Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem is a very unique tale of witches, something that has never been seen before on television. Starring Taylor Hickson, Ashley Nicole Williams, and Jessica Sutton as Raelle, Abigail, and Tally respectively, the pilot episode begins in a land quite different from our own. Full of interesting and very creative lore — from the series’ own spin on witchcraft to the much different picture of what the United States of America looks like — it’s a story that has been dreadfully underrated and underappreciated since Motherland premiered in 2018.

Back in the days of the Salem Witch Trials, real witches were being hunted until one woman stood up to end the violence: Sarah Alder (Lyne Renée). Sarah offered an alternative to the persecution, in which witches would stand up to protect the citizens of the world as the members and leaders of the military, the country’s first defense. Thus, the Salem Accord was signed. Upon coming of age, witches would accept the call to join their sisters in the military… or run, staying out of harm’s way, not learning how to develop their magic. A few hundred years later, when Motherland: Fort Salem begins, the witches have endured quite a lot as the protectors. Women are running the world, from the military to sitting in the Oval Office. Sarah Alder is still in charge with the help of her “biddies” whose life force she uses to keep herself young. People are starting to question the effectiveness of the military, as fear is creeping in consistently about the witches and the potential of misusing their abilities.

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Our beloved trio — Raelle, Abigail, and Tally — are some of the new recruits joining the others at Fort Salem to begin their training, and are the unit the show follows. All have such different backgrounds, which makes their interactions a bit tense for a while, as their individual fate rests in the hands of each other. They have to prove their power to answer the determining question of basic training: do they get put on the frontlines or continue their training at War College? As time goes on, the girls start to become sisters of sorts, and not just out of their witchy obligations. They help each other through incredibly difficult times and tragedies, bonding in a way unlike any normal friends can. They share the pressure of their experience, and come to learn that you can’t solely be focused on your own progress. They all have things to prove, especially Abigail as a member of one of the most famous families of witches that is counting on her to carry on their history-making legacy. And, as the girls’ training continues, they begin to question what’s going on around them, including the effectiveness of the military with the threats they’re facing.

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One of the most exciting aspects of Motherland: Fort Salem is the enemies the witches are up against. They’re facing a war unlike anything they have ever faced. First and foremost are the Spree, a group of witches that are tired of being used on the battlefield and being taken advantage of by the non-magical folk they serve. They’re terrorists, essentially, but how they are handling their mission is one that will captivate you, especially with the member of the Spree that is intertwined with the others in training: Scylla (Amalia Holm Bjelke). From the very start, she’ll make you question everything about the world, and help you begin to understand why there are witches that are so against everything that Alder and the military stand for. Plus, her true romantic connection with Raelle adds another layer to the complexity of the situation.

With Motherland: Fort Salem Season 2 came the introduction of another villainous group against the witches: the Camarilla. Somehow, this group of witch hunters has proven an even more threatening force, as they have created things that strip the witches of their powers. (Or, in some cases, use their own powers against them.) With this group having built itself up in secret after Alder and everyone else assumed they were defeated, their reach is so widespread that the witches are in for an incredible fight in the series’ final season. There’s one particular act toward the end of Season 2 that will make it real how deadly they can be, and what they are willing to give up to succeed in ending the existence of all witches. One of the questions yet to be answered is whether all of the witches, whether they agree with being conscripted into the military or not, can band together to stop this threat. It’s a very interesting concept that has already started to bring out another side of the main characters, testing their resolve and flexibility.

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In general, the magic of Motherland: Fort Salem is quite unusual. It’s not like other magic seen on television. There are no straightforward spells. The women use “seeds” that they create with their vocal cords. To put it in the most basic way possible, they’re singing their magic. Each seed (that are layered musical notes) is unique, causing something different to occur. This gives the show something special to play with, something that nobody else has done. What is their magic capable of? How can they enact their magic? The very first scene of the series paints a picture of how special and mesmerizing this use of magic can be — even in a devastating situation. This makes the fight with their foes even more challenging because their enemies are able to get the upper hand far easier than if they were chanting or waving wands around.

All in all, there’s something remarkable about Motherland: Fort Salem. In a television landscape full of reboots, revivals, and other (mostly) unoriginal ideas, the show is doing something inventive. The writers have created their own world, even their own version of the United States, and developed such powerful and deeply fascinating lore that could spin off into an entire universe full of stories if given the opportunity. It’s truly a shame that the final season will be airing in 2022, as there’s so much more story to be told from all of the characters we’ve been following. But, it’s definitely worth catching up to see the end of this journey, which has taken so many twists and turns over just 20 episodes (so far).

The first two seasons of Motherland: Fort Salem are streaming on Hulu.