Based on historical people such as John Alden, Salem uses the witch hunts of the late 1600’s as the backdrop for this sexy and somewhat violent new show.
Set in the volatile world of 17th century Massachusetts, Salem explores what really fueled the town’s infamous witch trials and dares to uncover the dark, supernatural truth hiding behind the veil of this infamous period in American history. In Salem, witches are real, but they are not who or what they seem.
The Plot
John Alden leaves for the French and Indian war in order to escape Salem and disdain of George Sibley. He leaves behind his love, Mary who unfortunately gets pregnant. In order to escape the persecution of being an unmarried, pregnant woman Marry enlists the help of Tituba. She introduces Mary to witchcraft.
John returns from the war seven years later to find Mary married to George Sibley and Salem beginning its full blown witch hunt lead by Cotton Mather. John doesn’t believe in witches and is angry over Mary’s marriage.
John and Mary are adversarial towards one and other. She believed him to be dead and he feels betrayed. John begs Mary to run away with him to New York where the Puritans don’t rule. Mary insists she can’t leave.
Mercy is a girl being used by the witches. Cotton Mather drags her into the town square to point out the witches and she points to John’s friend, who happens to know that Mary aborted John’s baby. Giles is killed for not admitting he is a witch.
The ultimate twist is who Mary is working with and her end goal which is to run the witch trials herself in order to pit the Puritans against each other. It is hard to tell from just the first episode if this show is brilliant or borders on crazy but it is worth watching at least a few episodes to find out.
The Magic
The magic of Salem isn’t witchcraft like we see in most books and television shows. This magic is based on the use of familiars, animals that feed off of the witches, to control their subjects. There is also an extreme element of lust and sex involved in the magic.Now she and several other towns people worship with the devil in order to control the town. People dance around in animal heads worshiping on the full moon. It definitely makes for an interesting visual.
Overall, Salem is an intriguing new show that will appeal to those who like Game of Thrones and American Horror Story. It lends itself to the bizarre and that isn’t a bad thing. Whether or not the mythology holds up over time is unclear. For right now the most intriguing part of the story is Mary who gave everything up because she thought her true love was dead only to have him return. The conflict between Mary and John will be a driving force in the story line of good verses evil.
