Last month, the floodgates of AMC opened thanks to a deal with Netflix. For the next 11 months, shows that would have ordinarily been exclusive to AMC+ will be streaming on Netflix, including all of the spinoffs for The Walking Dead. And yet the three AMC programs that are still among the 10 most popular shows on Netflix aren’t from that franchise. Instead, Mayfair Witches, A Discovery of Witches, and Dark Winds are the shows breaking out on their new streaming platform.
Despite having similar subject matter, Mayfair Witches and A Discovery of Witches couldn’t be more different. The former was created by Anne Rice, and it dives into places that the latter never dared to tread. There’s clearly an audience for both of these shows, but for now, we’re sharing the four reasons why Mayfair Witches should be your next binge on Netflix.
Nearly a decade ago, True Detective season 1 viewers learned that Alexandra Daddario had definitely left her Percy Jackson days behind her. Daddario had a striking supporting role as Lisa Tragnetti, the woman having an affair with Detective Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson). Since then, Daddario has had a lot of supporting roles, including a larger part in The White Lotus season 1 on HBO.
Mayfair Witches finally moves Daddario to the forefront as Rowan Fielding, a young witch who initially has no idea about the extent of her powers or her legacy. This is unequivocally Daddario’s show, and she gives the series its most compelling performance.
Like Daddario, Jack Huston had one of his biggest roles on HBO just over a decade ago in Boardwalk Empire. However, Huston’s former character, the scarred and conflicted Richard Harrow, is nothing like his new role, Lasher. In the context of this series, Lasher is the bane of the Mayfair family, and he has the ability to change his shape at will.
Lasher also has a history of seducing his targets, and he does so here as well with Rowan to further his own agenda. It’s too simple to say that Lasher is the villain of the series, but he’s definitely not heroic.
Unlike AMC’s other witchcraft-oriented series, A Discovery of Witches, the morality of Mayfair Witches isn’t as clean cut. Rowan doesn’t initially set out to hurt anyone, but that’s exactly what she does during the first few manifestations of her power. And when Rowan finally does come into her own as a witch, she doesn’t seem to have many qualms about handing out some harsh justice to a member of the family who probably deserved their fate.
Many of the other supporting characters take even darker turns, especially Cortland Mayfair (Harry Hamlin). But it’s Rowan’s journey, and her decisions that ultimately give the series its unique shape. This isn’t a hero’s tale, and the old labels of good and evil don’t always apply.
One of the big reasons why Mayfair Witches is on AMC is that it shares a universe with Interview with the Vampire, which was also created by Anne Rice. So far, only a single season of Mayfair Witches has premiered, and there haven’t been any direct crossovers between the two shows yet.
However, there definitely seems to be something on the horizon that will bring these two narratives together. We may just have to wait to see how that plays out in the long term.
Watch Mayfair Witches on Netflix.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.