Spoilers for Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches Episode 4, “Curiouser and Curiouser”
In Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches episode 4, “Curiouser and Curiouser,“ Rowan (Alexandra Daddario) finally makes her way to her Mayfair “home,” and all it took was the death of her two mothers to get there. One has to wonder how much of this trauma she can keep under control while, at the same time, juggling grief with all the baggage that comes with being part of the Mayfair family. She will also deal with the impressive powers she has yet to unlock and discover fully.
Rowan heads to Deirdre’s (Annabeth Gish) funeral, accompanied by Ciprien (Tongayi Chirisa). She finally meets the Mayfair family and tries to come to terms with the death of her birth mother, whom she never knew (and who died in her arms). It is a weird moment for Rowan for many reasons, not the least of which is the family and extended family thought she was dead. It made for an interesting dynamic; here, we see the powerful players in the family approach Rowan with many agendas swimming around in their collective heads.
The most significant parts of the episode were focused on the interaction between Rowan, Carlotta Mayfair (Beth Grant), and Cortland Mayfair (Harry Hamlin). The duo are siblings with not much good to say about each other. While Rowan quizzes them both on her mother and the family, the focus eventually shifts to that of Lasher (Jack Huston) and how differently Cortland and Carlotta view this “creature.”
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Carlotta is afraid of Lasher and sees him as a curse and the devil, while Cortland has a more open mind. Both have different agendas that Rowan sees through but, at this point, needs more information. The end of the episode has an awkward dinner with Carlotta and Rowan, a fire, Ciprien bursting in, and an appearance by Lasher, all within a matter of minutes.
It is an intriguing episode with more characters and a better understanding of Cortland and Carlotta. Harry Hamlin is having a great time as Cortland, eating up the scenery every chance he gets, with more than his fair share of mischief sparkling in his eyes. His sister Carlotta is the exact opposite, and Beth Grant is doing an excellent job making her unlikeable yet deliberate and logical (that is, until the end of the episode). Stuck in the middle is Rowan, trying to make sense of it all in her calm and collected way, but you can see the cracks beginning to form as Lasher continues to work on her mentally and break her down.
The mystery of who killed Deirdre in the elevator was seemingly solved when the Talamasca grabbed the man in question. He was tortured mentally by an unseen force, then restrained and confined until Ciprien confirmed that he was hired to make the kill. It was all wrapped up too neatly, though, as Ciprien’s concerns about the elevator being wiped of all traces were brushed off. That means someone else is involved, other than Lasher, who revealed that he was torturing the man from within. It was an important piece of what is undoubtedly a much larger puzzle.
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There is an underbelly of darkness in the Mayfair family, an ugly head that raises now and again (Carlotta and your basement captive, I’m looking at you). It’s a weird dynamic in the show that doesn’t always work yet. Some are willing to do whatever it takes to keep secrets and protect their own, but this shift sometimes doesn’t work and seems far too rushed, strange for a season with only eight episodes.
A family like the Mayfairs, who has been around for decades and is home to generations of witches (the flashbacks continue to show this, and hats off this week to the creepy and bizarre death dance), will have so many secrets you could trip over them. Rowan must continue to navigate this and find her own path while trying to figure out who Lasher is before it’s too late.
Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches episode 4, “Curiouser and Curiouser,” airs on January 29th on AMC and AMC+.
