Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Discovery of Witches, Season 1, Episode 3





This voiceover is happening every episode. Really, this is happening? These are the credits?

So I’m going to mix the order up a little more this episode so it flows better for a recap just because I’m lazy and I really hate view switching storylines almost as much as I hate stories not in chronological orders.

So in, I’m going to assume Venice because it’s wet, we have the Congregation which seems to be an all powerful ruling body for the three supernatural races (or, I guess, more than three since there could be more) It’s run by a human in a male inherited role which a visiting Satu is snarking about.

She is there to research Diana (and gets a file including pictures of her dead parents( but the witch archive is invaded by the Venetian investigator Dominico and there’s some magic and lots of strangling. We’ve seen Satu open a pit into the floor - I think Dominico is very very casual about strangling her one handed. He may be asking for some severe combustion

Anyway he learns about Diana and rushes to boss man Gerbert (and I still can’t get over Trevor Eve in this role) to tattle that Matthew is totally messing with witches and if they can prove it they can get him in trouble. Apparently this is is something they want

Gerbert doesn’t think that Matthew is going to be that daft as to play into their evil hands. But he consults a mummified head in a box which mumbles something about a witch with the blood of a wolf and a lion (I think. I am so against cryptic nonsense prophecy I refuse to rewind to find out). So he sends his daughter. Who he bathes and kisses extremely inappropriately before sending her off. Uckies do not want

Right now we can head back to Oxford to where Matthew reports to Diana that the Bodleian is now utterly full of Creatures all looking for Diana to get the book so instead invites her to his country house. But first she runs into Gillian to tell her she’s the worst betraying supposed friend ever. While Gillian admits she’s not nice but that knoxx is awesome becaus he’s *gasp* CONGREGATION. And she needn’t spend time with “that.”

“That” being Matthew. Again, everyone on this show is so utterly incapable of being endearing even slightly. Like everyone in this book needs to charm Diana onside and they’re all really really bad at it. I mean, super bad. Like everyone can tell Diana is really put off by this anti-vampire rhetoric so consider toning it down? Maybe?

So to Matthew’s house because his whole Craving her blood thing means it’s an excellent idea for him to take her out to some isolated house in the country where they can be alone together. Yes. It does give them chance to explore Matthew’s past, hid Frenchness (all vampires are French. It’s a rule. Damn you Anne Rice. And all werewolves are Scottish - no-one to blame for this. It’s something about the hairiness. It’s a rule) his age (he was born in the 6th century), his family and his brother’s alchemy books. It actually manages to be a full conversation with minimum creepiness

They also establish that Diana’s magic is instinctive - basically she just wants something and it happens, sort of. Personally I’m not a lover because it makes magic a bit too effortless and too much of a deux ex. But he points out since she’s using magical all the time without knowing she should really get behind her super powers already

And I still don’t buy the idea that someone can have magic and decide not to use it. Nope nope nope. I don’t care if their parents were eaten alive by rabbits pulled out of hats, there’s no reason.


Over to Ann, Diana’s aunt Sarah’s partner who is scraying about Diana and basically coming up vampire. Aunt Sarah is duly freaked out by this and calls Diana to warn her vampires can bite you and feed on your memories. Also when Diana was a kid her mother told Diana stories about a guy who is CLEARLY Matthew, apparently. But Diana insists she’s safe based on a couple of days acquaintance with all his creepiness.

Matthew takes a few days alone which gives Marcus chance to tag in and stalk her instead and convince her to finally take a blood test as it might check which magic she’s inherited. Miriam seems less hostile this time - until Matthew arrives, outraged that any vampire but him would take her blood

Diana, how can you not find this creepy?! He has just literally claimed your blood! He has claimed ownership of your blood. The VAMPIRE HAS CLAIMED YOUR BLOOD! Do you have no sense of self-preservation at all?!

Mirriam realises something is up and confronts Michael about Craving her - and reminds her (i.e. expositions to us) that witch/vampire sexy times is totally verboten by the Congregation.

Diana invites Matthew to dinner (that vampire who claimed her blood. She would love for him to have her… for dinner) but first Knoxx gatecrashes to say how she should totally get on side with Team Genocide Witch while she calls him a bigot and Matthew arrives and does the vampire blurry thing to convince him to feck off so they can have a creepy dinner

A really creepy dinner. He even eats venison like a serial killer. They discuss vampire powers including sense and how it makes wine super awesome. Like last episode on longevity, this is something i really like. I love the idea of vampire super senses being used not just for hunting prey but for actually enjoying life. Maybe it’s my Toreador heart but I really do love supernatural beings just ENJOYING their supernaturalness. More of these shows need joy.

With all this Diana then asks Matthew what she would taste like. Yes I get it, she’s flirting. But… remember TWO EPISODES AGO when he had to coach her on how to walk away from him slowly to stop him losing control and eating her? But now she’s asking how she TASTES?!




He says this is totally a bad bad idea. To which she hugs him and declares she is safe with him…
..
.
You don’t even know this man?! And he struggles with the desperate urge to KILL YOU?! What is this?! She’s beginning to make Bella Swan look like a sensible person

She kisses him and he doesn’t move away - but doesn’t kiss her back

The next day and it’s time for some more epic foolishness - Knoxx decides the best way to get Anna onside is to send her her file from the Congregation. Including graphic pictures of her murdered parents

Classy

Unsurprisingly Diana is epicly Not Impressed by this and confronts ex friend Gillian to make it clear how so very out of line they have stepped now

She’s decided she’s going to get the fecking book now. Herself. She storms off to the library and asks for the book - and is surrounded by Knoxx and a load of other witches who try to intimidate her into getting the book out… and when she refuses they hurt the librarian and Diana loses it. She unleashes massive gale force winds that throw the witches around the room most impressively until Matthew arrives to calm her down and take her back to her rooms to sleep

Apparently she used the boringly named Witchwinds which is super important - and someone hasn’t done that for centuries… which… ok? I mean yes well done. Wind. Satu buried someone under the earth which feels more important.

Matthew decides to respond to all this by ripping off Knoxx’s face - but Marcus (oh and side element - I quite like how the vampires can look young and still not be treated as it. Like Marcus is clearly outranked by Matthew but Matthew doesn’t treat him as a much younger man) urges him to see reason - moving on Congregation member Knoxx would start a war. Could he not, please?

So instead he decides to take her to his place in France where she’ll be safe and can get a handle on her super powers. She agrees and he kisses her. So he’s taking a snack to France.

Ok side plot - we have some demons: Matt and his partner who are setting up a chatroom for demons so they can connect for each other. It’s super important because of those spiralling mental health problems demons are facing

But the Congregation doesn’t approve - including Matt’s mother who is a congregation member. They shut him down

And his pregnant partner talks nonsense which may be mental illness but is more likely to be more dubious prophecy. She has to give a statue to someone. That’s nice, dear

I can learn to like this show- but ye gods these characters need to get out of the way. Matthew needs to be less creepy every moment. And if he doesn’t, at very least Diana needs to acknowledge this. Really really really her complete lack of anything resembling self-preservation is bordering on comic.