A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES IS BACK! Thoughts on Season 2, Episode 1

It’s time to conjure up a new season of A Discovery of Witches!

Season 2 of the popular UK drama about conflict between witches, vampires and daemons starts in the UK and across Europe on January 8, and starts streaming in the U.S. and Canada on Sundance Now, Shudder and AMC+ on January 9. We also know the show will return to AMC and BBC America sometime later this year.

In the season one finale, Matthew Clairmont and Diana Bishop timewalked into the past to hide from the Congregation, find the Book of Life, and someone to help Diana harness her unusual magical abilities as a witch. Season two picks up right where we left off, brings in new characters and amps up the danger.

Lets get to it.

This week on A Discovery of Witches:

Reluctant witch Diana Bishop and vampire Matthew Clairmont seek refuge in the fascinating and treacherous world of Elizabethan London. There, they must find a powerful witch to help Diana control her magic and search for the elusive Book of Life.

So lets talk about Episode 1! Please join us as we share our thoughts on the episode. And while we are at it – there are spoilers below. Lots of them. Read at your own risk.

Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode in A Discovery of Witches, Season 2.

THE GOOD

Roz: The history buff in me is really excited to see this Elizabethan setting! I do want to see more bright colors in the costumes, but this is wonderful.

Matthew’s current job is a choice (I mean that in the best way), but it’ll be interesting to see how he navigates being a double agent.

Christie: It’s sumptuous. Pictures made me excited, but man, they didn’t do the show justice. The costumes, the set pieces, are absolutely beautiful. The attention to detail is stunning.

They cut a lot from the early part of the book actually and it definitely improves the flow. Even bringing Sir William Cecil in early has its benefits because we get to see Matthew’s truly dark side sooner. And we get Jack in the first episode! He’s one of my favorite characters! He and Matthew are fun to watch together, even if it’s just a few exchanges of expressions.

Leah: I can’t say enough about the whole ascetic of the show. It is stunningly detailed and the costumes alone are going to make me have to watch each episode again. I’m also glad they mentioned in the first episode what may or may not have happened to the Matthew from that time. I was starting to wonder.

Tom Hughes as Christopher Marlowe in A Discovery of Witches, Season 2.

THE BAD

Roz: I’m going to have to put all the good things I think about Burley out of my head. (For years my high school has/had an Elizabethan Dinner where Queen Elizabeth is fought over by Lord Burley and another guy my brain is forgetting.)

Christie: I’m glad that they address early on that Diana has a funny way of speaking (damn Yank!), but then they just let it ride and go for a jaunt around London. At least in the books you can see Diana working to make herself less conspicuous before they get to London. If you’re not going to make her work on that, why even bother mentioning her funny accent?

It’s also always been a bit unsettling to me that Kit Marlowe is such a… brat… in the book. It’s entirely possible he was really like that I guess, but it runs counter to every portrayal we’ve ever seen of him in other movies so it’s just jarring. But I do enjoy Tom Hughes’s portrayal for also adding a bit of an icy veneer to him.

Leah: My bad is an age old issue I have with people dropped in other times. Why….WHY do they have to always act like they know what is going on? She was a history teacher? I really can’t remember exactly, but the idea that a woman who sounds like something no one has ever heard can just go running about London in 1590 is clearly a no no. Life was different back then and there are rules if you want to be inconspicuous. Drives me crazy. For Matthews part it wouldn’t have killed him to give her some background on his life in 1590 so she wouldn’t have had to snoop.

Michael Lindall as Sir Walter Raleigh and Adam Sklar as Sir Henry Percy in A Discovery of Witches Season 2.

HISTORY & BOOK COMPARISONS

Christie: 

History: Diana remarks about how London doesn’t smell. Historians say that was most likely true.

Diana realizes that Matthew is actually Matthew Roydon, a member of the School of Night. Roydon, explorer Sir Walter Raleigh, Henry Percy, the Lord of Northumberland, and playwright Christopher Marlowe were four purported members of this group. The men were known to study the sciences and philosophy but were also suspected of being atheists and anarchists. The name “School of Night” was only associated with the men centuries later. It comes from a quote in Shakespeare’s play “Love’s Labours Lost”:

“Black is the badge of hell / The hue of dungeons and the school of night.”

Little is known about Matthew Roydon. He was a poet who associated with many of the big literary names of the day, including Marlowe. His work was well-received, but little else is known. In Deborah Harkness’s book “The World of All Souls” which is an encyclopedia for the books that make up “A Discovery of Witches” she says there is historical evidence that a Matthew Roydon was a spy in Queen Elizabeth’s service, but no word if it was the same Matthew Roydon.

Also, it should be noted that Henry Percy was hard of hearing in real life, and they chose someone who is also hard of hearing to play Percy. That is pretty cool.

Book vs. TV: There’s quite a bit different. The show is cutting a lot from the book, actually. Matthew and Diana actually arrive at The Lodge, Matthew’s Elizabeth manor outside of Oxford. They even address that in the show.

In the book the entire School of Night is involved in the plot. The show decided to leave behind poet and dramatist George Chapman and astronomer and mathematician Thomas Harriot. They’re minor characters though they have their own importance in the book.

And they also moved up the timeline for Diana beginning to find her eventual coven. There’s a bad false start in the early chapters, and then Diana finds the coven much, much later.

Also, and this is a warning for book fans — Gallowglass does not appear in the first episode. He’s a major fan favorite, people are champing at the bit to see him. He’s coming (and he’ll be amazing!), but for book readers… just be aware.

Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode in A Discovery of Witches, Season 2.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Roz: I’ve missed this show so much since it went off the air, and it’s a welcome distraction in what has been a long situation. The design department had to step up and I’m so happy to see what comes next.

Christie: Overall I’m excited to see how they bring the very rich and complex “Shadow of Night” story to life. So far I’m liking what I see.

Leah: It’s been a crap year and TV has not been super exciting for me lately – so I am ecstatic to have Discovery of Witches back. I can’t wait to watch Matthew get darker and Diana get more powerful.

You can follow along with our coverage of the show here.

Episodes of A Discovery of Witches will be released each week on AMC. Binge the series now on Sundance Now, Shudder and AMC+.