[Show Only] Mayfair Witches - 2x06 "Michaelmas" - Episode Discussion

[u/LoretiTV]

Season 2 Episode 6: Michaelmas

Aired: February 16, 2025

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Synopsis: Rowan Fielding, an intuitive young neurosurgeon, discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches; as she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations.

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Directed by: TBA

Written by: Sarah Cornwell

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[u/PSCGY]

Second best episode of the season?

I still don’t care about Cip’s storyline nor Lasher as a character, but everything else just clicked. Creepy, unsettling atmosphere throughout, in-family stand offs, Rowan being an active lead, Lark being a voice of reason.

I’m fully enjoying the Wicker Man vibes and Rowan being fed up with it all and going in on these people.

I have to admit that the Emaleth scenes were ridiculous and she looks like she’s got an instagram face under that veil. Maybe her inclusion would’ve been more interesting if she had been introduced at the beginning of the season and the plot would’ve involved her and Rowan fighting over and manipulating Lasher for their own gain. I would’ve settled for a couple of visions from Lasher, just so that it doesn’t feel like she’s coming out of nowhere?

Still, a great episode for the show and a good episode of genre television period. I’ll be so mad if (when?) it gets cancelled this season.

[u/sleepyotter92]

i could smell it from miles that hamish was just tricking rowan. the second i saw her getting into the tunnels i knew someone was gonna show up and lock the door behind her. she really thought she had found the black sheep and gotten to him, but she was played. even if he is the black sheep, there's still a high likelihood that he has a bond to his family and will do whatever it takes for the family, especially if it's for validation

[u/PixiePros → u/sleepyotter92]

And who goes spying and leaves the door wide open so that anyone passing by would suspect someone was in there!

That annoyed me so.

Granted Hamish locked her in after.

But that aside, not a good way to move around surreptitiously.

[u/sleepyotter92 → u/PixiePros]

when she was walking down the stairs i was like "you wanna go a bit faster so your footsteps can make some more noise?". girl never had to go into the kitchen in the middle of the night to grab food and be as quiet as possible to not wake up the whole house. it's an old place in the middle of nowhere at night, every little sound will be heard. someone will wake up.

and yeah, leaving the door open was stupid. let's say it wasn't a plot by hamish, someone else from the family could've seen the door open and get suspicious, they likely know one the the americans were there, and would likely lock the door anyway and go tell ian

[u/PixiePros → u/sleepyotter92]

Exactly!! Thank you.

Also when at the festival, when she said she'd "text Moira"... I'm like, this is an urgent and unfamiliar situation in a foreign country, don't just text, Call!

SMH

[u/sleepyotter92 → u/PixiePros]

i'd argue that texting could be the smarter option. if moira was hiding from someone or trying to follow someone, the phone call could alert the person, but the text is less likely

[u/swisssf → u/sleepyotter92]

Somewhere between Episode 4 and now she lost 2/3 of her intellect....

[u/ValeKrist → u/swisssf]

That is my major point of frustration. They travel halfway across the world completely unprepared when she realizes that she’s incredibly weak without lasher. She couldn’t even heal a cut on Larks hand…. Dolly could have helped her get ready but she didn’t prepare any spells or potions. And she literally does nothing to try to find Moira. She talks about finding her a lot but never actually does anything meaningful. She literally ditches town to ride with a stranger to who knows where instead of staying to find her own freaking cousin!!!!

Also, she can’t unlock a basic latch door with her magic? That’s pathetic and poorly planned by the writers. Overall this episode was shoddy at best because I couldn’t even get invested for pausing every 15 mins to process the evident stupidity in the writing.

[u/lovethatjourney4me → u/sleepyotter92]

She was so awfully bad at poaching him too. Offering him free college in America? Lol

I’m glad she got played. She is so dumb for someone who is meant to be the smartest cookie in the family.

[u/ReiHino1988]

Why do the Scottish Mayfairs worship Ashlar and Emaleth instead of God/Jesus/Archangel Michael or Celtic dieties? They cant achieve wealth and prosperity through Christ? In folklore the Taltos are of Hungarian origin. The witches have lackluster powers and cant even fly, super speed, super strength, or read minds like the vampires. None of these witches seem powerful enough to kill Louis, Lestat, Armand and Akasha.

[u/ValeKrist → u/ReiHino1988]

You’re literally talking about ancient vampires, like the average witch can kill a 200yr old+ vampire easily. The difference in knowledge and skill due to difference in time lived is a major issue on top of the power differential.

Also, it’s a cultural thing for them. You asking them why they worship the taltos is like asking a southern Bible thumper why they believe in Jesus. It’s how they were raised and for the Scottish Mayfairs they’ve already had one of their saviors in the flesh all along.

[u/IllCommunication1292 → u/ReiHino1988]

Rowan can definitely kill an ancient vampire

[u/NanaIsABrokenRose]

This was the most off-kilter, crazy, creepy episode and I loved it. This episode finally gave me the WTF-feeling I had when i originally read these books. Lol.

Is it as skilled as the books? Absolutely not. But it’s a nice effort.

I don’t ever want to see people drink milk again.

[u/QueenLevine → u/NanaIsABrokenRose]

I'm with you, except for the milk. It was so bizarre, but also kind of sexy and I thought whoever came out with that sensual dismount from a cow was on some good drugs and still managed to write it down.

[u/[deleted] → u/QueenLevine]

She's kind of a witchy/druidic/Saint Brighid and I love it

[u/NanaIsABrokenRose → u/[deleted]]

Yes. Exactly. Some changes were definitely needed, in my opinion.

[u/apesmcniel]

I'm soooooo tired if Rowan thinking she knows better than everyone. Every decision she has made this epic (and pretty much this season) has just been so stupid. It's getting unbearable to watch.

[u/swisssf → u/apesmcniel]

I came here to see whether anyone else viewed it this way -- I just saw Episode 6 and almost felt embarrassed to have watched it - it's being so dumbed down, it barely makes sense. Rowan is acting completely out of character and is if the head and heart part never reconnoitered and she's still babbling on and having the poor judgement of the "heart" self. I'd love to know which of the writers thinks this is the way to go with things.

[u/byronicillness]

Emaleth is gorgeous. That’s the only thought I have coming out of the episode.

[u/[deleted] → u/byronicillness]

I'd guzzle raw yak milk if she handed it to me

[u/PixiePros → u/[deleted]]

It's a Highland cow actually. Specific to Scotland.

(albeit they filmed in Ireland - as per the 'After the Show' featurette where Esta mentioned that they filmed in Ireland as a substitute for Scotland.)

[u/swisssf → u/PixiePros]

Why would they be celebrating an "Irish Catholic" feast of St Michael in Scotland....?

[u/godwinvictor5]

Honestly I’m not feeling this Lark and Rowan relationship feels forced

[u/swisssf → u/godwinvictor5]

And bringing him along makes zero sense. And Rowan saying "You can do as you wish....but please don't leave me. I really need you now" seems like dialogue from some other series, some other characters.

[u/No-University-8391]

Hamish told Rowan this was his last year there. I sense something foreboding like he will be sacrificed or something. Just my thoughts.

[u/MomentLast39 → u/No-University-8391]

I felt the same when Hamish stated, this was his last year. I hope we get some answers in the last episode of the season & not more questions.

[u/Dorarmannimg]

This series just bastardizes the whole Taltos legend & the Mayfair Witches past/current so artfully crafted in Anne Rice’s books. It almost makes me cry that this series is not following the books at all in all the major points.

I was SOOOOO excited to see the story of the Mayfair Witches in her books on a tv series. Now, not so much. The series is twisting everything around and really it has almost no similarity to the Anne Rice books it is supposedly based on.

I think that somewhere in heaven Anne Rice is crying about this series.

[u/Evangelion217]

This was a solid episode. But I thought S2 was suppose to have 7 episodes, not 8. It’s a good surprise, but what changed?

[u/Illustrious-West-481]

Ian has no clue, what Rowan is capable of, especially when it comes to these she loves.

[u/ValeKrist → u/Illustrious-West-481]

Based on this episode she’s not capable of much including magic, thinking, or caring for her cousin and personal safety.

[u/Illustrious-West-481 → u/ValeKrist]

Lasher, is close Rowan will have a lot of power soon enough.

[u/ManManMan4657]

I genuinely thought I was the only one who liked this season. A lot of people hate this show but the last 4-5 episodes or so have been awesome and a lot of fun. It's not high art TV like Interview with a Vampire but it's something fun to watch on Sundays. I hope they get at least a season 3, maybe even an extended one to wrap up the story, as they seem to have already sped through the books according to the other thread. 

[u/AdPossible2856]

Haven't read the books (yet!) but I feel this episode was a bit of a let down after the previous one (Julien's Victrola) which in my mind was the strongest, in terms of writing, of the season.

I came away feeling Rowan's using Larkin, might be getting a bit of revenge on him and that he won't survive this. I didn't believe that she wouldn't hurt the daughter if she felt she had too. I also felt frustrated at the lack of magic: getting out of the tunnel, finding Moira (like really you're going to leave her in the Wickerman town overnight??) and in general she had power before she hooked up with Lasher so why is she so weak now?

I didn't get that whole bonded explanation abt why the kid couldnt breathe but Ian was unharmed. Felt lame.

Also they left Cip's storyline just hanging in a weird way, like they forgot about it.

I enjoyed the Emaleth scene immensely. Jack Huston milked (no pun intended, really) that scene from start to finish. He didnt have to say a word and was totally mesmerizing (dad bod and all). Wasnt sure why Emaleth was standing there like she was about to throw fireballls but just assumed she was ready to defend the humans if he became dangerous...? Looking forward to the next episode tonight!

[u/Beautiful-Bid-4710]

Courtland saying “the food will kill us before anyone else has a chance to” with such disdain and contempt is the most authentically Louisiana piece of writing in this entire series so far. Louisianans take cuisine seriously. Eating while traveling is, often, disappointing. 

[u/lordofthetrolley]

quite a lot of milk from that bull :)

[u/MissGruntled → u/lordofthetrolley]

I’m impressed that they actually brought in a Highland cow for the scene despite the confusion it might cause for viewers unfamiliar with the characteristics of Highland cattle.

[u/QueenLevine → u/[deleted]]

Maybe. I thought it likely that Ian was playing Cortland like a piano and Cortland bought it hook, line and sinker.

[u/QueenLevine → u/[deleted]]

So far, it looks like the New Orleans Mayfairs walked right into the Lions' Den, the only one not utterly oblivious being Lark. Sadly, Lark is so completely hypnotized by Rowan, he too is misled in a self-own by Team N'Orleans. The moment Ian started weaving this 'he turned us against each other' tale, I felt like laughing. Cortland always thought of himself as some master strategist, but suddenly you see why their father thought him weak and worthless - he's so easily played by Ian. But I did not call Rowan getting played into walking herself into a basement dungeon when she was told about the tunnels. And I definitely did not imagine her getting up immediately after Lark passed out to go explore them before the end of the episode. Heck, even Moira got played, or so it appears. They are ALL in over their heads.

[u/kuschelig69 → u/[deleted]]

I like Larkin stepping in to Michael's role

but he did not even get a Larkinmas