Salem season 2
| Salem | |
|---|---|
| Season 2 | |
 Promotional poster | |
| Starring |
|
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Release | |
| Original network | WGN America |
| Original release | April 5 – June 28, 2015 |
| Season chronology | |
The second season of Salem, an American horror–drama television series on WGN America, premiered on April 5, 2015, and concluded on June 28, 2015, consisting of thirteen episodes. Created for television by Adam Simon and Brannon Braga, who write or co-write episodes of the show, the series is based on the Salem Witch Trials. It was executive produced by Braga, Coby Greenberg and David Von Ancken, with Braga and Simon assuming the role of showrunner.
The second season was announced on May 15, 2014 after only four episodes of the first season had aired.
Cast
Main cast
- Janet Montgomery as Mary Sibley, Salem's most powerful enchantress (13 episodes)
- Shane West as Captain John Alden, Mary's love interest (13 episodes)
- Seth Gabel as Cotton Mather, the local witch hunter (13 episodes)
- Ashley Madekwe as Tituba, Mary's slave and fellow witch (11 episodes)
- Tamzin Merchant as Anne Hale, the daughter of the Magistrate (11 episodes)
- Elise Eberle as Mercy Lewis, a tortured victim from the witches (11 episodes)
- Iddo Goldberg as Isaac Walton, branded the fornicator (9 episodes)
- Joe Doyle as Baron Sebastian von Marburg, Countess von Marburg's son (10 episodes)
- Oliver Bell as Little John, Mary and John Alden's son (13 episodes)
Recurring cast
- Lucy Lawless as Countess Palatine Ingrid von Marburg, an original witch hoping to raise the devil (11 episodes)
- Stuart Townsend as Dr. Samuel Wainwright, a new doctor hoping to cure Salem of the plague (10 episodes)
- Jeremy Crutchley as Wendell Hathorne, the new elected Magistrate (9 episodes)
- Sammi Hanratty as Dollie Trask, Mercy's best friend (7 episodes)
- Cara Santana as Sooleawa, an Indian girl (5 episodes)
- Michael Mulheren as George Sibley, the elected official of Salem
Guest cast
- Stephen Lang as Increase Mather, Cotton's father who takes over the witch hunt (2 episodes)
- Christopher Berry as The Seer, a man who lives in the woods (2 episodes)
Production
Writing
The writing team for the show had a major overhaul after the first season. Among the first season staff, only Adam Simon, Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky remained on the show. In an interview with Gavin Hetherington of SpoilerTV, Simon said "there were some very talented writers that worked on season one but they also came from very different backgrounds. They had very strong opinions where they wanted things to go, which was great, except they were telling 13 different stories and I was trying to tell one story in 13 episodes."[1] There were inconsistencies with the writing between episodes due to the sometimes clashing writing style, and Simon further commented that "sometimes it seemed to me that characters I created suddenly sounded very different [in the episodes Adam didn't write], they weren't even speaking quite the same language from episode to episode which was tough on the actors and on the audience."
As a result of this, Elizabeth Sarnoff, Tricia Small and Jon Harmon Feldman did not return for season two. A new writing staff were brought in, and the three remaining writers from season one were joined by Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson, Turi Meyer, Al Septien—who all had previously worked on Smallville together—and Donna Thorland.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Cry Havoc" | Nick Copus | Brannon Braga & Adam Simon | April 5, 2015 | 2WAT01 | 0.510[2] |
| 15 | 2 | "Blood Kiss" | Allan Arkush | Brannon Braga & Adam Simon | April 12, 2015 | 2WAT02 | 0.376[3] |
| 16 | 3 | "From Within" | Alex Zakrzewski | Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson | April 19, 2015 | 2WAT03 | 0.495[4] |
| 17 | 4 | "Book of Shadows" | Allan Kroeker | Joe Menosky & Adam Simon | April 26, 2015 | 2WAT04 | 0.331[5] |
| 18 | 5 | "The Wine Dark Sea" | Peter Weller | Turi Meyer & Al Septien | May 3, 2015 | 2WAT05 | 0.334[6] |
| 19 | 6 | "Ill Met by Moonlight" | Nick Copus | Brian Peterson & Kelly Souders | May 10, 2015 | 2WAT06 | 0.245[7] |
| 20 | 7 | "The Beckoning Fair One" | Joe Dante | Donna Thorland & Adam Simon | May 17, 2015 | 2WAT07 | 0.321[8] |
| 21 | 8 | "Dead Birds" | Alex Kalymnios | Joe Menosky & Adam Simon | May 24, 2015 | 2WAT08 | 0.310[9] |
| 22 | 9 | "Wages of Sin" | David Grossman | Al Septien & Turi Meyer | May 31, 2015 | 2WAT09 | 0.394[10] |
| 23 | 10 | "Til Death Do Us Part" | Tim Andrew | Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson | June 7, 2015 | 2WAT10 | 0.284[11] |
| 24 | 11 | "On Earth as in Hell" | Nick Copus | Joe Menosky & Adam Simon | June 14, 2015 | 2WAT11 | 0.314[12] |
| 25 | 12 | "Midnight Never Come" | Alex Zakrzewski | Donna Thorland & Adam Simon | June 21, 2015 | 2WAT12 | 0.318[13] |
| 26 | 13 | "The Witching Hour" | Brannon Braga | Adam Simon | June 28, 2015 | 2WAT13 | 0.337[14] |
Reception
Critical response
Upon reviewing several episodes of the second season, Gavin Hetherington of SpoilerTV called Salem the "best goddamn show on TV right now."[15][16]
Accolades
Ratings
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
DVR (18–49) |
DVR viewers (millions) |
Total (18–49) |
Total viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Cry Havoc" | April 5, 2015 | 0.2 | 0.51 | 0.5[17][a] | 1.01[17][a] | — | — |
| 2 | "Blood Kiss" | April 12, 2015 | 0.1 | 0.38 | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | "From Within" | April 19, 2015 | 0.2 | 0.50 | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | "Book of Shadows" | April 26, 2015 | 0.1 | 0.33 | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | "The Wine Dark Sea" | May 3, 2015 | 0.1 | 0.33 | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | "Ill Met by Moonlight" | May 10, 2015 | 0.1 | 0.25 | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | "The Beckoning Fair One" | May 17, 2015 | 0.2 | 0.32 | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | "Dead Birds" | May 24, 2015 | 0.1 | 0.31 | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | "Wages of Sin" | May 31, 2015 | 0.1 | 0.39 | 0.4[18] | — | — | — |
| 10 | "Til Death Do Us Part" | June 7, 2015 | 0.1 | 0.28 | 0.3[19] | — | — | — |
| 11 | "On Earth as in Hell" | June 14, 2015 | 0.1 | 0.31 | — | — | — | — |
| 12 | "Midnight Never Come" | June 21, 2015 | 0.1 | 0.32 | 0.2[20][a] | — | — | — |
| 13 | "The Witching Hour" | June 28, 2015 | 0.1 | 0.34 | — | — | — | — |
Notes
References
- ^ Hetherington, Gavin (June 23, 2015). "Salem - Adam Simon Exclusive Interview: Co-Creator Talks Season 2 Finale, Will There Be a Season 3 & So Much More!". SpoilerTV. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
- ^ Cantor, Brian (April 7, 2015). "Ratings: WGN America's "Salem" Falls from Season One Premiere, Bests Finale". Headline Planet. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ Cantor, Brian (April 14, 2015). "Ratings: WGN America's "Salem" Sinks from Season Premiere". Headline Planet. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 21, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals: 4.19.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 28, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals: 4.26.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 5, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals: 5.3.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 12, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cale Originals (& Network Update): 5.10.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- ^ "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'Game of Thrones' Tops Night + 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians', 'Mad Men' & More". May 19, 2015. Archived from the original on May 21, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (May 27, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 5.24.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 2, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 5.31.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 9, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 6.7.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 16, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 6.14.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 23, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 6.21.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (June 30, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Sunday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 6.28.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
- ^ Hetherington, Gavin (April 20, 2015). "Salem - From Within - Review: "By the Severing of Our Tongues"". SpoilerTV. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ West, Shane (April 20, 2015). "Shane West on Twitter: "I can dig it"". Twitter. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ a b Baron, Steve (April 10, 2015). "Impressive Gains for WGN America's 'Salem' Season Two in Live + 3 Viewing". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on February 11, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ^ "'Game of Thrones' Leads Adults 18-49 & Viewership Gains, 'Salem' Tops Percentage Increases in Live +7 Cable Ratings for Week Ending June 1". TV by the Numbers. June 15, 2015. Archived from the original on December 18, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ^ "'Game of Thrones' Leads Adults 18-49 & Viewership Gains, 'Halt And Catch Fire' & 'Salem' Top Percentage Increases in Live +7 Cable Ratings for Week Ending June 7". TV by the Numbers. June 22, 2015. Archived from the original on December 18, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ^ "Live + 3 Cable Ratings : 'True Detective' Top Adults 18-49 Gainer, 'Defiance' Biggest Percentage Gainer & 'Rizzoli & Isles' Most Viewership Growth for the Week Ending June 21, 2015". TV by the Numbers. June 26, 2015. Archived from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
