A Historian On Salem (TV series)

From what I know of the time frame, I’d place Cotton Mather firmly into the hands of the Adversary

From what I know of the time frame, I’d place Cotton Mather firmly into the hands of the Adversary

I could go either way on this. In a setting where witches are real and those are awarded the power to discover and combat them, I would think the Salem Witch trials would play out very differently.

So I guess it comes down to what you feel makes a more interesting character. Or a more devious plot. After all, ignorance and superstition need not apply completely in this case.

Tom
Who is admittedly not as well versed on the Salem witch trials as others.

Hello,

Frankly, while Cotton Mather was a terror in history, on the show it’s his father, Increase Mather who fascinates me.

This is a Witch Hunter that teeters on the brink and may already be unwittingly doing the Adversary’s work. That character is great to watch on the show. His intro scene is still my favorite of the series thus far.

Did a quick wiki search on Increase Mather. Some good stuff there if you read between the lines with an eye towards the game. The business with Robert Calef and his book, as well as Mather’s involvement in politics seem interesting. By the way I have not been involved in the new campaign mainly for lack of time, but what year is the current campaign set in?

Hello Michael,

By the way I have not been involved in the new campaign mainly for lack of time, but what year is the current campaign set in?

1690 is the current year of the campaign.

Yeah, Increase Mather is a beast on that show. Stephan Lang does a great job considering the quality of the material they give him sometimes. If all the other “villains” were as good as he was, it would be a much better show. Alas…

Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a bad show. It just doesn’t stand up to a lot of ongoing serials in the same genre (Supernatural, for instance). If, as I’ve read, WGN is trying to position itself as the next the FX/TMC, they have a LONG way to go. But they are committed to the show, and its sophmore season may pick up.

And since we’re talking about Cotton and Increase, one of my issues with the show is that there isn’t a man of God with any real conviction on the show. You have Cotton, who is a waste of a human being on a good day, and Increase, a sadist in black robes. On the flip side, you have John Alden who is basically agnostic/skeptic/hollywood-realist without a shred of religious conviction. I find that dichotomy really one sided (and typical of pretty much all popular entertainment these days). I think these characters and the show would both be better with an evangelical, yet oppositional character. Not necessarily preachy (Book from Firefly is a good example here). “All Christians/Puritans are hypocritical and evil” doesn’t give me much reason to root against the witches. And John Alden, the “noble skeptic caught in the cross fire with demons in his past” isn’t really enough to get me to care beyond, “how can I use that in my game?”

Tom

It’s not that all the good guys are vile hypocrites. It’s that pretty much everyone the good guys (all two of them, John and Isaac–three if you include the Hale girl) are trying to save are pretty much wastes of space. It’s like watching an Eli Roth movie. As bad as they are, you kinda have to root for the witches because the other side isn’t offering much to redeem itself.

But hey, second season. Maybe the writers have gotten a better grasp on things.

It looks like this weekend and up to the second season premier (next Sunday), WGN is running a special behind the scenes episode called “Witch War” where they go into all the stuff that they are using to shape the series. Before you give up 12 hours of your life to Netflix, you should check that out. It may spoil season 1 for you, but unless you are a diehard fan of Shane West or Seth Gable, you can afford to have it spoiled. Like Henry said, Increase Mather’s introduction to the show is worth every minute and show be required viewing for every witch hunter player and GM. (Hmmm…I wonder if YouTube has an excerpt?)

Tom