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Births and Deaths Rock ‘A Discovery of Witches’ [Review S03E04]

January 29, 2022 by Joe Lipsett

A piece of paper with the address of TJ Weston

Weekly coverage of A Discovery of Witches continues as the hunt for the missing Ashmole page heats up and Diana goes into labour.

Let’s bitch it out…

Missed a Review?

  • Season 1 (Links to Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr podcast)
  • Season 2: 2.01 / 2.02 / 2.03 / 2.04 / 2.05 / 2.06 / 2.07 / 2.08 / 2.09 / 2.10
  • Season 3: 3.01 / 3.02 / 3.03
A brunette scientist (R) with a male scientist in the background

Plot:

In a surprising turn of events, Dr. Roberts (Ivanno Jeremiah) and Miriam (Aiysha Hart) discover that Blood Rage is tied to the human DNA of its victims, which means they are unlikely to find a cure for those already afflicted.

Meanwhile, Phoebe (Adelle Leonce), Sarah (Alex Kingston) and Diana (Teresa Palmer) track down the final missing Ashmole page to a daemon named TJ Weston who eventually acquiesces. As Diana goes into labour with twins, daemon Congregation member Agatha (Tanya Moodie) discovers Weston’s body; he’s been murdered by Peter Knox (Owen Teale).

An anxious man bites his fingernails
A blonde woman and a black woman

Characters:

Weston is the only significant new character of note and he’s a bit of an oddball. The recluse could be suffering from the kind of mental decline that afflicts daemons (in the same way that witches are growing weaker, new vampires are harder to make, etc). Weston is mostly coded as an agoraphobic hoarder, though, and it’s initially unclear if the show means for us to laugh at him or sympathize with him.

Still, it’s a good moment for Diana when she refuses Sarah and Gallowglass (Steven Cree)’s proposal to force Weston to hand over the Ashmole page because it would make them equivalent to Knox. Instead Diana proves how serious she is about equality among the species by seeking out Agatha’s help and this kindness earns her the final page she needs to heal the Book of Life.

A black woman cradles a dead man in the center of a table

Stray Observations:

  • So Knox is just a full-blown psychopath at this point? There’s every indication that he not only killed Weston, but also the coven that Diana worked with earlier in the episode. Shouldn’t the Council be a little concerned about the trail of magical bodies he’s leaving in his wake? At the very least this is gonna rile Hubbard’s feathers considering these witches claim they are under his protection before they’re slaughtered.
  • As moving as Agatha’s compassion for Weston is in the final moments, 3.04 confirms that A Discovery of Witches has never *quite* known what to do with daemons. The whole series is built on the principle of equality among the three magical species, but too often it focuses exclusively on vampires and witches, with daemons always treated as an after thought. Case in point: Weston barely registers as a character before he is killed. Hell, even Agatha is a bit of a cipher compared to the other main cast members.
  • I typically refrain from commenting on the appearance of actresses, but it’s hard not to observe how tired and gaunt Palmer has looked these last few episodes as she works long hours on the series while pregnant in real life. Here, it adds to the effect as she goes into labour: Diana looks genuinely exhausted in many of these scenes.
A pained looking woman sits in a bathtub
  • Kudos to the show for the great montage of Diana giving birth (with an assist from Matthew, Sarah and Edward Bluemel‘s Marcus). It looks long, hard and tiring, but seeing the house come together around the tension and then the happy outcome is pretty special. I especially liked Miriam giving Isabeau updates via phone.
  • Oh yeah, Diana has a baby boy and a baby girl but there’s no clarity about whether they’re human, witch or vampire.
  • It’s surprisingly affective to watch Gallowglass’ heart break when Matthew returns from America and the Scottish vampire realizes that his decades-long crush on Diana will never be reciprocated (especially now that the twins have been born). Quietly compelling work from Cree here and a nice bit of camaraderie as Fernando (Olivier Huband) encourages him to let her go and live his life.
  • Finally: Matthew meets briefly with Baldwin (Trystan Gravelle) to discuss both Jack (Toby Regbo) and the twins. Baldwin, predictably, remains a huge dick.

A Discovery of Witches airs weekly on Fridays on Sky Max (UK) and Saturdays on AMC and Shudder (in North America)

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Filed Under: A Discovery of Witches, TV Tagged With: Alex Kingston, Matthew Goode, Olivier Huband, Owen Teale, Steven Cree, Tanya Moodie, Teresa Palmer, Toby Regbo, Trystan Gravelle

The 411 on me

I am a freelance film and television journalist based in Toronto, Canada.

Words:
> Bloody Disgusting
> /Film
> Consequence
> The Spool
> Anatomy of a Scream
> Grim Journal
> That Shelf

Podcasts:
> Horror Queers
> Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr

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