I wanted everyone to know that, to me, it was epic haha, but glad you agree. And thanks so much for the kind words Ron, you are awesome to talk Salem with!!
Ooo I will check out your review! What did you think of 1 & 2 then, since you didn't like 3 and 6, and loved 4 and 5?
ReplyDeleteThank you :D
ReplyDeleteFirst, thank you Gavin for your great reviews and interview. They are so good that I feel the need to comment even though English is not my main language and I’m often too lazy to contribute on English speaking forums.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this season 2. It’s one of the best I’ve ever seen in any TV series, and I really hope there will be a third one.
However, the finale is good but not great.
The good:
- The Dark Lord really IS evil
- Anne and Cotton. It’s crazy, it’s horrible… and it’s great. A “good” witch cannot be, and we are just witnessing Anne’s slow downfall…
- Tituba’s Hitchcockian end was awful (I hope she’s not dead because this character deserves more developments)
- Mercy is still there. Yes, I love this crazy witch.
- Sebastian! We were all waiting for him to move and he did! Very interesting character.
The bad:
Unfortunately, in this last episode, the writers have slightly messed up a character which was memorable and perfectly crafted until now: Countess von Marburg.
Ok, she had to die. This we all knew. And being killed by the Dark Lord was one of the only
way to not make it look impossible (he’s the only one powerful enough and who she would not try to fight back).
However, I’ve been disappointed by the fight between Mary and the Countess. The images were
beautiful and, as usual, the lines were delightful and perfectly played by Janet and Lucy. I understand that being “in the wood” was an advantage for Mary, but the Countess is lot more powerful than what we saw. At first, I event thought she didn’t wanted to fight back because of her sorrow after the Dark Lord made it clear that it was Mary he wanted but it was out of character. If Anne was able to do what she did to end it (the rain), Ingrid should have been able to do it too or at least to fight back.
I do agree that empathy is not the best skill of an ooooold witch, but it was silly to see the Countess trust Sebastian to kill Mary after he wronged her about John Alden in the previous episode and expressed his love for her so many times. It was totally stupid for her to think she could hide this to the Dark Lord.
A smart character with more experience than all the others alltogether doing such big mistakes? Come on… Countess Marburg is one of the best villain I’ve seen in a TV series and that’s why I’m a little bit disappointed by those choices made by the writers. These errors wasted the character’s coherence a little.
I’ve already stated it last week, but I cannot stress enough how much I loved every Lucy Lawless appearance on the screen. Although I’m sure Ash vs Evil Dead will be good, I can’t help but thinking it’s not the type of show where her character will be as interesting and multi-dimensional as the Countess.
Regarding Mary’s death, we all know if there is another season she will most certainly be back. However, I for one would find it interesting if this major character is really dead. I do love Janet Montgomery and she would be missed but it would add something tragic to the show (no need to become the new GoT and kill everybody, though).
It would maybe give a new dimension to a mourning John Alden who have been so underused on this season. And the Dark Lord would have to look for another Queen to replace her.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with me, even if English isn't your first language (totally couldn't tell by the way). I love your thoughts, and you raise some very good points actually. The Countess made some very silly mistakes in this finale which, as you said, was out of character for her. She just watched the Dark Lord punish Mercy and Tituba for what they did to Mary, so why did she think she would get away with getting her son to kill her? The same son that has been fascinated by Mary since before he even laid eyes on her! I can see your disappointment, and I was expecting a bit more fighting from the Countess in the church - maybe she knew Mary wasn't strong enough to defeat her so she didn't really bother in the fight? It could show that her arrogance got the better of her.
ReplyDeleteI hope Ash vs Evil Dead will be good too and worth Lucy's talent, but yeah, you're right, her character may not be as multi-dimensional or wickedly awesome as the Countess. As for Mary, Brannon Braga basically confirmed she will be back next season - but how she will come back will be the mystery. I look forward to seeing how they pull it off, but you're right, no need to go all Game of Thrones on us. I will be totally devastated if they kept Mary dead :( John should hopefully get more material next season now both his true love and son are dead.
Thanks so much for reading and leaving your wonderful comment!
I hate to say it, but I found the finale a bit anti-climactic. I feel like episode 12 could have been a better finale, with a few tweaks. There were good things about the finale- the Mary-Countess confrontation, the Anne-Cotton scenes and a lot of John Jr.'s scenes. I especially loved that scene where he starts out all "mother, tell me a story" and then reminisces about raping her in the woods. Lovely. I have to say, as good a job as Oliver Bell is doing, I need the Dark Lord to either swap bodies or age up, because there's a limit to what they can have this kid say or do and while he does a good job with the creepy, there were scenes where he lacked a bit of nuance, he was a creepy spoiled brat, which is good, but I want a bit more from the Dark Lord.
ReplyDeleteI read that the writers are invested in the Anne-Cotton love story and to be honest, that worries me a bit, because unlike them, I do think there's a line you can't cross and I believe Anne crossed it. I liked that Cotton called her out on stealing his free will, even if he conveniently said he always loved her, so that mitigates the love spell a bit. But if you could explain away every other instance and say Anne felt she had no choice or did it to save Cotton's life, here it was purely selfish- she could have ran away with him, but she chose not to, she wanted to stay in Salem, she wanted to retain her power and she wanted Cotton by her side against his will. Shoving Brown Jenkins down Cotton's throat was brutal and she really did become S1 Mary.
God I wish the writers would get over whatever infatuation they have with Elise Eberle and kill Mercy off. I also hate the voice she does when she's "burned". I was hoping Isaac would throw the torch at her and kill her, but seeing as how she survived a burning already, I doubt he would have even succeeded. Isaac really didn't do much this episode, hope he becomes relevant next season.
I hope Tituba isn't dead. Clearly Mary will be resurrected, I'm not even worried about that, Tituba was the only real cliffhanger this episode, as far as I'm concerned.
I really liked Sebastian this episode. You could argue between his mother's treatment and seeing how Mary cares for her son it changed something in him and that's why he let her go to her true love. Or you could say he stabbed John and knew he was dying, so there was no harm in letting her go to him, because he also said "when you're done with your past and I'm done with mine, perhaps we'll meet again", I don't think he expected her to have a lot of time to spend with John and obviously he didn't think she'd give up her life for him.
John didn't do anything this episode. While I liked his scene with his Native friends, once again we learn nothing about them, their magic, that damn ritual, so it was a nice scene, but it frustrated me.
The Countess really was naive if she thought Sebastian would do as she said, considering his Mary obsession and that the Dark Lord would buy it and not take his anger out on her. But I guess love makes fools of us all. Lucy did a great job this season, it would be interesting in the future to see a different actress take, but not for a while.
I did enjoy this season, I was just a bit let down with the finale, since the only real cliffhanger for me is Tituba, we all knew the Countess would die and I'm not invested in the Cotton/Anne love story, because of all its issues. Clearly Mary won't stay dead, but it was still a great redemption arc for her this season and I enjoyed her journey. John's story this season was beyond a mess and pointless, Mercy should be dead by now and Isaac is 90% useless most of the time. Those are a few of my S2 issues, despite thoroughly enjoying this season.
I was mostly talking about John's side of things. I was fine with what they did with Mary. He just did not seem to get much out of it.
ReplyDeleteI think 1 is a classic. 2 was sort of a repeat. But I highly recommend 4 and 5.
ReplyDeleteThank you for a thoughtful, balanced and clear review of Salem- Show of the year! All aspects of it, direction,acting, production, filming were superlative and I couldn't wait until Sunday nights. I do differ with on one opinion. While the regular cast was brilliant, acting their hearts out, Lucy Lawless brought a higher level of acting to the production. Lucy managed a layered,nuanced, subtle performance by her timing,silences, facial and body expression that no one else approached. The Countess is a difficult part, tempting to play her as just a monster, but Lucy chose a more complex navigation-she made her more real with touches of sadness, tongue in cheek humor, imperiousness and guil.
ReplyDeletee, but her true heart's desire rejecting her, crushed her. Watching Lucy play the Countess coming apart with the Dark Lord not wanting her conveyed pathos,desperation,disbelief and utter despair. When Mary says to her that he didn't want you, but me, Lucy's face flashed shock,hurt,anger, and despair that Mary was right. The Church scene was absolutely the best, but the high drama may have eclipsed the layered performance that Lucy delivered. She is not only technically a better actor than the others, but able to convey a veracity to her character that captured a full person, however villanous-I cried when the Dark Lord called her out and killed her-the disbelief,shock as her world came appart was overwhelming as was her whispering with her dying breath, Brill"Sebastian"-as if in apology. Lucy gave us a breath-taking performance while the rest of the cast was just outstanding!!!!
I cannot fathom why Salem didn't win every award given-it was a masterpiece and a tragedy in the true meaning of the term. .All around unique and brilliant. I really loved your review
another small point-the symbolism of the apple was really about the Serpant in the Garden of Eden tempting Eve with knowledge-it was a point made earlier in the show and echoed by Ann's telling Cotton what it is like to be a woman in that time and how bei
ReplyDeleteIvyB, Anne & Cotton love storyline will not appeal well to the heart of SALEM because Mary & John is the KEY of love storyline of SALEM. Mary & John born in Salem not Anne !!! but Anne & Cotton Love storyline must tell to Salem because SHE was Witch !! John & Cotton in love with witches :)) Every love story happens in Salem always CONNECTED to Mary & John. I disagree with John being not much play roles in S1 & S2 because Adam & Brannon always place John in important part roles cross with Mary all the time even Adam say S1 & S2 is about Mary not others but NOW games CHANGES !!!!! Remember Mercy is the first witch Mary MAKE :) you don't kills your own BLOODS !!! Bloods is Bloods stay together in Good or worse battles :) Now John has Mary Bloods too :)) cant wait S3 how John love that Bloods :)))
ReplyDeleteGavin, Do you THINK John Alden will be Dark Lord growth MAN characters in S3 because Dark Lord talks about FAMILY in S2 finales episode. Dark Lord have every things he wanted, Mary ( mother ) John ( father ) & John Jr = Family & Bloods !!!! Royal marriage & a consummation = John & Mary because of John Jr need a Home with Family !!! when John Jr growing be Man, Dark Lord kill John ( father ) take over body take care SALEM with Mary and other Witches !!!! FAMILY is the interesting words in S3 :))
ReplyDeleteI never said John wasn't important in S1, I was talking about the first half of S2 and the very last episode. I was talking about the damn ritual we never got an explanation for and him being a flop witch killer, lurking in the shadows and hardly even killing anyone.
ReplyDeleteWell, Mary doesn't have to kill Mercy, someone else can do it.
Good idea and theory about the Dark Lord maybe taking over John's body - it certainly could happen. I doubt the show would go as far as having a consummation between a grown adult woman and a young boy, so either that plan fails or the Dark Lord inhabits another body. Maybe he will age quickly? He has a lot of power, I'm sure he can d anything he wants :)
ReplyDeleteAhh I love that symbolism! Yeah, I thought it was pretty neat how the knife the Countess ate the apple off spelled her doom - like how the apple Eve ate brought her to being banished from the Garden of Eden and rejected by God, and the Countess was rejected by the Devil. Love the connections to the Genesis story of the Bible.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for reading and sharing your brilliant thoughts on the finale Patricia! Definite show of the year, we can't praise it enough! What are we going to do Sunday nights now :( It's going to be an awful long wait until season 3! I agree about Lucy - she added a whole new dimension to the show with her beautiful portrayal of the Countess. What a villain, but as you said, definitely more real with a touch of sadness.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, and that part when the Dark Lord rejected her definitely solicited sympathy for her, from me, as the audience. She had a purpose and we could relate to that purpose, so it was very sad she ended up killed by her true love. You really did sum Lucy's performance up perfectly and I couldn't agree more.
Salem deserves so much recognition for the acting and process that goes into the show - the creators and writers put so much thought into it to make it come to life. And thanks so much for the kind words.
You know me too well. :)
ReplyDeleteJust hearing Little John talk about consummating with Mary creeps me out, I definitely need an older actor if they even think about going there (and Mary already has like 3 love interests, so we'll see if the Dark Lord decides to wait until he's older or- sorry, I wan't even type out that sentence, but if so, he needs to be an adult).
I do love that Anne became a darker character, but the writers can't eat their cake and have it whole- she crossed a line and if Cotton forgives her for this/wants to be with her (outside of whatever effect the love spell has on him) I will lose all respect for his character and the writers. This is not romantic, this is not sweet, this is the second time Anne took away his free will and if this was a guy doing it to a girl, I'd like to see people still supporting the romance. George might have deserved what was coming to him, but I don't think his poor wife deserved to be assassinated so Mary could take her place. And still I think what was done to George was pretty awful, even if it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
I'll give them a chance to win me over next season with Isaac and Mercy, but Tituba better be alive, because I'd rather both of them die and get to keep Tituba. That scene with the crows was definitely well done.
I'm not saying Sebastian didn't do something nice because Mary got to him, but I'm just saying, let's not forget he's the one who stabbed John and knows it's lethal and that while he was doing it he was taunting him about remembering the look in his eye while he sleeps with Mary. I love that Sebastian is complex, that he can be utterly despicable to Mercy and get rid of Mary's suitors, but you can also see how much his mother's disdain of him hurts him, how he longs for affection and how there's some humanity still left in him.
Personally I'd also be ok with the Countess never resurfacing, she was a great character, but I don't think we need her back, especially not in another body. The John is dead scene was done well, but would it have killed them to have another short scene between John and the Natives and give us some info about the ritual, how changed he is or tease about something for next season, so that it doesn't feel like his scenes this episode were pretty pointless?
I really enjoyed this season, even if the end was a bit disappointing. I'm really hoping next season isn't another ritual they need to accomplish, because two seasons of that is enough, it's about time the town went through hell and the witches took over. I absolutely loved reading your reviews this season and discussing the show with you- there's definitely not a lot of love for the show, so there's not a lot of discussion to be had. Crossing my fingers you get to interview the creators again and that we get a S3. Thanks so much for your lovely, in depth reviews and the interview you did, it definitely enriched my viewing experience.
Gosh I forgot they basically killed George's wife so Mary could be his new wife. I remember it now, that was really horrid. I would also trade both Isaac and Mercy for Tituba. There's so much rich history with Tituba that we know nothing about - we need to learn more about her.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it would have killed the writers to include one little scene to explain things, but as Adam Simon said, I think they want to go through all that in season 3 and not give too much away this season. But some hint or indication that the storyline was going somewhere, that it was still relevant, would have been good. I would also be okay with the Countess never resurfacing and instead they explore other characters. I don't necessarily mean villain-of-the-season characters, but the Dark Lord should be the main focus now.
I also agree about ritual of the season too, and I'm sure season 3 will be more about Mary taking down the Dark Lord, or something along those lines. Thanks for the kind words, it is very appreciated. I agree that there isn't many places to discuss Salem, I'm very glad my reviews have provided so much for you and hopefully other fans :D
I've never had the best of memory, but I do remember some things, it seems like my job here is to remind you of all the awful things Mary and Co. did in S1. I love her and loved her arc this season, but it doesn't make those innocent people any less dead. Tituba as a character has a lot more potential than either Isaac or Mercy who have done very little to win me over in 2 seasons.
ReplyDeleteI would have been ok with the "wait until S3" approach if we got anything about John and the Natives this season. John's whole story line this season until he and Mary met again was a complete waste, as far as I'm concerned, the writers can't just say 'wait until a potential season 3 to get any answers', we needed some now, even if it's just hints or teases. It's just poor story telling.
The Dark Lord should definitely be the main focus now, that and Mary possibly trying to take him down or stop him from destroying Salem. Maybe, John is thought to be a witch, Mary has no standing in town, it should be interesting to see what those two do next season (hopefully no more skulking).