Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale

While there is a central fantasy element with the presence of witches and magic, those simply add complexity to the efforts of residents of a small town to solve a murder (or prove that it wasn't one), rather than being an end unto themselves.

The magical hand movements seem to have come straight out of The Magicians, but work in this series as well. Nothing about the fantasy element is particularly innovative, except perhaps combining it with a crime genre and setting it in a community where witches can live openly among their non-witch neighbors.

The acting is good and the script gets the job done without being unduly annoying. The teenage drama is fortunately kept to a minimum, and focused only on the central plot points thus far. Some misogynists may be upset about the plethora of strong female leads, but there's more than enough relevant guys in the story to satisfy a reverse-Bechdel test.

It's an easy and enjoyable watch.

I just caught up in this show and I must say it is very well written and acted. The storyline is just the right amount of perfect but not to much fantasy to kill the show. I agree with another person on here that said it doesn't need a lot of effects. It's just the right amount of perfect in its on. In my opinion it touches on numerous topics that still plague today's society now. This show went from 0 to 100 real quick and to think the women were all like blood sisters and then BOOM betrayal. Hysteria on the show gave us a glimpse at how it was for the women in the Salem trials. Those women in the Salem trials never stood a chance back then. This show did a great job acting out those parts and showing us how it was during the witch trials.

One of those pieces, where first episodes are bland and won't catch, but if you make it past that, you will be hooked and suddenly wait for more. I saw six episodes so far and I still don't know, how it will end, which is impressive, as on most of current series, I know mostly after two episodes all basic story lines. IT IS UNPREDICTABLE and annoying, and I love it.

I really don't understand why are people making those 1 or 2 rating reviews after seeing one episode (mostly not whole) and writing total nonsense. Watch it first and then come back again. You won't be disappointed. But if you are only about special effects and glorious, but bland story lines, then pass. Its not for you.

If you make it past the first episode, which was kind of a clumsy setup, this does actually get pretty engaging with multiple elements. The major plot is the murder mystery, and it's laced with social injustice stuff surrounding bullying/rape/evil patriarchy/outcasting. Some of the characters become over the top to the point of absurdity towards the end, but all in all this was still an engaging watch. It felt rushed into it's conclusion and felt a little anticlimactic to me, but I'm guessing they wanted to end it as a miniseries, which is fine. Ultimately, I found this trails behind the more superb (until s3) A discovey of Witches, but a better watch (lead acting capability mostly) than Mayfair witch.

It's not awful; a bit heavy on the "Harper Valley" small-town drama and teen angst (..especially for what looks to be a British-produced series), but it's still developing characters and story. It doesn't kick straight in like a "Penny Dreadful" but it held my interest.

For only one episode the acting is very passable, writing as well, and I like that they don't give up the whole season in the first ep. Post-episode previews are flashy, but this first one is subtle on the special and practical effects so not a whole lot of "eye-candy" on the way in. It may be that they're going out of the way a bit in terms of suspending disbelief, but it's still a fun watch so far.