Witches are in this season. Getting a jump start on the latest witch-y season of "American Horror Story," Lifetime debuted its take on the genre with "Witches of East End." The show is one part "Charmed," one part "Desperate Housewives," and a whole lot of crazy.
Julia Ormond stars as Joanna, a witch cursed not only with immortality, but also with endless motherhood. In her long lifetime, she has given birth to her daughters, Ingrid and Freya, countless times. This time, she decided to keep the girls' powers a secret from them, but her sister, Wendy, told her that strategy was about to backfire.
"The powers that you’re hiding from your daughters they’re about to be revealed," Wendy told Julia. "The life you built here, Joanna, it’s about to change. Upheaval, death, destruction, pain, imprisonment, betrayal. It’s coming for you like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”
It looks like the first part of that upheaval is coming in the form of an evil doppelganger who's out to destroy Joanna and her daughters for good. Maybe we should throw a dash of "The Vampire Diaries" into the mix, as well.
So far, most critics and viewers seem to be on board with the new series. TVLine's Michael Slezak called the show "spellbinding," while almost half of those polled gave the premiere an "A." E! Online's Tierney Bricker agreed, saying that the show was both "sexy" and "spooky," with fans on that site voting to "save" the show, over "sinking" it.
Over at Entertainment Weekly, though, Samantha Highfill needs a few more episodes to really know for sure how she feels. "I think once viewers are given time to actually meet these characters and care about them, this show could be fun," she wrote. "But this first episode assumed way too much in terms of my attachment to the witches I’d never met, and it wouldn’t have hurt to slow down the plot a bit. Witches don’t need to be so over-the-top.”
The new drama continues to unfold on "Witches of East End," Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
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