‘Mayfair Witches’ Team Talks Rowan’s Powers, Moira’s Introduction & Talamasca in Season 2
Preview
Move over, Glinda. Here comes a wicked twist, fresh out of the coven! Season 2 of the gothic supernatural drama, based on Anne Rice’s bestselling Lives of the Mayfair Witches book trilogy, finds heroine Rowan Mayfair (Alexandra Daddario), a neurosurgeon descended from notorious New Orleans enchantresses, experiencing some horrific growing pains.
After giving birth to the human form of her diabolical phantom lover Lasher (Jack Huston) in the first-season finale, Rowan is now struggling to juggle motherhood with a newborn who is rapidly aging — and gearing up to end her bloodline, one witch at a time.
“Rowan has this very strange relationship with this child, in the most Anne Rice way,” showrunner Esta Spalding said with a laugh at the show’s panel during October’s New York Comic Con. “She was lovers with [Lasher] when he was a demon spirit, and now she is this creature’s mother. She also gets all of her witchy powers — both the healing powers she loves because she’s a doctor and also the destructive powers she is exploring more and more — from the child. Only when he’s [close] does she have those powers. He’s like a battery that charges her up.”
Thankfully, Rowan has some electrifying backup. In addition to the introduction of Ben Feldman (Superstore) as Rowan’s former flame Sam “Lark” Larkin, a genetics-startup CEO, the new season expands her magical family tree with the arrival of fiery cousin Moira Mayfair (Alyssa Jirrels) on the heels of the Season 1 death of her sister, Tessa.
Alexandra Daddario as Rowan Fielding, Alyssa Jirrels as Moira Mayfair, K. Steele as Evelynne Mayfair in Mayfair Witches Season 2 Episode 4 (Skip Bolen / AMC)
“Moira wants there to be justice in some way and wants there to be a change or an evolution [in how the family deals with Lasher], as opposed to it just being this pattern that happens with Lasher,” Jirrels offers. “And she’s the person who’s really lost somebody and she’s championing there to be a change and she’s not going to let it go. And yeah, Rowan, she’s no match for Moira.”
In fact, the two immediately butt heads as Rowan realizes that her cousin has more issues with the family than just how the family’s dealing with a demon-made-flesh. “[Moira’s] unwelcome,” Jirrels continues. “And you see it in her first scene.” Adding that the circumstances surrounding her return to New Orleans are “a bummer to go back to that,” the Fatal Attraction alum notes that she’s “really not home for any other reason. The only interaction that she has that is somewhat pleasant is at the bar with her friends and with Cip, I think. But otherwise she’s met with a lot of antagonist energy.”
So why is Moira the black sheep of the family? Jirrels explained at NYCC that “she reads minds, which makes her able to hear every thought that her family is thinking.” And you know the Mayfairs have some effed-up thoughts!
This not-so-secret weapon may come in handy once Rowan realizes she’ll need to rally as many Mayfairs as possible to stop her evil spawn from decimating the clan. But first, they’ll have to navigate an unexpected twist in the Mayfair family tree after hedonistic patriarch Cortland (Harry Hamlin) — last seen frozen in stone — manifests a supernatural ability to connect with his cruel late father Julien (Ted Levine). “Julien is demented and crazy,” Spalding admitted gleefully at NYCC. “It’s wonderful. It’s a really delicious part of the season.”
That’s not the only tasty morsel Spalding & Co. have in store for Season 2. There are also huge developments regarding the paranormal FBI known as the Talamasca, which has tasked Rowan’s most recent ex, Ciprien (Tongayi Chirisa), with delivering Lasher to his higher-ups. And Moira looks to be the key to that. “Does he trust her or is he just using her as a gimmick to get to Lasher?” posits Chirisa of Cip’s initial willingness to allow the psychic to read his thoughts.
Tongayi Chirisa as Ciprien Grieve in Mayfair Witches Season 2 Episode 1 (Skip Bolen / AMC)
“He understands that in order to get what he wants, he needs to give her a little something to show just how honest he is. So I think ultimately, the mission is what is most important. He still stands by the mandate that we need to capture Lasher because he’s wreaking havoc upon the Mayfairs. We don’t know what his purpose is here on Earth or why he still lingers with this family, so that’s Cip’s goal,” Chirisa shares. “So if Moira happens to be an asset, whether for the good or for the bad, it’s going to happen. And so we see him collaborating with her in that capacity.”
“He’s going to use anything to make sure that Lasher is captured.”
Ain’t that a son of a witch?
Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, Season 2 Premiere, Sunday, January 5, 9/8c, AMC
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