In an alternate world where witchcraft is not just real, but a major aspect of every nation's military forces, our three young protagonists - all new recruits into the army - have stumbled into the latest stage of an ancient battle.
It is no longer the conflict between the authorities and the terrorist witch group 'the Spree' that is their primary problem now, though that issue continues, draining resources and turning non-witches against the military. Instead, it is the return of the Camarilla, a secret organisation dedicated to the eradication of witches.
The Camarilla were believed destroyed a century or more before the modern day, but they have survived in secret and have been rebuilding their strength. This includes the development of weapons that let them mimic or suppress the powers of witches.
Season 2 of Motherland: Fort Salem moves the show's main plot forward with considerable gusto. The 'scene setting' that formed a core part of the first season is largely complete now, allowing the program to focus on its emerging core narrative: facing the seething hatred of the Camarilla, and the many cruel plans they have in store for all witches.
This plot-line works well - better than the Spree/military conflict, to my mind. It does make me wonder if someone involved in creating or running the show is a big X-Men fan, though. The whole "protecting a society that hates and fears us" definitely makes the show feel very much like "the X-Men, but with witches instead of mutants" at times.
A key part of the show's strength comes from the good work of its three most central actors. They convincingly portray a trio who are markedly different from each other in personality and background, but who are also believable as friends and colleagues.
Kudos also to the writing team for having each of the three developing their magical powers in clearly distinctive ways, giving each of them a particular focus that offers them opportunities to shine in the action scenes.
Not all of the writing is quite so deft. There are many instances of events relying heavily on characters making terrible decisions out of grief, resentment, or purely being short-sighted. It can get a little frustrating watching supposedly smart people make so many bad decisions, particularly off the back of the many bad choices they made in season one!
On the other hand, it is refreshing that so many of those bad decisions have some kind of in-universe justification. They don't feel like they are purely happening because "the plot can't move forward otherwise". It is also nice to see the characters feeling the repercussions of some of their more egregious errors.
The show also broadens its cast base this season, introducing some fun new characters such as M and Gregorio. I also like that despite the strongly hetero-normative nature of Witch society (albeit with the wrinkle of polyandry), the show has an apologetically LGBTQ-positive cast of characters: Raelle, front and centre on the image above, is unapologetically gay, while M is non-binary, and Scylla is bisexual. Also props for actually casting a non-binary performer to portray a non-binary character.
Season 2 of Motherland: Fort Salem manages to keep all these balls in the air quite successfully. It's overall a pleasant surprise - better than I actually expected it to be!
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