Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Janet Montgomery, Shane West, Seth Gabel, Tamzin Merchant, Ashley Madekwe, Elise Eberle, Iddo Goldberg, Oliver Bell, Joe Doyle, Jeremy Crutchley, Lucy Lawless, Xander Berkeley, Michael P. Gardner, Michael Mulheren, Desiree Page, John R. Bennett II, Samantha Hanratty, Azure Parsons, Stephen Lang, Lara Grice, Samuel Roukin, Thomas Francis Murphy, Mary Katherine O’Donnell, Stuart Townsend, Christopher Berry, Clint James, Emma Claire Wynn, Marilyn Manson, Benjamin Mouton.
There are moments in human history that are undeniably so fixed and rooted in the collective subconscious that the repercussions are felt like tidal waves across time, through the generations the pain of the moment, the sacrifice, the unfathomable depths of the misuse of law and truth by those in power, the waters of suffering are enough to drown our souls and we endeavour to appease the gods for the ripples felt of misdeeds and butchery.
The events surrounding Salem in the late 17th Century, the sheer scope of terror that was felt over New England and beyond as religion and bigotry met the flaming accusations of witchcraft still resonate now in today’s more enlightened world. However, it would only take a single spark to set us back to a period where men and women, old and young, pious and full of youthful mischief would shudder under the jack boot of intolerance and lies, of claim and counter claim to the point where neighbour would fear neighbour and son would fear mother.
To capture such a critical period in history as entertainment takes courage, for the events must never be seen as projecting laughter, being ridiculed or offered up as mimicry and scorn masquerading as shame; and yet it also must move away from the brilliance that is framed by the Arthur Miller play, The Crucible if we are to add texture and perhaps detail, even in fantasy form, to the cruelty of the age.
Whilst an actual drama series spread over several episodes that truly gets to grips with the ferocity of feeling that surrounded the accusations and mockery of truth would be a dream of dramatic indulgence, the three series of Salem that push the boundaries of the supernatural, that perhaps hold a different sway of the events that witnessed innocent people such as Rebecca Nurse, Giles Corey, Sarah Good, and Bridget Bishop die at the hands of claim and denunciation, at the behest of scaremongering and damnation are to be viewed as expanding the devilry faced and reigniting the issue of what exactly happened to make such a small, puritan led town in the flourishing colonies under British rule suffer such a magnitude act of self-destruction.
The series’ itself is one of fantasy, one in which witches roam in the darkness and in the light and the evil that stalks the land is one that plays on the terrifying proceedings that surround and consume the settlers as they forge a new beginning whilst beset by old world superstitions and the native Americans who want their land returned to them.
It is in this fantasy, the mixing of truth and amplifying the detail that the viewer is able to forgive some of the more embellished narrative, the ages of some of the characters, the implication that some knew more than they were willing to admit to, and in that the keenness of storytelling that the direction of the series thrives, that performances by Janet Montgomery, Shane West, Seth Gabel, Tamzin Merchant, Elise Eberle, Iddo Goldberg, Jeremy Crutchley, Lucy Lawless, and Xander Berkeley stand out with stunning alacrity and zeal, and the dedication to the almost early gothic gore that charms and spreads fear with deviousness at its heart.
Salem is well worth digging through the television vaults for, to a step back in time to a semi-distant age where humankind was on the verge of falling on the sword of rumour and persistent anecdotal finger pointing, malicious gossip. Entertaining without being disrespectful to the period, Salem is television at its most inventive.
Ian D. Hall