Salem Season One Finale Review

            

     Wow, I cannot believe that we are at the season finale of Salem. There is so much to talk about and just as the last review I did, I will keep each section about a specific character (or more depending on their situation).  First, let's talk about possibly my favorite character of the series and his demise towards the end. Increase from since his debut moment on the ship finding and killing the witch that ended up being the ship's captain, I have had nothing but respect and admiration for the guy. One of the greatest things about his character is the line between villain and hero that he stands on when speaking about him to other fans of the show. Many people see him as the main villain of the series as he kills witches (who so happen to be the main focus of the show with Mary being one herself), but others like myself sees a hero who vanquishes evil by any means necessary. In my eyes, Increase is simply a strict hero who places survival instincts over personal emotions. Throughout the show, there has
been a constant conflict between him and his son Cotton, but I never would've thought it would end the way it did. By having him killed off by his own son through Mary's trickery is a great twist as not only does it take Cotton's character in a new direction as "the man who killed his legendary hero father", but it puts a stamp on Increase's constant statement in his son for always being blind to the truth. This was a powerful and unexpected way to end off the one symbol of hope that Salem had against the threat of witches. Also with Cotton being the guy to kill him with his own hands, this might go several ways in whether or not Cotton will continue his father's work or not. We only see him scurrying away on a horse, but there is no indication as to where he may be going (Boston perhaps).

     Now with Increase and Cotton out of the way, we have poor and innocent Isaac who always seems to get the bad end of the situation every time. When Mary gives him the apple and a huge fortune as her last task for him, I almost felt satisfied in the sense of him finally being free from everything Salem has done to him. But like I said before, this guy never gets a break. Isaac senses the evil within the apple and instead of successfully getting rid of it, only contributes to it's power (assuming the apple used him in some way when it opened). I was so curious to see what would happen when the apple opened up and was led with questions as to what Isaac was holding in his hand. It looked organic (perhaps the seed that resurrects the evil within). I actually felt bad seeing Isaac in the state that the apple left him in as there was no one in the entire series more innocent and deserving to happily live on than he was. We can only speculate at this point what is actually happening to his body as the show ends his part off with him constantly puking.

     On the other side of things, we have Mercy who started off as a great character in my opinion but slowly escalated to the only character that I dislike now (highly dislike actually). Her transformation from tortured girl to witch apprentice was an interesting and quite engaging one. I even made reference to Star Wars stating Mercy had a Yoda/Luke type relationship with Mary. Everything was great up until she started doing things on her own creating problems for everyone. Honestly, I haven't been fully following her reasonings and goals in the show ever since she fully became a witch, but I believe she is making an army of her own comprised of other children. It is interesting to see her become something bigger than what she was initially on the show, but the actor's performance for her role as gotten quite cheesy (for lack of a better term). That is my only issue with these last few episodes. The dialogue and performances for a couple characters (mainly Mercy) has gotten a bit too over the top when compared to past episodes. However, like a great show should be able to do, the amazing story and characters themselves over shadows it. I'll have to do my own research to see what Mercy has been trying to accomplish, but even it turns out to be something good, I still hold my thought of them just killing her off already. For a moment, I thought Mary would use her as the 13th victim instead of Increase, but I guess I lost that theory.

     Now, I can get to possibly my favorite character moment in the finale, Anne Hale's transformation. This is something that has been teased quite boldly in the last episode or two where Hale tells Anne about his secret of being a witch and her carrying the bloodline. I loved that idea quite a bit actually as Anne is given the opposite of Mercy's character arc. Instead of wanting it, she is forced to live with it. Characters who learns a dark secret about themselves that cannot be undone are usually the more intriguing stories to follow and Anne gets the full reveal here. As Hale warns her and his wife about the plague that's about to come, we see a hidden door that could only be revealed by blood (another piece of lore on the show that I really liked). As Hale tells Anne about her early childhood in the room and the fact that he had to wipe her memories away, we finally get a major tease of her power as she moves a wooden ballerina sculpture with her mind. I found it interesting as she slowly accepts everything around her, but it actually makes sense given how much she has been digging around for her father's secrets her entire life. I believe her acceptance is more satisfaction to see secrets revealed more than accepting the secrets themselves.

     As Hale tells her that many people will die outside except for individuals with the blood of a witch, she immediately detests staying in while her friends die outside. This sends her into a fury of panic as she tries to open the door which Hale continues to tell her that only blood can open it and even slaps her in an attempt to calm her. Aside from Isaac, Anne is another innocent character who has only tried to look out for others as well as satisfy her curiosity on things. That innocence has finally flipped upside down as Anne rages out in full on supernatural power causing everything in the room to violently thrust around. In this rage of power, she kills not only Hale, but her mother as well. Before doing so she tells Hale "I am not like you. I am not a witch!". This was the climax of all climatic moments on the show as "surprising" hardly defines that moment. Seeing her eyes turn red and her facial expression showing signs of fear and confusion as well as anger was a complete change of character. That's what made it so much more intense.

     It reminded me of the original Carrie film in the iconic prom dance scene (hopefully you guys get the reference). This powerful force that she released was interesting as it felt like an uncontrollable emotional outburst of psychic power instead of an evil directed force. Yes, there is that curious scene where Cotton is examining her and she shows a visual sign of transformation via the red eyes and snake-like tongue. Who can forget that? I think that will play a major part in Season 2 where we see where Anne goes from killing her family to doing who knows what now. She looked possibly horrified during the transition moment at the end when they kept showing what everyone was doing in their own quick second scenes. Perhaps she has sort of a Bruce Banner/Hulk thing going on where blind rage brings out her abilities. I think she will be my most anticipated character in the next season for sure.

     Now for our main duo, we have John Alden finally convincing Mary to leave with him after she finally reveals her witch secret to him (the moment we've all been waiting for). I was sort of surprised that he didn't flip out more knowing that his beloved became a witch, but after everything that has happened to him, maybe this wasn't the most surprising thing. I really liked the moment where they both show their half pendants to each other. It's a recurring thing between them, but it shows that there is indeed recurring emotions between them. When Mary finally said "Yes" to his offer of leaving with him I actually thought she would without turning back, but unfortunately things never go as planned for anyone on this show.

     I appreciated the return of Tituba at this moment (please don't kill off this character yet) where she forces Mary to fulfill the Grand Rite by revealing to her about her son's existence (a lot of revealing in this episode). That was actually shocking to know that the event that started this whole thing wasn't fully told in the beginning. This puts Mary in a situation where she had to take a final sacrifice for the Grand Rite to be completed (this is where Increase comes in). I had a couple pros and cons in this highly anticipated confrontation. I loved the dialogue between them as Mary tells Increase about all of the innocent blood spilled to make things possible. I loved the fact that she showed absolutely no fear in their fight in comparison to when she had to hide her secret from him. She was ruthless and bold almost knowing for a fact that she would defeat him. Also worth noting that Increase knew she was a witch the entire time telling his son that although John may not be a witch, he is in love with one which makes them both dangerous. This results in Increase sending out an execution team after John (but I'll get to that later). On the good side, las I said, I really liked the dialogue as well as some of the action involved. I liked how Increase were grabbing weapons from his arsenal one after another to attack her with. And I liked how Mary simply caught one of his throwing knives telling him "You'll have to do better than that".

     There is a couple good camera shots, but that is also where the negatives come in. A few moments where the frame was centered on Mary just didn't work. It felt off making her outfit seem really wide. It sounds a bit nit-picky, but I couldn't get over it at the time. Other than that, there is the visually magnificent scene (as simple as it was) where she finishes the job in stabbing him in the forest and the entire sky turns red. It looked completely menacing when they showed the red moon and the night turning to day. With everything having that red hue over it, it really did feel like the end was upon Salem. There is a great moment where she sits down next to his dead body telling him that his lingering soul will see his body get eaten by the very same dogs he owned. There is so much brutality in her character that feels irredeemable at this point, but I feel like that was the point. I think the writers wanted to show her full potential as an evil witch and still settle the idea of her finally deciding to leave everything behind to be with John. Eventually, we finally see her child as Tituba promised getting our first look at what we the viewers thought didn't even exist. At this point who knows what will happen. They can possibly use her child to control and manipulate her to do their biddings. I'm curious to see how her son will fit in with the next season.

     Finally, we have John who originally was suppose to wait for Mary during the full moon but ended up having to flee away from Increase's guards. What happens during his capture and execution truly surprised me. Out of nowhere comes the indian tribe (same tribe that told him where to find Anne) attacking the guards and cutting the rope with an arrow. From their came pure brutality as we see Indians fighting puritans in a onslaught of hammer bashing and gun firing. Eventually John gets his hands on a battle hammer (as I believe it is called) and kills off one of the guards only to be shot afterwards leading to what could've been an even more surprising climatic death. Instead we see the Indians taking him away on their arms (perhaps to heal his wounds).

     Overall this was definitely the most action packed and engaging episode in terms of character moments. It truly felt like a season finale. I am more than curious to what lies ahead and fortunately Salem has been picked up for a second season. I feel out of all the new TV series this year, Salem has shown the most success in providing not only an entertaining witch show, but also an amazing story filled with interesting characters. I look forward to season two with great anticipation and excitement.