Spooky season is upon us, which also means the season of the witch is nigh. Witches and their practice of magic – whether it be light or dark – have enchanted the minds of storytellers for millennia as mystical beings and metaphors for the struggles we go through. And given that one of the best ways to get in the witchy spirit is to binge a show featuring witches, what better opportunity to put together a list of five of the best to ever do it for witches?
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5) Mayfair Witches
Based on a novel trilogy by Anne Rice, famous for her take on another species of mystical beings in Interview with a Vampire, Mayfair Witches follows neurosurgeon Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario), who discovers she has the power to kill with her mind. The unnerving ability leads her to New Orleans and her biological family, where Rowan learns that she is the unlikely heir to a powerful dynasty of witches that has been haunted for centuries by a sinister spirit. In addition to its impressive cast, which includes beloved actors Harry Hamlin and Jack Huston playing major roles alongside Daddario in the series, Mayfair Witches possesses a dark, sleek, sexy tone Rice is famous for, all while using the series’ magic and machinations to explore the complexities of female power and the irrevocable impact of our moral decisions.
4) Charmed
If you’re looking for a witchy series to binge that’s both juicy and lengthy, look no further than the WB series Charmed. Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, and Shannon Doherty play a trio of sisters in San Francisco who unwittingly activate their latent magic abilities when they discover their family’s Book of Shadows. Each sister receives a different magical ability: Prue has telekinesis, Piper can freeze objects, and Phoebe begins receiving premonitions, yet together they can combine their powers to fulfill their destiny of protecting innocents from malevolent forces. Charmed is a highly entertaining examination of sisterhood and female friendship, as the sisters not only navigate protecting the world from evil forces, but also support each other through trials and tribulations with love, loss, and motherhood. Plus, with eight seasons and a reboot, you’ll have plenty to watch all spooky season long.
3) Sabrina the Teenage Witch
The sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch offers a witchy show that the whole family can watch and laugh with. Melissa Joan Hart plays Sabrina, a half-witch, half-mortal teenage girl who lives with a pair of kooky aunts and a talking cat in Salem, Massachusetts, who endeavors to balance growing into her magical abilities along with the highly relatable struggles that come with adolescence. The series follows Sabrina’s journey through high school and college as she attempts to balance her magical side with her mortal one, with varying and often hilarious degrees of success. While the first season of Sabrina is nearly thirty years old, the humor and its coming-of-age themes hold up, plus its episodic nature makes it easy to jump around for casual viewing, or a nostalgic binge of its seven-season run.
2) A Discovery of Witches
Romantasy fans and anglophiles, this one’s for you. Set at Oxford University, A Discovery of Witches chronicles the forbidden love between historian and reluctant witch Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer) and a chemistry professor vampire Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode) in an intricately built magical world lurking just beneath the surface of ours. Diana unearths an incredibly powerful manuscript that was believed to be lost, throwing the world she refused to be a part of — the world of witches, vampires, and demons — into turmoil as they all want the possession of it. Watching Diana surrender, both to her magical ancestry and later to Matthew’s help and appeal, makes for a steamy three-season binge watch that carefully balances its romance with a compelling fantastical thriller.
1) WandaVision
While some may call her a superhero, or villain depending on who you ask, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch’s (Elizabeth Olsen) solo series WandaVision is one of the best pieces of media Marvel Studios has produced to date. The series pays homage to different generations of television and sitcoms, all while crafting a compelling mystery and character study of Wanda, who, in her grief over Vision’s (Paul Bettany) death in Avengers: Infinity War, subjugates an entire town in New Jersey to her magic. Olsen and Bettany’s performances anchor WandaVision’s high concept, which can be initially hard to follow, yet showrunner Jac Shaffer and director Matt Shakman stick the landing with a finale that’s equally satisfying as it is heartbreaking. WandaVision’s single season makes it entirely bingeable, while spinoff Agatha All Along provides even more Marvel-flavored witchy goodness.
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