Comic-Con@Home: Eliot Laurence teases a culture clash in Motherland: Fort Salem season 2

Season two of Motherland: Fort Salem could see some major disruptions of ideologies and firmly held beliefs as the series’ world expands.

Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem is a series that pushes boundaries and looks at the world through differing lenses in order to challenge the societal roles of our own reality.

In Abigail, Raelle, and Tally’s world, witches protect American land and interests, serving a lifelong duty as soldiers. Common -isms and phobias that plague our society like sexism, racism, and homophobia don’t trouble them. The bigotry that they confront is that of the fear non-magical humans hold toward them and the complacency that requires they sacrifice their lives for a race of people that once tried to end their existence.

In a review, I problematized the series’ usage of Black history to tie the plight of witches to the American narrative. The Salem Accord draws inspiration from slave codes. The condition of slavery passed from mother to child; the status of witch and conscription into the Witches Army follows suit.

The terrorist organization, The Spree, fight for the liberation of witchkind and describe compulsory service as slavery repeatedly. The witches serve their country but are discriminated against and hated by a prejudiced portion of the nation.

Yet, there’s no discussion of race outside of acknowledging the Bellweather line of witches was started by a slavewoman who fought alongside Alder in America’s infancy. Abigail is instructed by her mother, Petra, to honor their ancestor and continue their family’s legacy.

During the show’s panel for Comic-Con@Home 2020, showrunner Eliot Laurence answered a fan’s question about the lack of -isms and phobias in the series, whether it was a conscious decision, and if the writers thought about adding those elements into the show. He explained:

"“It was a conscious decision. One thing to remember is really what we think of as the world of the show is kind of a pocket world of this base life, of this sort of subset within American society that is the military. So it is sort of a bubble and because female power in the American military, in the militaries around the world, has been so visible and present…I think the tide has shift towards feminism in the world-at-large, but it’s still not a perfect place. There’s still bigotry and racism.”"

From there, Laurence expanded on the pocket world of the witch matriarchy allowing families like the Bellweathers to accrue wealth and power, as well as establish a dynasty within this world where certain facets of white supremacy could no longer reach.

However, the world outside of their bubble is closer to our own, and in season two, the witches will encounter a greater understanding of the hatred they’ve been insulated from through their own communities.

I am interested to see how that narrative runs parallel to the witch hatred that will also be explored in the second season. Will it be analogous? Will there be subtle changes to the way bigotry presents itself when directed at non-magical humans and witches? Having been raised in witch communities, how will our witches of color deal with racism? How will Raelle and Scylla handle homophobia? How will women a part of a matriarchal society confront sexism?

There are so many avenues the series could take in its approach. The witches of Motherland: Fort Salem aren’t from a perfect society. They face death if they refuse to fulfill their duty to serve, marriage is about procreation not love, uniformity is a requirement of their existence, and they are beholden to Alder in all things without question.

Still, theirs is a society rooted in female empowerment, and it’s under threat by the Camarilla, the witches’ ancient enemy whose goal is to eradicate their race from the face of the planet. The Camarilla’s reappearance is likely to force an alliance between the Witches Army and The Spree, and with it may come an unearthing of the past, which only Alder has lived through.

In season one, viewers were treated to the ways in which Scylla and Anacostia were able to find common ground despite differing ideologies. Demetria McKinney described her character as a straight arrow beginning to waver thanks to Alder’s continuous crossing of boundaries and Scylla’s questioning of their societal structure which punishes those who don’t conform.

If an understanding can be forged between those two, even a tentative one, then what will happen if The Spree and army align themselves to fight a greater evil? Will Alder’s control over the Witches Army continue to destabilize? Will more witches begin to question the condition of their servitude?

On the flip side, will there be those among the ranks of The Spree who don’t agree with their group’s methods for securing liberation for their people? Prior to the attack on the Bellweathers, the terrorist organization never directly aimed their fury at witchkind. It was reserved for non-magical humans. Were there witches who dissented to that decision?

Cultures and ideologies will be clashing in more ways than one in season two of Motherland: Fort Salem. Hopefully the writers use American history as more than a reference this go round. Yes, Alder’s past should inform the Witches Army’s present, but there is more to the 300+ years of her life than the persecution of witches.

She lived through the birth of the United States to the country we, as the audience, know today. We should be privy to how the course of history changed with the presence of the witches, its affect on marginalized groups, and how the witches walk in a world shaped and protected by them but not entirely accepting of who they are as witchkind and, perhaps, as members of other marginalized groups if they had been born to non-magical families.

What are you looking forward to exploring in season two of Motherland: Fort Salem? Serve up your thoughts in the comments below!