Season 1, Episode 3
Airdate: October 20, 2013
Rating:
“Things are not going back to the way they were.” Wendy
The drama heats up in this week’s Witches of East End episode, “Today I Am A Witch.” The Beauchamp ladies continue to battle against evil forces determined to destroy their family—Freya (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) and Ingrid (Rachel Boston) dabble in their new found powers with the aid of their Aunt Wendy (Mädchen Amick); Joanna (Julia Ormond) fights to give her daughters “normal lives” without the use of magic (an act, we learn might just put them all in further danger).
Something Wicked Comes This Way Comes
“Today I Am A Witch” kicks off with an ominous sequence of events: Freya is drawn again to Killian (Daniel DiTomasso) but this time when they share a passionate kiss, Dash (Eric Winters) catches them in the act. Ingrid finds Wendy trying to reverse the curse which will cost the life of a loved one. The moment turns grim when Wendy reveals Ingrid will be the one to die. Just then Ingrid’s arms turn white as if frozen, Wendy looks at her, and says she deserves what’s coming to her. Joanna is confronted by the shapeshifter, Faux!Joanna, and they engage in a fight. The reoccurring symbol branded on the tree in front of their house last week in “Marilyn Fenwick, R.I.P.” appears again but this time engraved into the headboard of Joanna’s bed. Just when we think the Beauchamp women may have taken a trip to the dark side, each of them abruptly awake from sleep. Everything they experienced was a nightmare, or was it?
From the start of Witches of East End, the mysterious shapeshifter doing evil in Joanna’s name remains the biggest threat to the Beauchamps. In “Now I Am A Witch” the danger intensifies as we learn the protection spells Joanna placed around East End and their home no longer work. With Freya and Ingrid’s magical abilities in its infant stage, they are even more vulnerable to all of Joanna’s enemies.
The Light and The Dark
So what exactly is so special about Beauchamp magic? Until now we have seen mere glimpses, but it’s not until Wendy goes against Joanna’s wishes—training Freya and Ingrid how to use their magic—that we understand their amazing legacy:
Wendy: “I’m ruled from instinct, so, my powers come from the gut. Freya, you’re ruled by emotion so yours come from the heart. With practice you’re gonna be able to read people’s deepest desires; mix potions to make them fall in love or fall into bed.”
Ingrid: “Her specialty is sex. I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
Freya: “What’s her specialty? Reading?”
Wendy: “Kind of…Ingrid’s powers come from strength of mind, intellect, invention…watching you write a spell was like watching Mozart create a concerto.”
When the girls later ask about their mother’s power, Wendy proudly lets them know Joanna is essentially a badass, and the “total package.”
Meanwhile, Joanna finds a symbol carved into the tree by her house. It is the same design marked on the ground 
beside the man murdered the night of Freya’s engagement party. When Wendy finds Joanna outside, she comments on the familiarity of the symbol. Joanna reveals, “Malus Amlio. It draws in the dark and magnifies the power of evil.” Whatever is out to get the family is feeding on their life source and powers. It’s implied, and we see for ourselves in a series of flashbacks, that Joanna was not always a good little witch. So whatever the Beauchamps may have done to piss this witch off, must be pretty bad.
Magic & Romance
Aside from the danger, and the murder trial Joanna will soon face, Witches of East End also turns its attention to the love lives of Freya and Ingrid. Yes, it’s a bit sentimental, but everyone needs love. For Freya, who has been caught in a love triangle with the hot brothers Dash and Killian Gardinier, there’s an air of mystery and suspense which is compelling to watch unravel onscreen. Knowing now that Freya’s emotions fuel her powers, it leaves so much possibilities to how long she can resist her attraction to Killian or what she may end up doing to him should he break her heart.
But added to the weekly love triangle Freya finds herself in, the episode also highlights the progression of Ingrid’s relationship with her crush, Adam (Jason George). It’s a refreshing change of pace considering Ingrid’s shyness around boys, let alone her inability to take a hint when someone is interested in her. So, when Adam doesn’t relent in trying to get her to have dinner with him—in what is easily one the most fun scenes of the episode—Ingrid’s acceptance is a big step for her since she never thought he would share the same feelings.
In stark contrast, Freya trust issues grow when Dash confesses to having a previous fiancée who apparently was seduced by Killian. Dash tells Freya his brother has a pattern of sabotaging his relationships. Later when Freya confronts Killian, he doesn’t deny his dirty past, but what’s really telling is the way he insinuates Dash isn’t being completely honest. And in a way, I’m not surprised at all. Ever since Dash offered to pay Killian to leave town, I couldn’t help but feel there is something sinister at work. Dash presents himself as a near perfect fiancée, but around his brother there’s this coldness in his eyes. Killian isn’t off the hook either; he seems so certain in his connection with Freya it’s almost obsessive. Also, if they are sharing the same dreams, and have some free will to what they tell each other, then wouldn’t Killian’s comment in the premiere episode about waiting four hundred years suggest he knows something paranormal or past lives? He also didn’t have a huge reaction when Freya’s powers go 
crazy at the bar, and she ends up shattering glassware on a shelf. There’s something shady going on with the Gardinier brothers, and Freya seems to be at the heart of it.
Team Beauchamp
“Today I Am A Witch” culminates with the shapeshifter attacking Joanna at home. Luckily, Freya arrives just in time to use her powers and save her mother while the shapeshifter escapes up the chimney as a foggy mist. Later when Wendy and Ingrid arrive at the house, they create one of the most beautiful scenes of the series so far.
They gather outside, in front of the tree with the malus amlio symbol on it. They form a circle, and begin to chant a spell to protect their home. It’s a simple scene, but directed with such care and attention you feel enthralled by it.
Joanna: “We are fighting dark with light, using our life force. Contego.”
Wendy: “Servo.”
Freya: “Vindico.”
Ingrid: “Protego.”
Their chant brings the tree back to life. Meanwhile, somewhere in town, the shapeshifter continues conjuring up bad magic in room decorated with photographs of the Beauchamp women. The camera pulls back to reveal the shapeshifter is an old man, who holds a voodoo doll created to harm Joanna.
Overall, Witches of East End is quickly becoming one of my favorite series of the fall season. Sure, it doesn’t have the epic depth of Game of Thrones, or the dark and gruesome tone in American Horror Story: Coven but it needs no comparison. The series is made for viewers who like their magic done medium well with just enough drama and romance to make you want more. The way the series’ producers are shaping Witches of East End works on the strength of its cast, and the creativity of its writers. Josh Reims, who wrote “Today I Am A Witch” does a great job of maintaining the continuity of the characters’ personalities without making them seem pretentious. Now that we have a face to the elusive shifter, it’s only a short matter of time before we see all hell break loose in East End. And with Ingrid’s curse in effect, everyone she loves remains fair game.
Tune in to Witches of East End, Sundays at 10pm ET/PT, only on Lifetime.
Follow the series on its official site: http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/witches-of-east-end/.
Follow Witches of East End on Twitter @WitchesEastEnd and @lifetimetv, as well as the cast
@danielditomasso,@rachelboston, @JasonWGeorge, @Kellee_Stewart,@EricWinter1,
@ranthonylemke, @TheBrianneDavis, @jennaldewan,@tomlenk
,@MelissadelaCruz, and @MaggieFriedman.
Like Witches of East End on Facebook.
Connie Allen
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1 comment
Great insight on this…and I’m so ready to find out about these two brothers and their family history. When Killian said ‘I’ve waited 400 years’ I thought for sure they were warlocks. And I haven’t seen their mother – played by Virginia Madsen? Seems like she dislikes the Beauchamps.