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Motherland: Fort Salem (2020)
Fantastic. I want more!
Motherland: Fort Salem is a series on Freeform TV (and repeated on Hulu) featuring witches working for the U. S. Army.
If you have not been watching then you are missing out. Motherland gives us an alternate history where witches rose up during Salem and forged a pact with the then Colonies to protect the new country from their enemies. There are fewer states in the US and a large portion, The Cession, was given back to the Native Americans in return for their help and magic. The series follows three new witch recruits, Abby, Tally, and Raelle, as they go through Basic Training and survive as a unit.
There is a terrorist organization of rogue witches known as the Spree who resent the servitude that sends all witches to the Army.
The show features a full cast of strong, interesting women characters. The leader of the Army is General Alder, a 300+-year-old witch, their drill sergeant is a woman. Even the President is an African-American woman. Men are either tertiary characters at best (the Witch-Father) or eye-candy (Abby's two boy toys). Tally doesn't even see a man until one gives up his seat for her so she can fly from California to Massachusetts. Not that men are put into a bad light. The Witch Father is respected and well-liked. Raelle's dad is proud of his daughter and worries about her. It's just their stories are not as important here. That's a nice change of pace really.
The witches are also not a Ms. Pac-Man trope. They are warriors, witches but also women and they are allowed to be all three. It really is quite enjoyable and very different from what I have seen in the past. It has been a fantastic first season. Now with Season 2, we have two different witch factions (the Army and the Spree) and an ancient group of Witch Hunters called The Camarilla. I am also looking forward to learning more about the "Mother Language" that witches can speak called Méníshè.
All the actresses are great. In particular, Taylor Hickson as Raelle Collar is fantastic. She is the "star" but by no means does she hog the spotlight. This is an ensemble show and the cast work fantastic together. Indeed you want them to work together to succeed together.
The first two seasons were fantastic and I have high hopes for the third. I hope we can get more after that!