While the two actors look incredible in their historically accurate duds, the initial scripts repeat variations of scenes with the two bickering over the myriad of dangers threatening Diana in this time, as Matthew postures and blusters broadly about trying to keep her secure while she stubbornly resists.
#A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES SEASON 2 FULL#
What with both vampires and Catholics hating witches, Diana trying to find a witch mentor in a town who is actively trying to wipe them out, Matthew’s attic full of secrets, and even the addition of a pickpocket moppet into their familial fold, there’s more than enough going on in parallel to the primary quest.įor audiences that fell in love with the series because of the potent chemistry between Palmer and Goode in Season 1, there’s some stumbling in that area until Episode 6. It sounds more confusing than it plays out, but to say there’s a lot more density to this season than the last is an understatement.
That creates plenty of strife for the pair, which dominos into Diana finding out a whole lot that she didn’t expect regarding to her current love’s distant past (present?). But that less refined version is up in Scotland doing the Catholic church’s bidding, which makes it easier (in theory) for time-hopping future-Matthew to slip into the footprint of his former life.Īdding an earring and more brooding to his countenance, Matthew tries to “fake it ‘til he makes it” by introducing Diana as his wife to the de Clermont ancestral home’s staff, as well as his sullen BFF, Kit Marlow (Tom Hughes), but they all quickly sniff out she’s not kosher with the blood suckers of the time. As it turns out, his old self also exists in 1590. The much-coveted tome is integral to not only unlocking Diana’s untapped powers, but Matthew has researched that the rumored codex is key to saving the dying supernatural species of the world.īringing to mind a whole set of potential paradox pitfalls familiar to anyone who’s seen Back to the Future, the series solves the “don’t mess with the past” problem by leaning on Matthew’s immortal vamp status. As a brief primer, the duo has gone back in time with a very specific mission to find the mythical Book of Life.
All of that translates into authentic history being heavily woven into the season’s 10 episodes, including a plethora of historical and religious name-dropping, a revolving coterie of costumes to drool over, and enough true events of note to invoke midterm studying sweats-by-proxy.Ī nicely recreated Elizabethan London serves as the primary locale of the early episodes, as it’s where Oxford scholar and burgeoning witch, Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), casts herself and her vampire lover, Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), at the end of Season 1. Whether you’ve read Harkness’ books or not, it’s important to bank that the novelist is a professor of Western European history at the University of Southern California, and an extremely involved executive producer on the series. Season 2 is based on the second book, Shadow of the Night in author Deborah Harkness’ All Souls trilogy, which shifts the action from contemporary times to 1590s London and France. And returning to the fray this month is one of the most beautiful of the genre, A Discovery of Witches. From The Crown to Bridgerton to Outlander, television has been giving us the goods of late, with an abundance of productions that have amply-funded costume and production design departments.
This review originally published January 4, 2021įor those of us who love to indulge in richly-appointed period piece adaptations, we’re living in heady times.
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