After being under the assumption that episodes of A Discovery of Witches would be released week by week, I got back to watching and I must say the second episode picked up well where the last left off. Overall it was much better and the movement of the story was a lot more balanced than the first episode. It felt like there was a beginning, middle and end and they all tied together to produce an ending that would kick off the next episode.
One of the main arcs in this season that I enjoyed seeing play out well is Christopher "Kit" Marlowe's influence on Matthew to not only pretend to be Matthew Roydon again but completely revert to being the latter version of himself. You see Matthew falling for the little behaviours Kit encourages his indulgence in, things that Matthew may not have enjoyed in a long time. Retrospectively, Kit's warning to Diana about Matthew reverting in the first episode now looks more like a warning. It looks as if he wanted Diana to know that he will tempt Matthew into becoming who he used to be so that Kit could regain his old friend who hated witches. Kit's response to the existence of Diana and Matthew's relationship is one of the best to see develop in the book and I can see that they are transporting that to the screen quite well.
Another of the more interesting characters to see turn up from Shadow of Night is Father Hubbard, the priest who rose from his Black Plague grave as a vampire and eventual father to all lost souls in London. Paul Rhys does a superb job of conveying Hubbard's creepy, weasely, dead-like demeanour, he makes me feel more uncomfortable on screen than he did on the page.
Speaking of actors well suited to their roles, there is no denying that Theresa Palmer is the perfect fit for Diana. I remember when she was cast thinking that in terms of physical features, she looked exactly like Diana did in my head when I read A Discovery of Witches, however, she has proven it is not looks alone that make her perfect for the role. She truly shines when Diana is more uncertain about her magic and her more confident scenes where she stands up to whoever is in her way, including Matthew. She can hold herself in a way that is very particular to the character and I could not imagine anyone else playing her. It helps that I didn't come across any fancasts when the first season was in development.
I think they've done really well in bringing key elements and events of the book forward, parts of it that took far too long to show up for the story to progress. I think it's the thing that can make the earlier episodes in this season develop some plot tension without rushing through events just to get to the desired end. They're doing a good job of weaving (unintentional pun use of the word) the second half of the book with the first half, it improves the storytelling form throughout the season and prevents a slump at the beginning. Sometimes changing things around from how they happen in a book on screen is a smarter choice and I understand why this happens in adaptations.
It has also been a good idea that they've been opening with what has happened in the present day, starting with the gaps there were in the present-day chapters of the books. With Diana and Matthew, there aren't any time jumps in the story between books but with all the other characters, there are a lot of events talked about that we do miss. It's good to see things happening that we only knew about after they had happened, like finding out the fate of an important character in Diana's life only after the event transpired. I'm looking forward to seeing how it comes to happen.
Reasons to Recommend:
- Diana's meeting with Goody Alsop and the London witches, and the hopeful anticipation of what the future holds because of this
- The beauty of the effects of Diana's magic
- The slow but sure corruption of Matthew by Kit Marlowe
- The beginnings of Diana and Mary Sidney's partnership, easily one of the best parts of the second book alongside Goody Alsop
I would rate the episode 8/10 simply because there still were times where the writing seems unsure of what to do with Matthew at the moment, aside from Kit's temptations, his arc in the episode seems cloaked in uncertainty. There were a couple of scenes where some acting among the cast was a little stiff which did get better later but did make it less enjoyable. I also don't feel entirely hooked on the season just yet, I'm not eager to click on the next episode as soon as possible, I'm still more in the mindset of "I'll get back to it when I'm in the mood".
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