Final Thoughts: MAYFAIR WITCHES Episode 8 “What Rough Beast” (What a Rough Show)

Well, I’ve survived watching the season finale of the Mayfair Witches. Oh boy! The entire season was a rough-watch to get through because it completely disrespects Anne Rice’s Mayfair Trilogy and it does not capture the soul of her books. I am so done with the show. (Spoilers)

Overall, the first season’s goal was to set up Lasher’s reincarnation to become a living person and that’s his ultimate plan for his witches. The Mayfairs have been interbreeding for thirteen generations to produce a powerful witch who will be able to give birth to a Taltos. (They’ve haven’t mentioned Taltos yet). Lasher is a Taltos species who breed like rabbits in order repopulate their own kind. Rowan is the 13th witch or “the doorway” in making this prophecy coming true.

How does Lasher achieve coming into the world of the living? Rowan is now pregnant and Ciprien is the father of the child. While Rowan is passed out by a gunshot wound, Lasher takes her to his memory labyrinth of Suzanne’s (the first-gen witch) home. He shows her magical spells written on the walls such as an ability to heal. Rowan is able to conjure up magical abilities through Lasher. Rowan being turned on by this, she has ghost sex with him. Then, he latches onto her baby, it grows rapidly inside her and giving birth to a demon boy, Lasher.

We also learn that the Talamasca were the bad guys all along. Yes, this is true to the books (in Lasher and Taltos). There are a small group of people in the Order who wants to capture Lasher/Taltos and use them for their own pet project. But they should of set this up from the beginning. Instead of giving us a subplot about a group of anti-witch conspirators, which served no purpose. The Talamasca are a big part of the story, as well as some are part of the Mayfair legacy. The show needs to make it clear: what are the characters motivations? and what do they serve to advance the story? And, it hasn't built up any tension or mystery leading up to the Talamasca’s goals.

Cortland was working with the Talamasca and helping Lasher in fulfilling his prophecy all along. In exchange, Lasher gives him immortality as a gift. (Huh?) In the book, Lasher has no such power doing this. He does not fulfill wishes to a non-designee like a genie. That’s not how he works. Book Cortland absolutely hates the Talamsaca and wants nothing to do with them. He did want to control Lasher for himself. But this angered Lasher and that’s why he ended up dead.

The most disturbing twist we learn about Cortland is that he raped his niece, Deirdre. He also sent an assassin to kill her (which did not happen in the book) and he's Rowan's real father. But the most hilarious way he gets “killed” off is that Rowan turns him into stone. Apparently, Rowan has medusa powers now, thanks to Lasher, who transferred all of his powers to her. Lasher does not have medusa powers and he never transfers any magical powers to Rowan after he is born. In fact, book Rowan already has the ability to read minds, heal, and other psychic powers. All of these traits are passed down from her family through the heredity genes.

There are themes of science and magic both intertwined in the original story. The show never acknowledges this, maybe they’ll save this for season 2, (idk). And, they seem to forget that Rowan is kind of a mad doctor/scientist. She’s interested in researching about the advances in science and curing diseases. That’s the main reason why she became attracted to Lasher, besides the amazing sex. She looks at him as a science experiment that needs to be studied. With the Mayfair money, she (not Jojo) starts her own medical hospitals, the Mayfair Medical.          

I don’t mind that they let Cortland be part of the Talamasa’s evil scheme. But we need to see this set up as well. Cortland doesn’t show up that often in the show. We don’t see him lurking around and doing more odd things in the background. I don’t see other characters interacting with his presences more often, like his daughter, Jojo, who practically lives with him. It’s only in the last episode where she starts to have doubts about him. (Girl, where have you been?!) There’s no build-up to any of this. Cortland should of had a more active role, when he’s part of the big reveal-twist.

I’ve noticed that the show emasculates Ciprien. He is supposed to have Michael Curry’s personality trait. So he should be a fighter, lover and a risk taker who will do anything to protect the people he loves. He is Rowan's anchor to keep her ground throughout the crazy witch-shit. Instead, the show treats him as a shallow-wimpy character. It’s a disservice to Tongayi Chirisa and we won’t get to see his acting range because the writing is so terrible. I will say this again: Why can’t play he as Michael? Why is Micheal missing from the show? Maybe, it's not a good idea to mash two characters (Michael and Aaron) into one person.

After Cip discovers the Talamasca’s secret agenda, he tells Albrecht, his boss, that he is still part of the prophecy and they can’t get rid of him just yet. Actually no, he has already fulfilled his purpose which is to father a child with Rowan. There’s nothing more to it than that. His boss easily accepts his word without any push back. Now, he goes along with the Order’s plan to take the baby away from Rowan. I’m confused on what is Cip and Rowan’s current relationship status. Does he love her or not?

I almost forgot that Cip has a sister named Odette, who works as a surrogate mother. She’s been kidnapped by the Talamasca because she’s lactating. They might use her as a wet nurse for baby Lasher. Why? They never establish her to be essential to the story. So, why drag her into this mess at the last second? I think a better plan would be wait until Lasher grows into an adult, only takes a couple of hours, and then confront him. Good luck trying to pry the baby from Rowan who has God-like powers to smite them.  

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Season 1 is a terrible mess and leaves a bad impression on me. The show cheapens Rice’s work because there is so much more to the story than what you see here. The TV creators has stripped out all of the gothic-sexiness, mysticism, and supernatural-romanticism which makes it interesting and entertaining. There’s no excuse for fucking this up when they have entire source material right in front of them. Just follow the book, pick the important pieces and make it cohesive. There’s really no need to add more fanfic characters and dead-end subplots, when there's plenty of material they could have used in the book.

The Mayfair Witches makes the Interview with the Vampire (2022) a much better TV adaptation because it respects Anne Rice’s storytelling and carries the soul of her books. In Interview, the character’s motivations are clearly stated and they follow similar paths as the books. It also doesn’t waste any time to get to the meat of the story and the interpersonal relationships are better developed. For example, Lestat and Louis’s romantic bond are clearly shown on-screen and you see their progression of their relationship. Unlike Cip and Rowan’s relationship, they didn’t show much of their growing courtship on-screen and it doesn’t give me a reason to care about them. Which is such a let down because their relationship is a big part of the story. They lean on each other to get though the dark and twisted hardships. Now, they’ve changed their status from lovers to enemies. (WTF!)  

I don’t mind that show creators rearranges some scenes and take shortcuts to condense the plot in order to fit into a TV series. But make it make sense! They’ve made many odd changes and added their own “modern” interpretations that doesn’t make any sense to the original source material. Even their non-book characters, don’t add any value to the story. The more they diverge from the book, it becomes a soulless and unrecognizable adaptation. The TV Mayfair creators has turned the adaptation into their fanfic, instead of trying to interpret what the book author is trying to convey. 

I question the writers if they are incompetent or they’re not ready to handle this adaptation. I hope they take some notes from Interview, listen to the audience’s feedback, and fix their mistakes (if it’s not too late).  The Mayfairs do cross over to the vampire side. I worry how will their bad writing affect the whole series. If they really want the show to last more than 2 season, they better make some fast course correction.

I have no intentions in watching Season 2. Unless, if I hear some buzz words that season 2 is better than first, then I might reconsider. Until then, I’ve lost faith in the show. It’s heart breaking that the show disrespects Rice’s storytelling. (Go read the books instead).