Sanctuary: Historia de una bruja

I enjoyed this quite a bit. The show starts with a death and a set of prejudicial and/or false conclusions. Yes, people behave irrationally, but they stay well within the confines of normal human ignorance and lack of critical thinking. The magic aspect of it is fine. The story would work just as well if you replaced the word "witch" with any other misunderstood group that's the target of bigotry and discrimination. With the magic theme we get some special effects and an enhanced feeling of uncertainty. It's a good choice.

Revelations are made at an optimal pace. Often in crime shows the "twists" elicit a yawn, an eye-roll and a complete lack of surprise. However, in this show i felt more of an: "Ohhh....interesting." They keep these coming throughout the series. For me, this is a win.

By the time you get to the last episode, the tension is remarkably high. The situation seems hopeless....

Let's pretend for a moment that the fit of utter stupidity didn't occur.

...Unexpected but totally plausible things happen and the show ends satisfactorily. In the denouement some additional revelations are made which totally add value to the story and tie up some loose ends that you didn't know were loose. Well done.

Let's go back to that fit of utter stupidity. Everything I wrote above is sincere. The ending is good. The shark-jump is irrelevant. But, at 39:45 into the last episode, it's there. I actually laughed out loud. I won't spoil it (because I want people to read the review), so here are some comparable things you might see in a sillier series:

1. A person gets a pillow held over their face for seven seconds and is suddenly dead.

2. A car drives over a sharp rock and explodes into a ball of fire.

3. A person drops a toothpick onto a table and it ricochets around the room to stab somebody fatally in the heart.

It's that bad. Anybody who knows anything about objects that might be on a stage would have called BS on this event. Is this a 1980's B-movie? Why did they include it? The rest of the show was great. Why do something completely unnecessary and ridiculous? It ranks in the top two of the most ludicrous things I've ever seen in a "serious" show.

Why?

That being said: despite the one jarringly obvious forehead-slapping error, I think it's a really good show -- neatly wrapped. There are no breadcrumbs for a second season. But, if there were one, I would totally watch it.

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.

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.