It seethes with passion, it writhes with unfulfilled longing ... no, I am not necessarily talking about Salem (but I could be), rather I am talking about every bodice-ripping costume drama ever put before a camera since the early days of film. SALEM merely continues that ignoble tradition and, overall, does not a bad job of it. But for this review I believe I will take the IMDBs Reviewers Handbook (speaking metaphorically here) and toss it out the (equally metaphorical) window. Because aside from the solid acting and writing and production values, this series ultimately rests on it being a treat for fans of Janet Montgomery.
I have elsewhere within the bowels of the IMDb reviewed HUMAN TARGET, and quite favourably at that. But what I failed to mention in that review was that, to try to salvage ratings in the second (and last) season, they took an already cool show, perhaps somewhat overflowing with testosterone, and tried to "juice" it with some last-minute feminine energy. Which led to the quirky character known as AMES (played of course by JM) who successfully stole scene after scene after scene from the first-billed stars, and did it in the most wonderfully nonchalant and quirky manner. (There is even a rather ignominious Youtube video, clearly from a JM fan, commemorating one of her scenes.)
Interestingly, in that series, JM, though British born, affected a perfect Yank accent and an equally perfect Valley Girl vibe. Barely four years later, she is now leading a solid cast in SALEM with a character as different from Ames as the night is from the day, yet she remains a scene-stealer all the same.
I have elsewhere within the bowels of the IMDb reviewed HUMAN TARGET, and quite favourably at that. But what I failed to mention in that review was that, to try to salvage ratings in the second (and last) season, they took an already cool show, perhaps somewhat overflowing with testosterone, and tried to "juice" it with some last-minute feminine energy. Which led to the quirky character known as AMES (played of course by JM) who successfully stole scene after scene after scene from the first-billed stars, and did it in the most wonderfully nonchalant and quirky manner. (There is even a rather ignominious Youtube video, clearly from a JM fan, commemorating one of her scenes.)
Interestingly, in that series, JM, though British born, affected a perfect Yank accent and an equally perfect Valley Girl vibe. Barely four years later, she is now leading a solid cast in SALEM with a character as different from Ames as the night is from the day, yet she remains a scene-stealer all the same.