Currently, I'm following Salem, a new original TV series by a relatively unknown channel WGN America. I feel this series is worth mentioning because despite my earlier presumptions (before viewing) that it must be another run-of-the-mill series about the Salem witch hunts in the 17th century, it was on the contrary a different kind of beast altogether. Although the series does deal with witches and those famous Salem witch trials, the story is cleverly woven around the premise that the witches were real people who were conspiring to revenge against the puritans. The series stars some interesting new faces on TV namely (English actress) Janet Montgomery as the charismatic Mary Sibley, a powerful and wealthy witch who is plotting revenge on the unsuspecting townsfolk who have wronged her. Despite myself, I found the series to be very addictive due to the soap opera like story complete with twist and turns, secrets, scandals and conspiracies. If Dark Shadows was a soap opera about vampires, this series is a soap opera about witches. Mary Sibley might even give Alexis Carrington a run for her money ;). So my verdict on the series, if you're looking for light entertainment why not give it a shot. Who knows, you might get hooked like I did. By the way, the series also stars Shane West (Nikita) as John Alden, a war hero and Mary's former love interest who returns to Salem after nearly a decade. His reappearance (she thought he died) soon rekindle old feelings within Mary and complicates her plot for revenge (he doesn't know she's now a witch). I don't want to give too much away but Mary is not all bad witch and you can't help rooting for her and John to have a happy ending. WGN has ordered a second season of the series so I guess I can look forward to the continuation of the story. I really disliked that many of the previous TV series that I was fond of e.g. Emily Owens M.D. and Do No Harm was cancelled after only one season. Signing off for now :)
(Trivia : The theme song is by Marilyn Manson)
Addendum (30th April 2024) : For those looking to watch this old series again or are newbies, you can view all three seasons on Amazon Prime. Perhaps because Salem was produced by the relatively unknown and now defunct network WGN America, the series was never properly released on any physical media (DVD or Blu-Ray). And if you want to see more of the beautiful actress Janet Montgomery, you can always catch her performance as Dr Lauren Bloom in the later NBC hospital drama, New Amsterdam, which ran from 2018 to 2023. Link to Salem on Amazon Prime provided below.
Salem (Amazon Prime) (paid link)
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