A Discovery Of Witches - General Discussion

[vavera4ka]

6 hours ago, Bill1978 said:

The shallow part of me is happy the original actor had scheduling issues due to production being delayed due to the pandemic.

Lol 

I do like this actor better. And not only in the shallow way lol

when I was reading the 3rd book, with Baldwin being given a lot more “screen time”, I had hard time imagining the previous actor (almost not a spoiler, but just in case)

Spoiler

Going through the change and growth that the character went in the book 

maybe it was also the problem that to cut on the run time some characters were flattened and neutered a bit, but 3rd book Baldwin shot up my on fave character list. He’s a lot more layered in the book. 
Though they really cut on the family time in France so idk how they’re gonna take him on a journey he will have to go on.

Who knows, maybe the previous actor would have nailed it too. I just had hard time seeing it in my head. This guy. Yup. I can totally see the 3rd book Baldwin in him. 

[CarpeFelis]

S3E2 goof: Matthew starting the Tesla. He makes a motion like he’s reaching for the dash to either press a start button or turn a key in the ignition, and we hear the typical “car starting” noise. We know it’s the Tesla because they cut to a shot showing the Model S touchscreen. Teslas don’t have an ignition or a start button—you press the brake pedal. And the car doesn’t make any noise, aside from the occasional brake squeak.

Toby Regbo was a surprise!

Also a surprise: explaining the CC chromosome with no mention of demons and no demonstration of Diana’s powers or Matthew’s fangs.

[vavera4ka]

I almost didn't recognize Toby Regbo. Well I did, but i didn't think it was him. I though that it's Toby's younger brother (idk if he has any). How does he look younger than in Reign that finished filming almost 10 years ago!!! what kind of Benjamin Button shit is this?

Will they skip over the whole research thing? with some of the students

Spoiler

also being creatures...

also... the email at the end... are thsy not gonna go into the

Spoiler

rape

story at all? how are they gonna explain Benjamin's agenda and how genetics supported his "research"

stop neutering the book!

[Bill1978]

3 episodes in to Season 3 and I am back on board with this story. This season is so much better than the slow dragging Season 2 which with every passing week I'm convinced they could have covered in 2-3 episodes.

I must confess though that I have totally forgotten why the 3 missing pages are so important and why they were removed. In fact I can't even remember why the book is so important. (yes I know that's the McGuffin driving the plot haha).

On 1/20/2022 at 5:44 AM, vavera4ka said:

I almost didn't recognize Toby Regbo. Well I did, but i didn't think it was him. I though that it's Toby's younger brother (idk if he has any). How does he look younger than in Reign that finished filming almost 10 years ago!!! what kind of Benjamin Button shit is this?

I agree, I had to look up how long ago Reign was on, cause if I didn't know better I would have said it ended yesterday. On a random aside, seeing him in Episode 3 helped me to work out why an actor on a Brazilian Netflix show I've just started watching looked familiar to me. He looks very similar to Toby but with a beard.

And while Toby may not have changed, can't say the same for the actor playing Benjamin. Just learnt that he is the same actor on this British cops show Cuffs that I binged the last fortnight. I don't know if it's the beard, but his face looks really different and wouldn't have known it was him if I hadn't recognised the name in the opening credits.

[4merBachAddict]

I haven't started watching season 3 yet, but from what I'm reading here, it seems like it will be quite different from the 3rd book - interesting!   And I'm in the process of re-rereading book 2 & enjoying it so much more than the first time I read it! 

 

[NeenerNeener]

In episode 4 Palmer really looks pregnant, not just padded out. According to the IMDB entry for her husband she had a baby in August of 2021, so that explains the fullness in the face. And the bare belly shot might actually be her and not a prosthetic. 

Edited January 29, 2022 by NeenerNeener

[ChelleGame]

What was the Gallowglass ending?  Does that mean he's gone now?

[NeenerNeener]

On 2/2/2022 at 9:41 PM, ChelleGame said:

What was the Gallowglass ending?  Does that mean he's gone now?

I think he just road off into the sunset. I think he's back in next week's episode.

[4merBachAddict]

Nothing against Stephen Cree - I really do like the actor - but I wish they had cast Gallowglass better. Nothing about the character on TV is as described in the books! Well, other than the Scottish accent.

And Matthew Goode is no Matthew de Clermont - but I really liked him as Mary's beau/husband Henry in Downton Abbey! 

 

[vavera4ka]

ok, I was able to finish the season and I'm angry. Did they cut things out of the first two books - yes. It's expected, books are gazillion pages long. but the way they cut up the third book... the reasoning behind major developments were dropped. so Baldwin just decides to back Diana out of the blue, sure... Benjamin just kidnapped a witch and let her go so she'd run to Sept Tours... uhu 

Science and research are dropped, Diana's arrival to her hometown coven is dropped... it's a skeleton of the story without any explanation or development....

also, i might need to go back to seasons 1 and 2, but was TP's American accent ALWAYS that bad? I don't remember being that annoyed at everything she said. might be an accumulated annoyance over the way they castrated the book...

[Jacks-Son]

I thought Sarah (Alex Kingston) used Dark Magic to disperse the essence of the Mega-Jerk Gerbert?  How did he manage to coalesce?

🤔I cheered when Diana bound Satu. It was the perfect retaliation for helping Benjamin and for “Opening Up Diana”. When Diana took her powers away before, Satu was left beaten and a shell.  Being left out of the political games and rendered just an ordinary human, was well deserved. Her hubris that she was the Witch prophecy spoke of came crashing down.  Nicely done, Diana. 👍

Edited February 21, 2022 by Jacks-Son
Hoping for an answer on Gerbert’s revival.

[SusanwatchingTV]

Is it over now? I've been waiting until all the episodes were available for the season before deciding what to do.  In the past I've just purchased the season, but right now it's only available if I subscribe to something (oddly, there seem to be three choices).  I'd rather just purchase it, but if it's all there I'll subscribe and watch during the free trial.

[Jacks-Son]

Season 3, Episode 7 aired in the U.S. on February 17, 2022.  It’s billed as the season ending episode. If there is a season 4 planned, I haven’t found any news on that front. There are addendums to the series that show “Behind the Scenes”, so if you do buy the series, check to see if you’re getting all the extra episodes.

[mledawn]

3 hours ago, Jacks-Son said:

Season 3, Episode 7 aired in the U.S. on February 17, 2022.  It’s billed as the season ending episode. If there is a season 4 planned, I haven’t found any news on that front. There are addendums to the series that show “Behind the Scenes”, so if you do buy the series, check to see if you’re getting all the extra episodes.

They've already announced that Season 3 is the final season, so this is it.

[CarpeFelis]

Well damn, that final scene made me want to rewatch True Lies!

[Jacks-Son]

40 minutes ago, mledawn said:

They've already announced that Season 3 is the final season, so this is it.

Thank you for that info.  I was hoping for more retribution for some of those plotting against Diana. I’ll have to rewatch this episode knowing it’s was series finale.

[Jacks-Son]

On 2/20/2022 at 11:15 AM, Jacks-Son said:

I thought Sarah (Alex Kingston) used Dark Magic to disperse the essence of the Mega-Jerk Gerbert?  How did he manage to coalesce?

🤔I cheered when Diana bound Satu. It was the perfect retaliation for helping Benjamin and for “Opening Up Diana”. When Diana took her powers away before, Satu was left beaten and a shell.  Being left out of the political games and rendered just an ordinary human, was well deserved. Her hubris that she was the Witch prophecy spoke of came crashing down.  Nicely done, Diana. 👍

My bad, it was Knox who got dispersed, not Gerbert.  😔

 

 

 

[Jacks-Son]

1 hour ago, Jacks-Son said:

Thank you for that info.  I was hoping for more retribution for some of those plotting against Diana. I’ll have to rewatch this episode knowing it was the series finale.

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by Jacks-Son

[dbklmt]

2 hours ago, Jacks-Son said:

My bad, it was Knox who got dispersed, not Gerbert.  😔

Yes it was and that was one of the most disappointing things about the finale that he didn't get retribution.  Instead they left it with a tantalizing, teasing cliffhanger that'll never be resolved when Diana promised that his day of reckoning was coming. I wanted to see that happened 😠.   

[SusanwatchingTV]

I finally watched Season 3 this weekend and I have to say that overall I'm pleased with it.

It wasn't exactly like the books, but it got the feel and most of the action, so I'm happy enough.

It does upset me that there's no talk of doing Book 4 and especially with the way they left Gerbert standing, but mostly I was good with it.

 

I do think the weakest part of the whole thing - books included - is the way Philippe's covenant is seen as so imperative and unbreakable because PHILIPPE! but he could have - at any time in the hundreds of years from the time he met and approved of Diana and Matthew's union and his own death - changed the "rules."  It actually makes no sense that he never even hinted at it (apparently).

Anyway, I enjoyed the show and would enjoy more if they decide to make more.

 

[chaifan]

I still have a few episodes to go in Season 3, so if this is going to come up, let me know.  But if not, could someone please tell me what demons do?  Am I just not remembering something from Season 1 and/or 2, or have we never seen a demon be demonish?  What are demon "powers" in this season, because I don't remember seeing or hearing anything about it.

 

[Jacks-Son]

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

But if not, could someone please tell me what demons do?  Am I just not remembering something from Season 1 and/or 2, or have we never seen a demon be demonish?  What are demon "powers" in this season, because I don't remember seeing or hearing anything about it.

Not having read the books, I'm probably unqualified to give you a satisfactory answer, but from what I can tell having watched the entire series, Demons are marginalized to the point of frequent exclusion from most council business. They aren't shown to do anything "demonish" but I personally, would view it as a cultural prejudice.  HOWEVER, and this is a big HOWEVER, their very existence is crucial to the show and their purpose will be explained by the end of the series.  Hope this provides some answers.

[SusanwatchingTV]

I've read the entire four book series and watched all three seasons of the show and the truth is: Daemons don't "do" anything.  The have no magical powers like witches and no long life or super-speed or any of the stuff that vampires have.

The only way they are described is as super smart, artistic, and odd.  IOW, I'd equate them to a savant -BUT, and this is a huge BUT - in the books and in the TV series most of the daemons are actually quite normal in their interactions with others, which imho does not fit with the way they're described.

So in reality they're just somewhat more intelligent than humans and born that way somehow so that their "identity" is distinguishable to witches and vampires.   (I'm really not sure how much smarter they really are, though, because there are at least two really smart humans in the books who seem like they would be able to go toe to toe with any daemon.)

I waited in vain for a better explanation in the books and never found one so if someone else has a better take, please share.

[chaifan]

Well, since neither the show nor the books give a decent explanation of what demons "do", then I will just have to go to the #1 resource of all things Vampire, Demon and Witch...  Buffy.  So I will just choose to believe that the demons in A Discovery of Witches are all really good karaoke singers with snarky senses of humor.  😁

I've started watching ADoW just this winter, a slow binge of about 1 season a month.  My final verdict is along the "eh, it's ok" line.  I started watching mostly because I like Matthew Goode, but I'll admit I had a really hard time getting through season 1 because I found Teresa Palmer incredibly stiff and one note.  I liked the overall premise, though, so kept on watching.  I think she got better in season 2 and 3.  I liked all the gatherings at Sept Tour, in both timelines.  I liked the narrative of witches and vampires sort of being an open secret type of thing in the 1500's, but then later forced to hide from the humans in order to survive. 

I still don't quite understand the whole blood rage thing - is it when demon, vampire and human DNA all mix?  But yet demon DNA is crucial to the survival of all 3 species?  So how do they cure blood rage and/or ensure against future children/sires getting it?  I'm missing something here... 

One other thing I didn't understand - why wasn't Ysabeau the head of the DuClermont clan?  Why did that fall to Baldwin after Phillip's death? 

 

 

 

 

[Jacks-Son]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

One other thing I didn't understand - why wasn't Ysabeau the head of the DuClermont clan?  Why did that fall to Baldwin after Phillip's death

Above my paygrade as to the rest of your questions, but I perceive the answer to this question is fairly typical of societies:  Ysabeau is female and Baldwin is male.

[SusanwatchingTV]

21 hours ago, chaifan said:

I still don't quite understand the whole blood rage thing - is it when demon, vampire and human DNA all mix?  But yet demon DNA is crucial to the survival of all 3 species?  So how do they cure blood rage and/or ensure against future children/sires getting it?  I'm missing something here... 

My understanding is that there's a gene that gives the blood rage thing, but it has to be activated by a mix of demon and vampire blood. IOW, you can carry the gene, but the trouble comes when the parentage has demon blood in it to activate it somewhere along the way.

I think the idea with the "cure" is that as more people mix the problem will dilute and go away... or something like that.

I hand-wave most of this stuff and just enjoy it for the fluff, so I'll admit that I don't pay that close attention to the details of how it all works.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

So is this series going to be on AMC anytime soon?

[Zoe]

On 4/17/2022 at 9:23 PM, chaifan said:

I still have a few episodes to go in Season 3, so if this is going to come up, let me know.  But if not, could someone please tell me what demons do?  Am I just not remembering something from Season 1 and/or 2, or have we never seen a demon be demonish?  What are demon "powers" in this season, because I don't remember seeing or hearing anything about it.

One thing you need to be careful about is that they're "daemons", not "demons". They're not like denizens of Hell but rather like Greek demigods. Their uniqueness comes out as super intelligence, super creativity, super "whatever". Because daemons can be born to regular humans, some never know what they are. 

[ichbin]

I liked the first season and the second season also but not quite as well as the first.  I started to watch the third season when it first aired on AMC+ but found it was not holding my interest as much.  I figured it was just due to me being preoccupied with something else. Nope!  I finally watched the final season and found myself disappointed overall.  It seemed like something changed overall.  Script and acting maybe?  I don't know.  I thought it felt like most of the cast were just going through the motions to bring it to some resolution.

[Quilt Fairy]

Did season 3 ever come to regular AMC?

[CAM]

3 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Did season 3 ever come to regular AMC?

Nope, haven't seen any mention about it airing on standard AMC.

[Almost 3000]

I just started season 2 and it dawned on me that this is just Dark Shadows with a budget.

[cleo]

So late to the party but I just watched the pilot. Had this show on a list of TV shows to check out but not sure I can stick with it.

It seems like it's trying to be an adult show but it just seems kind of juvenile.

I see earlier posts with the Twilight comparison, and can see that (Not a fan of Twilight). 

I mean wtf was that last scene? The guy trying to hold himself back from attacking her? Lol. Ok. I had no idea what was going on until I came here.

Also the actress playing Diana doesn't seem very good.

I'll watch one more ep but I think it is what it is, so that may be it.

[CAM]

If anyone is interested (or still hasn't see Season 3 yet) some AMC shows are currently available on Max.

[mledawn]

I was cruising tv shows on Hoopla and saw S3 was available. I still haven't seen it and don't have the pay channel(s) to watch it, so it was nice to see it available for free.

 

Hoopla is a free media service through my local  library. I'm not sure where it is available, but I am in Canada.

Edited January 8 by mledawn
Added info on Hoopla

[redpencil]

I noticed the same thing on my Hoopla in the US. Since I only get 8 borrows per month (and each episode counts as one), waiting to finish another show I'm currently watching.

[aghst]

Watched it all.  Really enjoyed the beautiful settings, especially in season 1 with all the shots in Oxford.

Sept Tours I found out is not in France but in Italy, a little south of Padua, which is also southwest of Venice.  It’s a medieval castle on the side of a hill and there’s another castle on top of the hill.

There is another hill opposite which has that winding road with the view of the hill with the castle and the valley around it.  That road is not how you reach that place but they seemed to use it a lot because the view is so great.

Story was okay, not as emotional or sexy like Buffy the Vampire Slayer though there are beautiful young actresses in the cast.

The dialog was literary, quoting poetry sometimes.  Not sure if it was because this was a British production or the books, which I haven’t read, were literary.

Season 2 was in 1590, a few years before all the major Shakespeare plays would be performed, drawing big audiences.  Maybe witch hunts were a thing but Elizabethan Age is of course associated with positive things.

But kind of interesting that they built up this mythology around historical figures as well as the modern day.

Eh the best thing with vampires in contemporary times — early 21st century — is What we do in the Shadows.

 

[mledawn]

13 hours ago, redpencil said:

I noticed the same thing on my Hoopla in the US. Since I only get 8 borrows per month (and each episode counts as one), waiting to finish another show I'm currently watching.

Aww jeez - my small town library limit is 4!

[Chaos Theory]

Five episodes in to season 1 and I have no idea what is going on.  Am I watching a vampire/witch version of Romeo and Juliet because that is the vibe I am getting but I always HATED that story.   Other then that we have different races of monsters looking for a book that is either going to save them or doom them.  Maybe both.  

But so far no werewolves which is a bummer.  Werewolves were always my favorite monsters.  

[mledawn]

I just found all 3 seasons on Acorn, if that helps anyone at this point...

[lavenderblue]

If people are looking for this show, it's on Netflix in the US now; I just watched it there.

It wasn't the greatest thing ever but I have no familiarity with the books, so found it an entertaining enough diversion for a few weeks. I like Matthew Goode and have a soft spot for Teresa Palmer because of Warm Bodies so decided to give it a go though I don't tend to watch much in the vampire/witch media realm. I liked the twists on some of the genre tropes (grounding creatures' existence in genetics, vampires being Catholic, etc.) and the supporting cast was pretty solid. Also the scenery was lovely and I enjoyed Diana's 1590s wardrobe.

That said, I so hoped someone here would say that the books went into great detail on what daemons are and I am very disappointed to learn that the ball was dropped on that everywhere! It did sort of work as a meta-commentary on their perceived insignificance next to vampires and witches, but it's kind of a terrible choice narratively since the daemon characters, while nice, were never presented as having any unique skills or abilities (aside from Sophie's visions, would could also relate to her being the descendant of witches, and TJ Watson's musical skill and eccentricities, I....guess). 

 

Edited October 6 by lavenderblue