# Mayfair Witches

Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches, or simply Mayfair Witches, is an American supernatural horror thriller drama television series created by Esta Spalding and Michelle Ashford, based on the novel trilogy Lives of the Mayfair Witches by Anne Rice. The series stars Alexandra Daddario as Rowan Fielding, Harry Hamlin as Cortland Mayfair, Tongayi Chirisa as Ciprien Grieve, and Jack Huston as Lasher.
Mayfair Witches is the second television series set in the Immortal Universe, a shared universe based on Rice's novels, which started in 2022 with Interview with the Vampire. The series premiered on AMC on January 8, 2023. In February 2023, it was renewed for a second season which premiered on January 5, 2025.

## Premise

Neurosurgeon Dr. Rowan Fielding learns she is the heiress to a dynasty of powerful witches haunted by a sinister spirit.

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Alexandra Daddario as Rowan Fielding, a neurosurgeon who learns that she is the heiress to the Mayfair dynasty
* Tongayi Chirisa as Ciprien Grieve, an empath and agent of the Talamasca assigned to Rowan, and a combination of the characters Michael Curry and Aaron Lightner from the novels
* Jack Huston as Lasher, a powerful, shape-shifting entity who has been bound to the Mayfair witches for centuries
* Harry Hamlin as Cortland Mayfair, the current Mayfair patriarch
* Ben Feldman as Sam "Lark" Larkin (season 2), Rowan's former boyfriend, the CEO of a genetics startup
* Alyssa Jirrels as Moira Mayfair (season 2), Rowan's cousin who has the power to read minds.

### Recurring

* Beth Grant as Carlotta Mayfair, Deirdre's severe and controlling aunt, and Cortland's sister
* Erica Gimpel as Elena Fielding, Rowan's adopted mother, secretly a Mayfair cousin who is aware of Rowan's connection to the family
* Annabeth Gish as Deirdre Mayfair, Rowan's biological mother, an invalid plagued by the manipulative Lasher
* Geraldine Singer as Millie Mayfair, Cortland's other sister
* Hannah Alline as Suzanne, a healer in 1681 Donnelaith, Scotland, and the ancestor of the Mayfair witches
* Ravi Naidu as Samir, Ciprien's superior at the Talamasca
* Jen Richards as Josephine "Jojo" Mayfair, Cortland's daughter
* Keyara Milliner as Odette Grieve, Ciprien's sister
* Dennis Boutsikaris as Albrecht, the local leader of the Talamasca
* Charlayne Woodard as Dolly Jean Mayfair, Cortland's cousin
* Suleka Mathew as Arjuna, a Talamasca healer
* Ted Levine as Julien Mayfair (season 2), Cortland and Carlotta's father
* Mariana A. Novak as Polina Vilkov (season 2), a Talamasca agent
In addition, Madison Wolfe guest stars as Tessa, a young Mayfair cousin of Rowan's, Emma Rose Smith co-stars as Florie, Suzanne's younger sister, while Ian Hoch co-stars as Keith Murfis, a coroner and observer of the Mayfairs who becomes involved with an anti-witch cult.

## Production
### Development

Development rights to Anne Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches book series were still held by Warner Bros in December 2019, when Rice began shopping a package combining film and TV rights to both The Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches. Rice was reportedly asking around $30 to $40 million, plus a $2.5 million buyout of Warner Bros.' rights, and the new owner would hold the rights in perpetuity, not just as an option. In May 2020, it was announced that AMC had acquired the rights to The Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches for developing film and television projects. Anne and Christopher Rice would serve as executive producers on any projects developed. Rice said, "It's always been my dream to see the worlds of my two biggest series united under a single roof so that filmmakers could explore the expansive and interconnected universe of my vampires and witches. That dream is now a reality, and the result is one of the most significant and thrilling deals of my long career."
In December 2021, Deadline Hollywood reported that Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches had been given an eight-episode series order by AMC, with another Rice series, Interview with the Vampire, already in production at the network. Mayfair Witches will be written and executive produced by Esta Spalding and Michelle Ashford, and executive produced by Mark Johnson. Spalding and Ashford said, "The world of witches has fascinated and terrified for centuries, and yet Anne Rice's particular lens on witches explored something new altogether—women who are powerful, and often brutal, and always committed to subverting our current power structures." Johnson added, "My good fortune as an executive producer of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire has now been more than doubled with what Esta Spalding and Michelle Ashford are imagining with The Mayfair Witches. While both shows couldn't be more different, they nevertheless find themselves bound under the same bewitching and engaging umbrella." In January 2023, at AMC's TCA press tour, Johnson announced a crossover between Mayfair Witches and Interview with the Vampire is in discussions. On February 3, 2023, AMC renewed the series for a second season.

### Casting

In March 2022, Variety reported that Alexandra Daddario had been cast in the lead role of Dr. Rowan Fielding. Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks, said "Alexandra is a singular talent who has lit up the screen in everything she's been in and we couldn't be happier to have her on board, leading the cast of a series that will be a centerpiece of an expanding Anne Rice universe on AMC+ and AMC. We found our Rowan and can't wait for her to meet viewers later this year". Harry Hamlin joined the cast that same month as patriarch Cortland Mayfair. In April 2022, AMC announced the casting of series regular Tongayi Chirisa as Ciprien Grieve, as well as Annabeth Gish as Deirdre Mayfair, Beth Grant as Carlotta Mayfair, Erica Gimpel as Ellie Mayfair and Jen Richards as Jojo, in recurring roles. In May 2022, Jack Huston was cast as Lasher, described as one of Rice's "most mysterious and sensual characters—a powerful, shape-shifting entity who has been bound to the Mayfair witches for hundreds of years."
Alyssa Jirrels joined the second season as a series regular playing Rowan's cousin, Moira Mayfair. She is described as a mind reader, "who blames the family and Lasher for the death of her sister Tessa". Ted Levine was cast in a recurring guest starring role as Julien Mayfair, Cortland and Carlotta's father, and "a master manipulator". Thora Birch guest stars as Gifford Mayfair, "a self-deprecating tarot card reader". Ben Feldman was cast as Sam Larkin, the CEO of a genetics startup and Rowan's former boyfriend.

### Filming

Filming of first season of Mayfair Witches took place in New Orleans from April 25 to August 26, 2022. The second season was scheduled to film from January 29 to April 5, 2024.

## Episodes
### Series overview

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 8 | 8 | January 8, 2023 (2023-01-08) | February 26, 2023 (2023-02-26) |
| 2 | 8 | 8 | January 5, 2025 (2025-01-05) | March 2, 2025 (2025-03-02) |

### Season 1 (2023)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 1 | "The Witching Hour" | Michael Uppendahl | Michelle Ashford & Esta Spalding | January 8, 2023 (2023-01-08) | 0.577 |
| San Francisco pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Rowan Fielding learns that her adoptive mother Elena's cancer has returned. When Rowan's chief surgeon refuses to help her get Elena into a clinical trial, she envisions the arteries inside of his head, and he collapses. Rowan's belief that she somehow caused the incident is dismissed by Elena, who secretly makes a call to the Talamasca for help. Empath Ciprien Grieve, the Talamasca agent assigned to Rowan, reassures Elena that "the man" remains in New Orleans. Rowan loses her temper, and this time the man she is arguing with dies. In New Orleans, Dr. Vernon Lamb secretively withholds Thorazine from a catatonic Deirdre Mayfair so he can give his new patient a proper psychiatric exam. Elena dies, and the entity Lasher, bound to Deirdre, appears to Rowan. In the past, young Deirdre is guarded closely by her stern aunt Carlotta, but Mayfair patriarch Cortland hires a young man to seduce her. She becomes pregnant and is saved from suicide by "the man", an entity known to the Mayfairs as Lasher. Deirdre gives birth, but Carlotta hands baby Rowan over to her niece, Elena, with strict instructions to disappear with the child and never return. |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Dark Place" | Michael Uppendahl | Michael Goldbach | January 15, 2023 (2023-01-15) | 0.584 |
| A grieving Rowan learns that Elena lied about trying to find her birth parents, and spirals further. Though instructed by the Talamasca to only surveil Rowan, Ciprien approaches her and promises answers when the chaos around her escalates. He touches her and collapses from the empathic shock. Rowan looks through his phone and sees photos of Deirdre and Elena. Ciprien awakens in the ambulance and flees. Rowan makes her way to New Orleans just as Deirdre awakens, feigning catatonia for Carlotta. Dr. Lamb promises to help free her, but Deirdre cannot wait. Lasher, who has been kept closely bound to Deirdre due to her drugged state, reassures her that her daughter is alive and coming to her. The Mayfair maid Delphine lets Deirdre escape to Cortland, where she uses magic to see Rowan's location through Lasher's eyes. Carlotta is shocked when a lucid Deirdre enters the Pontchartrain Hotel. Deirdre dismisses Carlotta's attempt to bring her home, reminding Carlotta that if she is awake, so is Lasher. Ciprien arranges to meet Rowan at the hotel. On her way to the lobby to meet him, an elevator opens and Rowan comes face to face with Deirdre, who suddenly collapses, her throat slit. |||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Second Line" | Axelle Carolyn | Sarah Cornwell | January 22, 2023 (2023-01-22) | 0.562 |
| In the wake of Deirdre's death, a blood-covered Rowan rebuffs Carlotta and leaves the hotel with Ciprien. He tells her about himself, the Talamasca, and Lasher. Carlotta and her sister Millie decide to have a wake for Deirdre to lure Rowan to them. A vengeful Lasher comes to a fearful Cortland, who reminds him that Rowan is the 13th Mayfair witch. Carlotta locks Delphine in the basement with the jeweled key necklace that bound Lasher to Deirdre. Rowan meets Ciprien's pregnant sister, Odette. Rowan receives a spiked drink at a carnival-like funeral on the street. This enables Lasher to come to her as a mysterious attractive stranger. He later impersonates Deirdre, but Rowan is not fooled for long. Lasher kills Delphine by making her bash her head against the cellar wall to free himself from her. Ciprien touches Deirdre's dead body at the morgue and has a vision of a man getting into the elevator with her. |||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Curiouser and Curiouser" | Axelle Carolyn | Lindsey Villarreal | January 29, 2023 (2023-01-29) | 0.530 |
| Carlotta finds Delphine's body, but the necklace is missing. Rowan and Ciprien attend Deirdre's funeral. At the Mayfair house on First Street, Carlotta confesses that she sent Rowan away to save her from Lasher. The Talamasca find the man hired to kill Deirdre, but Lasher tortures and then kills him. Rowan meets some of her relatives and learns from Cortland's daughter Jojo that she is the "designee", the Mayfair heir. Jojo explains that there were 12 before Rowan and shows her 12 paintings of these women wearing the key necklace. Cortland encourages Rowan to talk to Lasher. Carlotta is upset to see Rowan wearing Lasher's necklace, and has a servant lock herself and Rowan in the dining room with the paintings. She utters an exorcism-like prayer and sets the room on fire. Ciprien breaks through the door but is stabbed by Carlotta who was aiming for Rowan. Lasher appears to a fearful Carlotta, declaring that Rowan is already his. |||||||
| 5 | 5 | "The Thrall" | Haifaa Al-Mansour | Sean Reycraft | February 5, 2023 (2023-02-05) | 0.574 |
| Ciprien and Rowan are disoriented and trapped in the First Street house by Lasher's magic. Ciprien's stab wound has become infected, but Rowan cannot break out of the house. Lasher distracts Rowan by coming to her in the form of a healed Ciprien, but the spell is broken when she notices he is not wearing gloves, as Ciprien would. Ciprien has a vision of his predecessor Stuart Townsend, a Talamasca agent who had been assigned to Deirdre's mother, Antha Mayfair, but disappeared. Stuart warns Ciprien not to die in the Mayfair house, or Lasher will trap him there forever. Rowan sees a distraught Millie, who is revealed to be a ghost, and leads Rowan to Delphine's body in the basement. Rowan promises Lasher she will stay with him if he releases Ciprien, which he does. Odette finds a dying Ciprien in his apartment, and Samir, Ciprien's superior at the Talamasca, brings a healer to save him. Rowan resists Lasher's machinations and frees Carlotta from suspension. She then takes Rowan to a balcony and says the only way to escape Lasher is to commit suicide. Rowan realizes that Carlotta killed Antha (or at least encouraged her to jump from the balcony too) and angrily uses her powers to force Carlotta over the balcony to her death. |||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Transference" | Haifaa Al-Mansour | Mary Angélica Molina | February 12, 2023 (2023-02-12) | 0.274 |
| Tessa Mayfair tells Rowan about a growing conspiracy against witches like them and encourages Rowan to use her new powers. Rowan wants nothing to do with any of it. She seeks advice from Cortland about getting rid of Lasher and realizes that Cortland has ALS. Cortland thinks his cousin Dolly Jean Mayfair may know how Lasher was once transferred from Mary Beth Mayfair to her brother Julien, Cortland's father. The man in the morgue steals Deirdre's heart and gives it to the anti-witch cult. Ciprien touches Lasher's necklace, and has a vision of the Mayfair ancestor Suzanne, a healer, tried as a witch in 1681 Donnelaith, Scotland, by the Witchfinder. As a last resort, she uses "wicked words" of power, which summon Lasher. He stuns Cip, then strangles the Witchfinder with his own jeweled key necklace. Lastly, he gives Suzanne the key to unlock her cage. Jojo and Dolly Jean gather Tessa, Alicia, and other Mayfair women to perform a ritual that employs a fetish doll made from bones or hair from every designee, including Deirdre. Special words of power call Lasher, and Rowan chokes up the key necklace. The women believe Lasher has chosen Tessa as Rowan's successor and the necklace is placed on her. Losing the necklace traps Ciprien in the past. The anti-witch cult abducts Tessa, and Lasher does not come to her aid. |||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Tessa" | Alexis Ostrander | Sarah Cornwell & Esta Spalding | February 19, 2023 (2023-02-19) | 0.490 |
| Rowan realizes she is pregnant. The cult holds Tessa in a cage as their captive at an old auto parts factory. She tries to use her power to coerce one of them, Keith, to unlock her but fails. Rowan seeks out Tessa but finds that she is missing. The Mayfairs summon a scry to find her. Rowan feels responsible for Tessa's predicament but refuses to try and summon Lasher to help them. Lasher tells Ciprien he will never escape the vision, but Ciprien poisons himself with henbane and wakes up in the present. Aware that Rowan is pregnant, Cortland calls his associate, Talamasca leader Albrecht, who stops Ciprien from intervening. Albrecht explains that Rowan is about to make a choice that will fulfill an ancient prophecy and begin "a new era". As the cultists threaten to burn Tessa alive, Rowan arrives and begins killing them. Rowan is shot but saves Tessa from the flames. Keith appears and shoots Tessa, mortally wounding her. Rowan puts on the necklace and calls Lasher. |||||||
| 8 | 8 | "What Rough Beast" | Alexis Ostrander | Esta Spalding | February 26, 2023 (2023-02-26) | 0.443 |
| Commanded by a wounded Rowan, Lasher burns Keith alive. Cortland refuses to tell Jojo the truth behind his obsession with Rowan. Ciprien discovers that Cortland ordered Deirdre's murder, and any psychic trace at the crime scene was wiped by the Talamasca. Lasher draws Rowan into a vision, where she learns she can heal herself and others, and they have sex. After Odette calls the Talamasca looking for a missing Ciprien, they erase her memories of recent events. Ciprien touches a mask owned by Cortland, learning that Cortland raped Deirdre and fathered Rowan. Jojo is horrified, and takes Ciprien to the First Street house. He touches the designee fetish doll, seeing a vision of Lasher's prophecy, "the 13th witch is the doorway". While Rowan is trapped in the vision counting down to midnight, "the witching hour", her pregnancy has accelerated and Cortland takes her unconscious body to the Mayfair mausoleum. Rowan awakens with the knowledge that Lasher will be reborn via her child. She goes into labor, and the spirit of Suzanne helps deliver the baby. Rowan turns Cortland to stone for raping Deirdre. Ciprien tries to take the child, but Rowan leaves with her baby. |||||||

### Season 2 (2025)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 9 | 1 | "Lasher" | Colin Bucksey | Esta Spalding | January 5, 2025 (2025-01-05) | 0.249 |
| Rowan, now possessing most of Lasher's powers, tries to "raise" him, but is frustrated by his enormous appetite, prodigious strength, and his incredibly rapid growth. After acquiring some of his blood, she surreptitiously conducts genetic testing. In the process, she discovers that her healing power has also been supercharged, and tells JoJo that she will accept a job at the Mayfair family's hospital. Dolly Jean encourages Lasher's growth and protects him and Rowan from Moira, Tessa's mind-reading sister who blames Lasher for Tessa's death. Ciprien takes steps to prevent his memory being erased again, but learns that the Talamasca now wish to capture Lasher and want him to spearhead the operation. When he is about a week old, Lasher becomes a teenager and tries to have sex with a girl at a street festival, but kills her in the process. Rowan sorrowfully disposes of the body, revealed to be a Mayfair cousin, and locks Lasher in the basement, but he escapes shortly after reaching full maturity. |||||||
| 10 | 2 | "Ten of Swords" | Logan Kibens | Sarah Cornwell | January 12, 2025 (2025-01-12) | 0.330 |
| Rowan is reeling from Gifford’s death, determined to find Lasher before he can hurt anyone else. Meanwhile, Lasher, now fully human, struggles with his own desires, which spiral dangerously out of control, leading to deadly encounters with the Mayfair women. Ciprien teams up with Moira Mayfair, who is desperate for answers about Lasher and her family’s dark history. Rowan contemplates freeing Cortland, who remains imprisoned in his stone form. Within this confinement, he endures tormenting visions of his father, Julien, who berates him for his perceived failures. |||||||
| 11 | 3 | "Cover the Mirrors" | Logan Kibens | Megan Mostyn-Brown | January 19, 2025 (2025-01-19) | 0.264 |
| 12 | 4 | "Double Helix" | Sarah O'Gorman | Cat Davidson | January 26, 2025 (2025-01-26) | 0.215 |
| 13 | 5 | "Julien's Victrola" | Sarah O'Gorman | Sean Reycraft | February 2, 2025 (2025-02-02) | 0.231 |
| 14 | 6 | "Michaelmas" | Logan Kibens | Sarah Cornwell | February 16, 2025 (2025-02-16) | 0.179 |
| 15 | 7 | "A Tangled Web" | Logan Kibens | Mark Lafferty | February 23, 2025 (2025-02-23) | 0.307 |
| 16 | 8 | "The Innocents" | Logan Kibens | Brandon Martin & Esta Spalding | March 2, 2025 (2025-03-02) | 0.217 |

## Release

Like Interview with the Vampire, the series premiered on AMC+ and the AMC linear network, with intended releases announced for late 2022 and then January 5, 2023. The first season premiered on January 8, 2023, and consists of eight episodes. The second season premiered on January 5, 2025.
In Australia, ABC Television premiered the series on their free-to-air channel as well as streaming service ABC iview on May 5, 2023, along with Interview with the Vampire.

## Reception
### Critical response

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 44% approval rating with an average rating of 5.9/10, based on 36 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Mayfair Witches has competent gloss and a likable lead in Alexandra Daddario, but this brew is made up of too many derivative elements to conjure a compelling spell of its own." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 47 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 71% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 7 critic reviews.

### Ratings
#### Season 1

Viewership and ratings per episode of Mayfair Witches :
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "The Witching Hour" | January 8, 2023 | 0.11 | 0.577 | — | — | — | 1.7 |
| 2 | "The Dark Place" | January 15, 2023 | 0.11 | 0.584 | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | "Second Line" | January 22, 2023 | 0.06 | 0.562 | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | "Curiouser and Curiouser" | January 29, 2023 | 0.07 | 0.530 | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | "The Thrall" | February 5, 2023 | 0.10 | 0.574 | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | "Transference" | February 12, 2023 | 0.06 | 0.274 | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | "Tessa" | February 19, 2023 | 0.11 | 0.490 | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | "What Rough Beast" | February 26, 2023 | 0.08 | 0.443 | — | — | — | — |

#### Season 2

Viewership and ratings per episode of Mayfair Witches :
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Lasher" | January 5, 2025 | 0.02 | 0.249 |
| 2 | "Ten of Swords" | January 12, 2025 | 0.05 | 0.330 |
| 3 | "Cover the Mirrors" | January 19, 2025 | 0.04 | 0.264 |
| 4 | "Double Helix" | January 26, 2025 | 0.02 | 0.215 |
| 5 | "Julien's Victrola" | February 2, 2025 | 0.02 | 0.231 |
| 6 | "Michaelmas" | February 16, 2025 | 0.02 | 0.179 |
| 7 | "A Tangled Web" | February 23, 2025 | 0.05 | 0.307 |
| 8 | "The Innocents" | March 2, 2025 | 0.02 | 0.217 |