Witches of East End Episode 1 Recap: Move Over Vampires and Zombies, The Witches Are Here (Season Premiere)

The Witching Hour Is Here

"The Witches of East End" premiered Sunday at 10 on the Lifetime channel. It's about a family of witches (the Beauchamps) who live in the quiet town of East Haven. An ancient enemy is intent on destroying them (but we don't know why). The show is based on a book/books of the same name by Melissa de La Cruz.

The Beauchamp family includes:

Joanna- the mother; she has two daughters-- Freya and Ingrid.
Freya- daughter of Joanna, she's engaged to be married to Dash but meets his brother Killian and sparks fly.
Ingrid- also a daughter of Joanna, she is a librarian, Ingrid is more introverted while Freya is more outgoing.
Wendy- Joanna's sister, she's back in town after a long absence (a hundred years).

When Wendy shows up, Joanna is forced to tell Ingrid that they are witches. Apparently every time the daughters are killed, Joanna gives birth to them again. The cycle continues over and over again (but the girls have no memory of their previous lives). "I have watched them die and given birth to them over a dozen times and they've never lived past thirty."- Joanna to Wendy. Even though the witches are immortal, the correct spell said in the right way by the right person can make them permanently dead.

Meanwhile an entity that looks like Joanna with glowing eyes is trying to pull a man out of a picture. He/she finally succeeds and the guy falls out. The imposter says "Come with me if you want to seek revenge on the witch that put you in there."

At the end of the episode, Wendy is stabbed by the imposter. Joanna is arrested for the murder of Bill Thatcher and the attempted murder of Maura Thatcher (also done by the imposter, they really get around). The man from the desert picture (who incidentally has a really bad sunburn) traps Freya in yet a different picture (it looks like a Roaring 20's party). If he kills her there, she can't be reborn.

Other observations:

There is lots of heavy flower activity on this show-- flowers changing color, burning flowers, exploding flowers.
There are a number of high profile actors in WEE-- Julia Ormond as Joanne, Mädchen Amick as Wendy, Jenna Dewan Tatum as Freya, and Virgina Madsen as Dash's mother.
The acting by Julia Ormond and Madchen Amick blew everyone else away. I would watch a show with just those two in it.

Favorite quotes:

Joanna: "You don't looks so good." Wendy: "Well I died this morning so sorry if my hair's not perfect." Wendy talking Joanna after being run over by a car while in cat form.
"I got married, I got divorced, I got married, I got widowed, I got eaten by a crocodile"- Wendy explaining what she's been up to in the century since she last saw Joanna.
We're going to have to work on getting that broomstick out of your ass babe"- Wendy to Joanna about her being too uptight.

Grade: 4 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). I wasn't sure what to expect but I really like the show. The production values are high. I enjoy watching the actors. The story is compelling and the dialogue is witty. I will definitely watch it again.