Wicked and Enchanting. Retrospective: Witches of East End - "Pilot"

Season 1, Episode 1

Airdate: Saturday, October 6, 2013 at 10 pm ET/PT on Lifetime

Rating: ★★★★★

“I bring joy and drunkenness to people in need.” – Freya

October marks a spooky season full of monsters and all things that go bump in the night. So, what better way to begin the month than with Lifetime’s brand new fall series, Witches of East End. Based on Melissa de la Cruz‘s popular book series of the same name, the story centers on the Beauchamps—a family of witches whose magical legacy is ripe with curses, murder, and mystery.

As soon as the episode starts, the hypnotic music of Zola Jesus’ “In Your Nature” is playing, creating an air of suspense. The camera settles on the image of an illustrious estate known as Fair Haven, as groups of well-dressed people arrive for some kind of celebration. Meanwhile, just outside the property, a mysterious woman in black is drawing odd symbols in the dirt. In typical horror-like fashion, a couple taking a moonlit stroll with their dog crosses her path. This doesn’t go so well; let’s just say a lot of screaming ensues before the scene abruptly fades to black. It’s this type of set up that catches your attention and makes you eager for answers to the questions you’re already asking.

Meet the Beauchamps

In stark contrast to the opening, the next scene introduces us to sisters Freya (Jenna Dewan-Tatum), a bartender who is outspoken and savvy, and Ingrid (Rachel Boston), a shy librarian who prides herself in logic and reason. They’re dressed up in their finest, and rushing to leave the house. Apparently, the party is to celebrate Freya’s engagement to the wealthy and handsome Dash Gardiner (Eric Winters), the man of her dreams—or is he? Witches of East End doesn’t waste time foreshadowing love triangles.

Ingrid: “It’s your engagement party. Of course, you’re nervous.”

Freya: “No, it’s not that. I feel off. I had the strangest dream last night. There was this guy, and I’d never seen him before…but I felt like I’d known him forever. And then he kissed me, and the world exploded.”

Ingrid: “That is a classic anxiety dream. You are worried about getting married. It’s a big step, so you create a dream scenario about the perfect guy who doesn’t actually exist.”

Sure, the romantic plot device of unrequited love and soul mates has been done to death but the immediate chemistry among the cast, as well as the humorous dialogue make Witches of East End worthwhile. Yet, this series is more than a love story. It has a lot of twists, one of which includes Ingrid and Freya’s mother, Joanna Beauchamp (Julia Ormond), who they bump into on their way out to the party. Surprise! She’s the mystery woman in black we saw earlier.

Blood, Sex, and Magic

Once at Fair Haven, Freya and Ingrid begin to have strange encounters. While meandering in one of the many hallways, Ingrid notices a photo of two women holding broomsticks, one is a raven haired beauty wearing an emerald pendant, and the other woman who looks exactly like her. When she pulls the picture out of its frame, it instantly dissolves in her hands. It takes her by surprise, and begs the question: What is the Beauchamps’ connection to Fair Haven and magic itself?

Interestingly, Freya discovers the man in her dreams is very much real. Ingrid tries to reason with her, explaining the logistics and coincidence of the matter. Yet, Freya seems unable to control her emotions; the white flower in her hair magically shifts to red. This is the first major sign of Freya’s magical abilities, a power triggered by her emotions.

Complicating matters, Freya learns her dream lover is Dash’s brother, Killian (Daniel DiTomasso), who just happens to be in town. It’s not long before Freya is inexplicably drawn to Killian. As if in a trance, Freya follows him upstairs and in a complete lapse of judgment, ends up kissing him—an event that literally goes up in flames. Eventually, Freya runs off and in the wake of her path, flowers burst open, throwing petals in the air. It’s a beautiful and romantic image but still a bit melodramatic.

The most obvious difference between the TV series and the books is Freya and Ingrid’s knowledge of their magical abilities. While this could be a problem with some adaptations to the screen, it works in this show’s favor, allowing there to be layers of drama apart from the romantic tensions.

Witchy Women

One of the best subplots in Witches of East End is the arrival of Joanna’s sister Wendy (Mädchen Amick). Her curse allows her to shape shift into a black cat with nine lives. She’s also the woman Ingrid saw in the mysterious photo at Fair Haven. Her presence brings a lot to light about the powers of the Beauchamps. While Joanna and Wendy are immortal, each has a curse that has different consequences. Joanna’s burden is motherhood; she must watch her daughters die at a young age, before the age of 30, over and over again.

Joanna: “Immortality with endless motherhood. Do you know how many times I’d given birth before they invented the epidural? Not to mention, even soap? Gross. ”

As Joanna and Wendy commiserate over their problems with glasses of absinthe, Wendy tells Joanna her true motive for visiting her. In one of her dreams, Wendy explains how she sees someone shapeshifting to look like Joanna, “Doing evil in your name.”

Wendy believes the shape shifter pretending to be Joanna plots to destroy the Beauchamps by getting to Freya and Ingrid. In an effort to make the first devastating move, the shape shifter unleashes an old enemy trapped in a family portrait. The last fifteen minutes of the episode ends up in a race against time with Freya’s life in danger, Wendy in a bloody mess, and Joanna giving Ingrid the CliffsNotes version of their magical powers.

Overall

Witches of East End is a great new addition to the fall lineup with a charismatic cast, and a suspenseful and intriguing premise. There will be comparisons to previous witch-related series like Charmed, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s been a while since a strong female ensemble were the lead characters. Amick and Ormond do an admirable job of playing sisters; they have an excellent rapport that makes their characters believable. The same can be said for Dewan-Tatum and Boston; they come across as very ying and yang. Together, all four women are a force to be reckoned with and a large part of what makes Witches of East End work—despite some of the exaggerated romantic scenes And, oh, what a doozy of a cliffhanger at the end of the series premiere!

Tune in to Witches of East End, Sundays at 10pm ET/PT, only on Lifetime.

Follow the series on its official site: http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/witches-of-east-end/.