A Discovery of Witches review, Episode 3×04

The fourth episode of the third season of A Discovery of Witches is undoubtedly my favorite. In subtle and unexpected ways, past and present collide and our heroes face the consequences. The operative word for the episode? Heartbreak.

An adventure of witches and daemons

For some time now, Diana has been living with vampires, but she hasn’t forgotten the lesson she learned in 1590: she needs her own community to rely on. In order to locate the mysterious owner of the last page of the Book of Life, she decides to seek help from witches instead of her army of vampire and human helpers. In doing so, she risks the whole operation being caught, as it is extremely likely that the witches will turn her in to the Congregation or alert Knox, who has spies everywhere; despite the protests of her vampire protectors, Diana takes a chance on the London coven.

She, Sarah and Gallowglass venture into Blackfriars to find the witches. Diana knows what street she’s looking for, but not the way it looks now; rather, she knows what it looked like when she lived there in the sixteenth century. She casts a spell to see the city she knew (I’m pretty sure the show uses the same CGI technology they used last season to recreate Elizabethan London). Soon enough, Linda Crosby, the head of the London witches, finds them.

A promise made in 1590 sweeps in to save the day: for generations, the coven passed down word about the legendary weaver Diana Roydon; they remember Goody Alsop and are more than willing to help Diana now, with no reservations about breaking the Covenant. Together with the coven they successfully cast a locator spell. Diana, Sarah and Gallowglass depart to retrieve the page.

With T.J. Weston, A Discovery of Witches delivers one of the rawest and most truthful portrayals of mental illness I’ve ever seen. His condition is realistic, hitting all the right spots, and yet never on the nose; it’s written carefully and delivered to perfection by actor Phaladut “Paul” Sharma. Timothy is a daemon, one who’s been living in desolation and anxiety-driven self-exile, surrounded by the signs of his depression and mania. Timothy is desperately lonely yet afraid of social interaction, of change, of being parted even with an inanimate object that he has no real use for. He senses the lost page is made from the skin of his ancestors. It’s the only company he has in life. Without it, he has no one and nothing.

Diana understands just how to approach him and knows better than to force him. She won’t take something so meaningful to him. She enlists the help of Agatha Wilson, a daemon she knows she can trust with a secret this huge, and one who knows how to provide help to Timothy. Agatha is flabbergasted at his condition and vows to be there for him and give him community. He gives up the page…just as Diana goes into labor.

Timothy’s condition is a result of the Covenant, as many daemons are treated as lesser beings by the Congregation and given no access to help or resources. Through him we are reminded that daemons sit at the very bottom of the creature hierarchy, often forced to live in isolation, segregated, oppressed and misunderstood as their brilliance festers into mental illness with the complicity of the Congregation.

We need to talk about Gallowglass

There is so much going on this episode, but as always, the action stops for our weekly dose of Gallowglass pain. At the beginning of the episode, we witness another conversation where Fernando’s heart aches for him. His “You deserve to be happy too, meu filho” is quickly countered by a masochistic, “do I?” Every day it becomes clearer and clearer that Gallowglass can’t continue to live in limbo; he will need to come clean to Diana about his feelings and then let her go forever.

When the time comes, his confession is so delicate it hurts. He doesn’t utter the unspeakable, but merely recounts what Philippe ordered him to do: wait for Diana for centuries and watch over her until she met Matthew, which he did gladly. Diana, although never suspecting that Gallowglass might harbor feelings for her before, understands at once. She sheds a single tear, smiles a sad smile, and touches his hand with a whispered “thank you.” Later, when he refuses to meet her eyes, she tells him she is glad that he finally told her. There is too much love, trust and respect between them to leave any room for awkwardness or misunderstanding.

Catching up with Matthew and Miriam (and finally discovering what blood rage is all about)

Matthew knows all too well, which is why he’s never had any reservation about leaving Diana and Gallowglass to take care of each other in his absence. At present, the head of the new Bishop-Clairmont scion is still brooding in New Orleans, spiraling about blood rage and the possibility of failing as a father again. He is convincing himself and others that he is prolonging his stay in America to gain the trust of their new extended family, but the reality is that his past sins weigh on him and he’s not yet ready to face the future. The only positive sign is that he is keeping his hands busy by building two wooden cradles for the babies, reminding us he was a carpenter back in the seventh century.

Sick of her friend not picking up her calls, Miriam shows up in New Orleans to tell Matthew off, and we get to see just how deep and significant Matthew and Miriam’s bond is. We see Miriam’s worry for him, her frustration at his pain, and the way she is probably the only person who’s willing to tell him things no one else dares to. There is so much familiarity in her “This is what you do,” a hint that something like this has happened many times over the millennia they’ve been friends. Miriam Shephard is often reduced to quick retorts and witty one-liners, and it was lovely to truly see how important she is to Matthew.

Miriam also catches him up on her and Chris’ scientific discovery: blood rage is a genetic anomaly, and it can’t be cured. The sickness in Matthew’s veins doesn’t just derive from Ysabeau — it is triggered by something in his human DNA; he is fully afflicted while his mother and Marcus are only carriers. There can be no cure.

Miriam confronts Matthew about his fears and gives him a much-needed wake-up call: having blood rage doesn’t make him a bad father, but hiding from his children in shame will. He’s spent the entire pregnancy away from his family, and it’s high time he went home.

The brothers de Clermont

On his way to London, Matthew formally asks Baldwin to recognize the scion but his brother refuses, because it would disrespect Philippe’s legacy. Matthew knows that is not the case, because he has proof that their father was proud of him for his choice. Baldwin’s perfect façade cracks for a moment when he asks what it was like to see Philippe again in the past, tears shining in his eyes, reminding us he too is a son bearing a legacy larger than his shoulders can carry. Matthew may have gotten closure last season, but Baldwin has lived with that loss for half a century. For a vampire over 2,000 years old, the wound is still fresh.

Rebecca and Philip Bishop-Clairmont come into the world in an intimate and beautiful sequence

The last 10 minutes of the episode are dedicated to the birth of the twins. Clairmont House is in turmoil as we go between the birth itself the reactions of the rest of the family. Marcus is so excited at the prospect of delivering his baby siblings that he forgets what he needs; Miriam has to call him back to hand him his instruments and reassure him he’s done this hundreds of times before, promising she’ll be there if he needs her. Matthew’s shout of “mon coeur!” as he sees Diana after months apart is impossibly tender. After the first child’s birth, Miriam calls Ysabeau to tell her, nearly crying as she laughs in joy along with everyone, “felicitationes grand-mere” in perfect French.

Sarah, Marcus and Matthew are the only help Diana needs. The intimacy of these scenes is impossible to describe, but the strength of their bonds is clear. Teresa Palmer delivers a perfect, realistic, raw performance as Diana delivers the second baby. Matthew holds his daughter with a tenderness that surpasses even what he reserved for his wife.

Marcus announces the birth of two perfect babies and finally stops to kiss Phoebe as the family rejoices. As the champagne flows and Matthew and Diana enjoy a moment to reunite in peace, Gallowglass quietly sneaks out and leaves without a word. We know, without knowing, that he is leaving for good.

What happened to Timothy?

In every ending there is a new beginning and vice-versa, and death often follows life. As Agatha keeps her promise to visit Timothy again, she finds him in his last moments. Peter Knox had trailed Diana to the coven and then to Timothy’s house looking drunk…on desperation certainly, if nothing else. He tortures Timothy offscreen, probably in a fit of rage. Agatha holds Timothy as he dies, and for the first time in who knows how many years, he is not alone.

As if we needed this episode to end on an even more heart-wrenching note, I want to point out that Timothy had prophetic visions of Diana and had connected her to “the blood, the death, the fear,” which poetically but tragically turned out to be his own. Did he know, I wonder?

In a season so short with so many events to cover, it was bold to dedicate such long sequences to Timothy Weston, but I am proud of the show for choosing to send a social and political message and for handling his condition with such delicacy and care. Similarly, the birthing sequence could have been done in a single scene, but it was so rewarding to see a longer version. It so perfectly encapsulated the dynamics between these characters and the depth of the love story at the heart of the show, reminding us that this is, after all, a story about family.

This episode runs on so many parallel levels of hurt, joy, and everything in between. Several things happen differently than they do in the books, but the episode is written and directed with such efficiency and balance that it is guaranteed to blow everyone’s minds. A+ to cast and crew for what is, in my humble opinion, the most beautiful episode of the entire show yet.

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