If there’s one silver lining to the sad loss of Em, it’s that Alex Kingston is finally getting some real lines, and good ones too.Įm’s funeral was another tender scene, and more proof that all the good traditions lie on the witch side of the magical creature divide – the vamp stuff is always so bloody and bestial, while we still know barely anything of daemon culture. Sarah and Fernando’s delicately written and performed scene about the longevity of grief was a tender reprieve amidst all the table-thumping going on elsewhere. Philippe wouldn’t recognise Hugh and Fernando’s relationship, and the pain of that injustice has been carried for 700 years. (Thank you, A Discovery of Witches for upping all of our Scrabble games with the word ‘scion’.) Gallowglass reminded Marcus that division isn’t new for the de Clermonts – this lot have been at each other’s throats for centuries.Īnd the cause? Then as it is now: bigotry and the refusal to accept difference. McDonald’s character though, may not stay the head of the family for much longer if Marcus’ breakaway plan has anything to do with it. It was all there – the flash of vulnerability at each mention of Philippe, the pass-agg swipe at Matthew and Diana’s future children, his derisory correction that Knox hadn’t killed a woman but only a (nose-wrinkle) witch… This new Baldwin can stay. Peter McDonald (replacing Trystan Gravelle, who was tied up with filming commitments to The Lord of the Rings) fitted the role of de Clermont patriarch like a glove. Having banished the lesser immortals to Sept-Tours’ servant’s quarters, Baldwin presided over a meal of political clashes and veiled insults. Matthew raged at Marcus for not stopping Knox, Marcus raged at Matthew for centuries of lies, and Baldwin raged at it all, having all but lost his grip on the family.Įven for a bunch of cold-bloods, that de Clermont dinner was a chilly affair. The Roydons’ return was greeted with emptiness and silence, and then the shouting began. Sept-Tours has never looked more melancholy than in the aftermath of Peter Knox’s assault. Season three got off to a mournful start as Diana and Matthew time-walked straight to poor Aunt Em’s death bed. The only difference is that the de Clermonts get to do it in all a stunningly lit castle over a glass of what must be excellent wine. ‘You’re breaking an ancient covenant’, ‘You didn’t tell me I carried a genetic disease that turned my vampire children into uncontrollably vicious monsters’… All the usual beef. One brother doesn’t like his new sister-in-law, the youngest wants the eldest to move with the times. Gather the clan together under one roof and pretty soon it’s all rivalry, resentment and stalking out of dinner in a huff. They may be magical creatures ruled by mystical rites, but when it comes to family, the vampires, witches and daemons are no different from the rest of us. Warning: this A Discovery of Witches review contains spoilers.
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