‘A Discovery of Witches’ Recap: ‘Episode 8’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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When it comes to fictional television shows as a whole, I think it is safe to say that season finales are quite the tricky venture. For while they offer a grand opportunity to wow the audience with some incredible storytelling, the kind that leaves us talking for days and eager for the next season to roll around, the wrong moves when it comes to said finale can instead leave its fanbase in a disappointed or angry place. It’s something we’ve seen happen time and time again by way of shows that are either are afraid to move the plot forward or decide that a shock value ending will somehow engender joy from the fans when all we wanted was quality resolution and sadly, this is on my mind today, simply due to the fact that the season one finale of A Discovery of Witches turned out to fall into the latter of those categories since it was a tad disappointing when all is said and done.

Which is a shame since ‘Episode 8’ opened up in such strong and powerful fashion. For we got a grand showdown between Juliette and Diana, the kind that raised the stakes since Juliette left Matthew wounded and dying for choosing Diana over her. Which, in turn, allowed for us to see how lethal Diana’s powers can be when she’s filled with fury since she put Juliette down with giving it a second thought, and really, what I enjoyed about this opening, was the implication that it sent our way because it really seemed for a moment there that all the showdowns we were waiting for were going to come to fruition after Diana healed from the blood sacrifice she made to keep her darling Matthew alive. But alas, the episode instead took quite the mediocre turn.

For rather than ramp up the tension and let Diana finally face off against her enemies, the story felt the need instead to focus upon the power struggle that was building within the Congregation since Gerbert and Knox joined forces to kick Baldwin out of his seat and failed miserably in the process and well, this just felt like wasted time. We already know Knox is evil, and we know Gerbert is a kindred spirit in that aspect as well, and we are also fully aware that both of them want every ounce of power imaginable, so there was really no need to revisit their machinations and well, this segment of the story wasn’t the only element that managed to slow everything down, since Matthew and Diana’s ruminations on what to do next, only contributed to the problems this episode faced.

Because they believed that time walking and hiding within the confines of history was the best way to regroup in order for Diana to learn her powers, which meant, we were treated to more training montages as Diana learned how to control this powerful ability and well, this segment just didn’t work for me. Because this was dragged out to the Nth degree, to the point where it robbed the audience of the battle we’ve all been waiting for since eventually, Knox and Gerbert and Satu arrived at the Bishop household in the hopes of getting their hands on Diana and the book, and rather than offer up a thrilling cliffhanger, this one ended in ambiguous fashion since we haven’t a clue if Diana’s shock at the end of this story was a result of her traveling back to the past or because she heard the trio of terror entering her house.

If anything, this slow burn approach made this finale supremely frustrating to watch. Because let’s be honest, the entire season was building up to something big, so to go in the opposite direction really is disappointing to say the least and it makes me wonder if things would have turned out better had the show received a couple of extra episodes this season to properly tell its story so that it didn’t have to change direction here and rush everything in an attempt to set up season two. But, while this episode didn’t quite do it for me, I also understand that this is a young show, and young shows make mistakes. And there are so many good things to love about this series that one rough finale isn’t enough for me to declare it bad and walk away, because this really has the potential to become something special. So hopefully, the writer’s room learns from their mistakes here and stay bold in season two, so that this little aberration becomes nothing more than a distant memory. Until next year.

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