Motherland: Fort Salem deserved better than our modern television hellscape

In my endless quest to rewatch all of the television and film I have enjoyed throughout my life, I recently binged Freeform’s late Motherland: Fort Salem, which both deserved better and never stood a chance at being able to fully explore the depths of the vast, inventive, and magnificent story it presented. Set in a universe where witches — real witches, whose abilities came from their songs and vocal seeds, led by Sarah Alder (Lyne Renée) — ended the persecution of the Salem Witch Trials by signing the “Salem Accord” and agreeing to enlist in the country’s military, dedicating themselves and their daughters yet to come for generations to protecting this so-called “great” country, the series ran for three seasons of a total thirty episodes (a miracle by today’s standards) before coming to a close in 2022. While the end was somewhat planned because the show was unsurprisingly canceled, albeit with a final season to wrap things up, it remains a major disappointment that we only scratched the surface of this remarkably creative world.

As many have said and consistently praised the show for, Motherland: Fort Salem remains one of the few exciting and original shows to hit the air in recent years — whereas everything else seems to be a spin-off, revival, or based on another story. The series begins with three young witches—Raelle Collar (Taylor Hickson), Abigail Bellweather (Ashley Nicole Williams), and Tally Craven (Jessica Sutton)—saying the words and taking their pre-destined place in the armed forces. As the Bellweather unit works through basic training, each learns surprising truths about herself, the country, and their service to it. They begin to question General Alder’s practices and choices, as she’s used their abilities—essentially absorbing the life force of young women known as her Biddies—since the days of Salem to stay young and fit to continue her role as the military’s leader, making her a very controversial figure across the world.

And, as is to be expected following such a radical shift in history, the events unfolding across the country and the globe after the Salem Witch Trials changed quite dramatically with witches at the helm of the military. Unfortunately, this is just one example of a fascinating aspect of the series that is not explored nearly enough due to time constraints and limited episodes; instead, it’s something we learn from a timeline drawn on a chalkboard during one of the unit’s missions during the first season. What we primarily learn about is the decades-long war with a rival faction of witches known as the Spree, who use their songs to create chaos amongst humans and drive thousands at a time to kill themselves during mass attacks. The Spree oppose General Alder and the Salem Accord, viewing obligatory military service as simply signing up to be slaughtered to defend a country and world that has never respected witches nor seen them as citizens such as themselves.

Everything changes when the Camarilla, an ancient group of witch hunters, uses the fear and distrust caused by the Spree to return to the fold, despite Alder believing she successfully killed the group off ages prior. While both groups of antagonists are captivating in very different ways, neither gets their fair share of exploration without the time to do so, something that wouldn’t have been a problem if we still had 22-episode-long seasons and today’s television landscape wasn’t focused foremost on how to cut costs.

What Motherland: Fort Salem could have used in excess is so-called “filler” episodes. (I won’t get too far into the debate except to say those arguing against having these additional episodes could not be more wrong and there are few actual filler episodes because exploring characters is just as important as the overarching plot.) We get glimpses of the witches’ customs and holidays, like Beltane, Samhain, and Yule, each accompanying their own unique twist like the witches being able to summon the spirit of a departed witch during Samhain if they complete a ghastly task but serving a larger purpose to some extent. It would have been nice to explore these and the deeper meaning behind them, allowing for further growth between the characters without needing to push the story forward.

That said, Motherland utilizes its limited time wisely, intelligently prioritizing the relationship between the unit while still beautifully fleshing out just a few dynamics for each of the ladies, including Scylla (Amalia Holm) and Anacostia (Demetria McKinney), with the strong players surrounding them. The supporting characters, such as Petra Bellweather (Catherine Haggquist) and Vice President Silver (Victor Webster), are fleshed out just enough that their important roles in the story work. Others like President Wade (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Nicte Batan (Arlen Aguayo-Stewart) could have been even better.

In short, where Motherland: Fort Salem faltered was entirely out of its control and purely the product of Hollywood’s increasing shortsightedness with this under-appreciated medium. Maybe I’m out of line here (and I’m sure one of the three of you reading this will tell me so), but even Raelle’s temporary absence feels like a result of this. In my opinion, though it would have been difficult, production should have been paused until Hickson recovered from a car accident rather than pushing full speed ahead and having to rework crucial elements of the story, especially during the final season.

If Motherland had aired twenty years ago, it would’ve become a cult classic. This show could have been in the same league as Charmed and Buffy with its vastly creative and enthralling world and unique spin on popular mythology, something people actually appreciated once upon a time. Hell, if it wasn’t forsaken to Freeform as the network was taking shallow, dying breaths and only available for streaming on Hulu back when nobody was watching Hulu, it likely could have soldiered on for a couple more shortened seasons. Instead, the series was severely undervalued.

Shortly after it concluded, the powers that be sought to wipe it completely out of existence as it has for many other unlucky shows, removing it from Hulu and stripping people of the ability to buy it digitally. Thankfully, the small but determined fan base fought back, so it is at least available to purchase now. But what an utterly perfect example of how this show deserved so much more than the treatment it received.