Tim Federle, the creator of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, succeeds again by bringing viewers a teen-centered show with teenage rage bubbling under the surface. Instead of musicals, Disney’s Coven Academy takes a stab at the dark side of the heart of New Orleans. Not only does it bring the Louisiana nightlife to the small screen, but it also brings the supernatural tales that lurk in the shadows.
Olivia Rodrigo’s hit song, “Brutal,” fuels the teenage rage in this teen supernatural dramedy. Based on the trailer and episode one, this series already packs a punch. With magical chaos running amok, dangerous vampire-hunting witches, and Briar learning about the magical world, this series is sure to keep you hooked.
Next stop: Coven Academy
Lively music rages in the lights of the New Orleans streets. In the shadows and the darkest alleyways, trouble lurks. Three young witches meet their end at the hands of a pack of vampires as they try to get back to the Academy. From the bloody newspaper, we find out that these “random attacks” have been happening across New Orleans for a while.
Briar exits the airport to the backdrop of Olivia Rodrigo’s "Brutal." It's already revealed that she has no desire to be here as she throws her bags into the taxi. Before the taxi driver rudely cuts it off, we learn that three girls went missing last night. They're tied to the string of attacks. Danger is already lurking as Briar arrives in New Orleans; this can't be good.
Thanks to him turning the radio off, we learn that Briar thinks Coven Academy is a school for troubled girls called Crescent Veil (we learn later it's on Jake's shirt). She jokingly tells the driver that he'll find out why if he keeps questioning her. Oh, I like her already. Her jokes easily roll off her tongue as she tells him to keep the meter running (a little New York humor) since she doesn't plan on staying long.
Due to the spooky exterior, Briar is amazed the school is so interesting inside. Miss Graves tells her they like to keep a low profile. Instead of going by Coven Academy, they go by Crescent Veil and give potential students a reason tied to their background why they're coming here, especially in Briar's case.
Miss Graves, head of Coven Academy, wastes no time getting into Briar’s troubled background. Turns out, Briar was caught snooping through police files to find out what happened to her mom. Miss Graves says the wrong thing when she tells Briar she hopes her mom is in a better place and that Briar may have anger issues. The knickknacks on her desk begin to shake as Briar's emotions rage inside of her.
Wanting to go grab her backpack from the car, Briar gets up to leave. She levels with Miss Graves that she promised her dad she'd give this school a shot, but New Orleans doesn't feel like the place to her. Then, Miss Graves initiates Briar's powers as she tries to get her to stay by promising her answers about her mother and so much more. The bribe only makes Briar want to flee more.
You're a witch, Briar
Miss Graves yells after her that she's not safe. As Briar is on the phone with her dad, a girl yells from the bushes that she's not safe out here and is being hunted. With danger lurking, she ditches her suitcase and hops into the hatch with Teagan.
As if we've stepped into Harry Potter, Teagan tells Briar that since her powers are active, she's being hunted. Briar doesn't believe her for a second. Teagan pushes forward with her welcome speech to Coven Academy and shocks Briar to her core with the truth that she's a witch. At least she has a lot of promise at the academy; it can't all be bad.
As she's still processing her newfound title and abilities, her first meeting with Sasha doesn't go very well. Due to Sasha's emotional reading powers, she doesn't trust Briar. Instead of writing her off, she follows Teagan’s lead to convince Briar that this school is magic. Teagan may not be able to wield her time powers at will, but she can still convince Briar to hopefully stay.
Teagan proves all she needed to do was show Briar what can happen if she stays at Coven Academy. In self-defense class, the students are training to fight vampires, but it's not until McKenna walks in that Briar starts warming to the place. With the possibility of wielding her powers at ease like McKenna, Briar realizes she'll be doing more than the New York girls back home.
On top of it not being a school for troubled girls, Briar learns there are warlocks (male witches) at the school. Teagan reveals a group of them are teaming up to hunt down the vampires who attacked the three witches last night. Although they don't speak, Briar and Jake make eye contact for the first time.
Teagan and Sasha lead Briar into the archives room: the vault of magic. As they're showing her more things, Sasha gets suspicious about what Briar isn't telling them. Finally, she uses her powers on her but can't read her. Miss Graves storms in, stopping whatever is happening, and Sasha stomps out. She doesn't trust her, but Miss Graves encourages her to give it time. From the promos, it looks like Sasha accepts Briar into the sisterhood of their coven, but it's going to take some time.
Requesting a one-on-one talk with Miss Graves, Briar learns that she knows much more about her mom than Briar is ready to hear. She leaves her with this: “Train first, get better. I promise you, I only want to protect you.” It sounds like the truth will be hard for Briar to handle untrained. I trust Miss Graves knows what she's doing, but it's obvious Briar wants to rebel and be impatient.
Jake's powerful locator spell mission
Jake looks on from his window as the driver leaves and Briar goes back inside the school. McKenna comes into his room with one item from each missing girl's dorm room. He's not doing a simple locator spell but one strong enough to uncover if the girls are still alive.
She warns him he's on the edge with the number of suspensions he already has. He stops her by saying it was his fault that the girls went missing because he was with them that night. When he ran into a buddy, he told them to go back to the school without him. His showing them a fun night out turned into them getting attacked. No wonder he'll do anything to get them back.
Before McKenna leaves, Jake wonders why she knows about Briar. From their conversation it's clear that McKenna doesn't think much of Briar. “She walked into the vault like it was mall," says everything we need to know about McKenna's thoughts on Briar. She's loyal to Jake but suspicious of the new girl.
Witches in training and new vampires
The taxi driver brings Briar back her backpack. He boldly makes a move to ask her out. She's cautious, considering the students who went missing. He insists he knows but also knows they didn't have him to protect them. Their conversation is interrupted when Sasha finds Briar breaking the rules. Even at the end of their conversation, he doesn't introduce himself. All Briar knows is that he's not from New Orleans and is here because he wanted more. Was that Ollie? I'm sure Briar will soon find out.
After coming back into the school, Briar meets Teagan in her room as the driver boy is leaving. Briar tells her she thinks he asked her on a date. I'm guessing since this was a good reason, Teagan bent time to check the boy's hotness out. Then, she collapses for a few seconds, scaring Briar. Apparently, being a beginner witch means their magic wears them out.
Briar confesses that she doesn't want to unpack because then she has to commit to staying. Teagan, out of her element, takes her time giving advice. Her advice about Miss Graves always saying to give the new girl a chance leads Briar to learn she may have something in common with Sasha. Sasha may be giving her the cold shoulder because she doesn't want to get hurt, but Briar can relate to that, which relates to the show using Olivia Rodrigo's Brutal as the song. Teagan says goodnight and lets her know her room is down the hall. Her door has bunny stickers on it, so Briar knows which one to go to if she needs anything.
Another attack happens. The vampire, Alexander, rips the guy's heart out and hands it to the woman in charge. In blood, she writes BRIAR on the brick wall and tells Alexander to find her. He disagrees and tells her to leave Briar for Ollie. It's revealed that the driver boy and Ollie, the new vampire, are one and the same. He's already made an impression on Briar after returning her backpack to her and asking her out on a date.
Coven Academy season 1 is now streaming on Disney+
Add us as a preferred source on Google