[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]
Sunday night, on the next A Discovery of Witches, Diana’s again tested by Knox, and she finds another trigger, and level, to her new abilities.
In the aftermath of her reconciliation, if you will, with Matthew, Diana is rattled by her encounter with Knox and the receipt of a package that re-opens old wounds around her parents’ death. It also makes her aware that she misjudged who she can and cannot trust.
Matthew’s also rattled, and provides her with a day off from the Bodlean with a little bit of real-life historical show and tell, where she learns more about him, and her own origins. Later, he does his own reconnaissance and leaves Marcus to shadow her, which Diana uses for some personal quid pro quo.
When she tries to tread a little further into whatever she’s feeling for Matthew with a home-cooked meal, she only gets so far when his protective self-defenses stay intact. When Knox threatens her again, though, Matthew has no choice but to acknowledge that he no longer has just scientific or academic reasons to ensure her safety. What he doesn’t know is that things are ramping up back in Venice with some dangers to his own safety, too.
When Knox reappears upon Diana’s return to the Bodlean, she finds out her abilities aren’t just activated by threats against her, but also those close to her. Her reaction is extreme, and fairly unprecedented, and strong enough that Matthew senses it from afar.
That setup delivers a terrific closing scene that’s one of the most rewind-repeat-repeat again and again moments I’ve seen so far this year. In a very quiet, short exchange, as Diana recovers, Matthew makes a choice for both of them and her first instinct to reject the overture softens when she really reads him and understands and accepts the seriousness of the situation and the emotional tether that motivated it.
Seriously, it is pitch perfect–from the performances by Teresa Palmer, Matthew Goode, and Edward Bluemel to the way director Alice Troughton framed out the shot (and, I’m assuming, selected Lissie’s version of “Go Your Own Way“) to the script by Kate Brooke, it just nails everything. So. Good.
A Discovery of Witches airs Sunday night at 9 pm/8c, simulcast on BBC America and AMC. You can also stream all of the first season now on AMC Premiere, Shudder and Sundance Now. Here’s a sneak peek of episode 3.
Photos and Videos Courtesy of AMC/BBC America/Sky.
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