This past week, I finished a couple of newer witch-related TV shows. One was because we watched it all, and the other was because I just couldn't finish it. Both were based on popular books.
A Discovery of Witches
This was the treatment of Deborah Harkness's books. I read book 1 and book 2 some time back and had issues with them, enough that I avoided the series until now. But my wife wanted to watch it, and who am I to say no?
Well. I am happy to report that the series was much better than the books. A lot of what annoyed me about the books was lessened or done differently when it hit the small screen. Diana Bishop was much more assertive in this, and any issues she had with being uncertain about the world of "creatures" were just that: uncertainty about a world she had chosen not to participate in not because she deflected to Matthew all the time. She even showed off some power which was nice.
The casting was good, really, with Alex Kingston as a constant favorite. Matthew Goode performed well as the vampire Matthew Clairmont, making him much more interesting than he was on the page. Teresa Palmer was good as the witch Diana, though often I felt the script worked against the part she was trying to play. There were moments when the Diana I wanted to see came out. But maybe my expectations were out of line. Swedish actress Malin Buska was Finnish witch Satu Järvinen, who got a much larger role in television. Honestly, I wanted a lot more of her. Even Emily gets better treatment here, even though she still dies in the end of Season 2/Book 2. But it was not an empty, off stage death like it was in the books.
They made a little more sense of the time travel aspects, which is good, cause the book made zero sense. Still the rules of Diana's Time-Walking are a bit fuzzy.
I can't judge how well the story in Season 3 stuck to the events in Book 3, but it was much better than expected series. It also was nice to watch a series with a proper beginning, middle, and end.
It was produced by Doctor Who's Bad Wolf Studio, which also gave us the televised version of "His Dark Materials" (for more great witch moments). Netflix described it as "Outlander meets Twilight," and that is fair.
All in all, it was enjoyable and redeemed the books in my mind. I mean, I am not going back to re-read them, but the bad after-taste is gone.
Mayfair WitchesI really, really, REALLY wanted to enjoy this one. The AMC version of "Interview with a Vampire" has been great even with, or maybe because of, the changes. And I loved Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches books. Well...the first two anyway. And I adore Alexandra Daddario, who I still hope will get to play Zatanna one day soon.
But this show is a train wreck. Ok, the casting is great really. Harry Hamlin is brilliant as Cortland Mayfair, Beth Grant gave us a Carlotta Mayfair you both want to hate and understand at the same time.
But there are just so many places where this show doesn't fall short; it falls right on its face.
Lasher is just annoying. Not the evil pervasive influence in the lives of the Mayfairs, but more like a stalker boyfriend or that ghost Beverly Crusher was having sex with in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
And where the hell is Michael Curry? Some other characters are missing or seem to be merged with others. For example, Ciprien Grieve seems to be a combination between Aaron Lightner and Michael Curry.
There is also a fair share of "idiot plot" here, the characters, who should be smarter than this, doing stupid things.
I am not sure how far I am in this one, but I am ready to bail. I mean it has been 25+ years since I read these books, maybe my opinion of them could be less favorable now, but the series is just not great.
Netflix still has a few more witch series I can check out, maybe one of the European ones I should check out.
Honorable (??) mention, TidelandsOk. I am slightly embarrassed to admit this one.
Described as "beautiful garbage" by IMDB it is really an excuse to watch attractive Australian people run around without any clothes on. It deals with a group of people known as "Tidelanders" who are the offspring of sirens. They have a drug smuggling operation to fund their Queen's (Elsa Pataky) search for an ancient Sumerian (sure why not) clay horn that summons sirens (their mothers) and maybe destroys all the men in world? or Humans? Not clear. There is a rogue Tidelander, Cal aka Caliope (Charlotte Best), who spent 10 years in jail for a murder her human mother set her up for. She is really a powerful Tidelander and her brother (full human) sells all the drugs.
Cal takes a lot of showers, a lot of baths, has sex with a lot of people and learns that the Queen wants her dead.
The series ends on a cliffhanger and that was from 2018. Though given the lifespan of Tidelanders Season 2 could take place 10 from now.
Why mention it? Well, it came up on my suggested watching and I was done with Mayfair Witches. My wife and binged watched the whole thing just to see how bad it would be. Spoiler it was bad. But like I said beautiful garbage.
Maybe I should go back to watching questionable and dubious documentaries on Tubi.
Use in NIGHT SHIFT
I think I have done witches in NIGHT SHIFT, but the idea of Tidelanders, or more specifically the offspring of sirens or mermaids, has not been done by me.
Daughters of TiamatI'll take the Sumerian horn seriously for a minute and say that these half-sirens are offspring of the ancient Goddess Tiamat. Back when she was spawning monsters to fight the new Gods, one of her creatures was the Siren. Their role was to seduce and kill Tiamat's enemies. They also worshipped Dagon, but their ancestry is from Tiamat.
Sirens (full or half) gain the following abilities.
Saving Throws: Sirens gain +3 to Toughness Saving throws. This increases by +1 per 3 levels (3, 6, 9, etc.)
Ability Bonus: Sirens gain +1 to Strength and +1 to Toughness. This may raise their abilities above 20.
Sea Adapted: Sirens can breathe air or water with equal ease. Full-blooded sirens adapt quickly, while half-sirens need one round to fully adapt to breathing the new element. Additionally, Sirens can see in darker depths and withstand the pressures of deep-sea life.
Charming Voice: Sirens can charm as per the spell. Once per day per the number of character levels the siren has.
Slow Aging: Sirens age slower than humans to age of about 300 years. Subject to their Feed (below).
The Feed: Sirens must return to the water, particularly the oceans or seas, or they will begin to lose their abilities and age like humans. Abilities are lost at random for each month, whether the half-siren is land-bound or each day, the full-blooded siren is.
Many sirens also believe that they must lure a human to the water to drown. In truth, they are compelled to do so, and they do derive pleasure from the act, but it is not required to keep their powers.
