A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Episode 1 Recap: In Which Diana Summons a Book and Meets a Vampire

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Disc of Witches S1Ep1 Diana Opens Book of Life

This is a recap of season 1 episode 1 of the TV series A Discovery of Witches. My season 1 review/book vs TV series comparison can be found HERE. All of my A Discovery of Witches posts are listed at the tag, HERE.

Let’s take a trip in the wayback machine to season 1, when Matthew and Diana began their journey together. I’m enjoying writing about S2 so much that I’ve decided to give S1 a try, since I’ve also had some requests for it.

Season 1 of A Discovery of Witches is based on the book of the same name by Deborah Harkness, which is the first book in her All Souls Trilogy. The story follows Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), an American witch and historian currently working at Oxford University in the UK. She’s never been comfortable with her magic, but after she discovers a mysterious, ancient book in one of the university’s libraries and meets Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), a vampire who studies the biogenetics of creatures (witches, vampires and daemons), a whole new world of possibilities opens up for her.

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A Discovery of Witches Season 2 Episode 2 Recap: In Which Diana Tries Again

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Disc of Witches S2Ep2 Diana Passes Test

In season 2 episode 2 of A Discovery of Witches, Diana finds the powerful witch who’s meant to teach her how to use her unique magic. With Kit’s assistance, Matthew attempts to navigate the treacherous political waters of the day while convincing everyone he’s Matthew Royden, but not becoming lost in his old persona. As old enemies surface, the strain of keeping up with his own difficulties in addition to monitoring Diana’s progress shows.

Recap

We begin with a check in at present day Sept-Tours. Sarah is worrying about whether or not Diana and Matthew arrived safely in the past, whether their coven can be trusted not to betray them to Peter Knox and anything else she can come up with. Em is countering Sarah’s fears with facts and trying to divine some useful information from the Ashmole 782 page Diana’s father sent her by way of the Bishop house in season 1.

Downstairs, Marthe prepares a family dinner for the four of them, but Ysabeau isn’t sure she’s ready for that kind of closeness. Marthe tells her that since Matthew has evolved past his hatred of witches, they need to make an effort to do the same.

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A Discovery of Witches Season 2 Episode 1 Recap: In Which Diana and Matthew Timewalk

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Hello, witches, daemons and vampires! The long-awaited second season of A Discovery of Witches is finally here. This is my favorite book in Deborah Harkness’ series, so I’ll be attempting to keep up with weekly recaps this season. Besides having Diana and Matthew’s timewalk to Elizabethan England to enjoy this season, at long last we’ll meet daemon playwright Christopher Marlowe (Tom Hughes), James Purefoy as Matthew’s father Philippe, Steven Cree as Gallowglass, Sheila Hancock as Goody Alsop, Adelle Leonce as Phoebe Taylor and Barbara Marten as Queen Elizabeth I. If you haven’t read the book, I’ll just leave you to wonder about the unfamiliar names for now.

On with the show.

Recap

We open in the room where we left off, minutes after Diana (Teresa Palmer) and Matthew (Matthew Goode) timewalked out of the old Bishop house in upstate NY on Halloween night. At the end of S1, Gerbert (Trevor Eve), Satu (Malin Buska) and Peter Knox (Owen Teale) were breaking into the house, ready to capture and torture Diana the same way witches did with her parents. Now, they’re examining the remnants of Diana’s magic, trying to figure how she and Matthew escaped.

Though Knox always presents himself as the leader and magical expert, it’s Satu and Gerbert who closely examine evidence Diana and Matthew left behind, then quickly solve the case. Meanwhile, Peter stands off to the side, assigning his own motivations to the missing couple. Satu asks if Peter can feel the power in Diana’s spell, but he doesn’t directly answer her. I don’t think he senses it the way she does.

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The Third Day Part 3/Winter: Season 1 Episode 6 Last Day- The Dark Recap

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The Third Day S1Ep6 Jess Sits in the Altar Position at Church 1

Episode 6, The Dark, is the third day in Helen’s cycle on the island. She’s found Sam, so now it’s time for their confrontation. The islanders will, of course, do everything possible to interfere, up to and including murdering each other, but Helen has already proven that her energy is strong and she will persevere. It’s time for some answers.

Ellie continues her initiation into the island’s ancient beliefs with Kail. She meets more of the true believers and learns how she can help them, including toying with cult membership. Lu goes on the run, retracing the steps we’ve seen her parents take during their time on the island. She combines their journeys, but her path is also uniquely her own. By the end of the episode, each family member will have been put through their own trial and will come to their own conclusions about Osea Island. Helen and Sam each find their own reward.

Recap

Helen (Naomie Harris) and Sam (Jude Law) walk silently toward each other on the dock. They’re more like two enemies who are about to duel than a husband and wife who are about to be reunited after 9 months of separation. Jude Law and Naomie Harris project intense chemistry, love and longing underlying the bitterness between them.

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Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Analysis Part 2- How Romulan Values Took Over the Federation

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And Other Dangling Plot Threads the Show May or May Not Pick Up Again in S2

More discussion of odds and ends leftover from my recaps of S1 of Star Trek: Picard. In this installment, I’m working from the TV series, the prequel novel, The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack, the 3 part Picard S1 prequel Countdown graphic novel by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson and the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Another ongoing theme in Season 1 is the idea of freedom vs ownership and control, whether it’s the freedom of sentient beings, the freedom of ideas or the theft of body parts and someone else’s work. Rather than assimilating the Romulans into Federation life, as Picard planned for them, the Romulans have insidiously assimilated the Federation into their way of thinking. They value secrecy and hierarchy above all else and don’t value life or justice for their own sake.

This season introduced some deep concepts that we on Earth have only begun to explore as a world here in the 21st century, such as how is sentience determined?  Which species have the right to self-determination and which can be treated as objects or livestock, harvested for their parts or used as slaves by anyone who sees fit? If humanoids can’t even recognize the sentience and basic rights of other humanoids, such as synths and xBs, how will we recognize sentience in other forms of life when we encounter them, including here on Earth?

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Star Trek: Picard Season 1 Analysis Part 1- Outsiders, Twins and Broken Pieces

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SStar Trek Picard S1E10 Soji & Picard

I have several pages of leftover notes from Star Trek: Picard S1 that didn’t make it into my recaps last spring. To celebrate the holidays and production starting soon on S2, I’m going to attempt to wrangle some of them into a few analysis posts on symbolism, mythology and whatnot.

So happy end of 2020, everyone! May you all have received your COVID vaccinations by this time next year! Preferably many months sooner!

Jean Luc begins the season amongst his vineyard’s vines, flowers and fireplaces, surrounded by organic life and symbols that his life is real and truthful. Well, technically he starts with a dream about Data which includes many hints at the season to come, from Blue Skies and the starry nebula, to the five Queens (for five synth daughters) in Data’s poker hand and the Mars attack while Picard laments that he hasn’t finished his tea and doesn’t want the game to end yet.

A Season of Outsiders

The common thread running through Picard, his friends and acquaintances this season is that they’ve been failed by “the system” and now live outside of it. Even the emissaries of Starfleet turn out to be outsiders in some way.

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The Third Day Part 3/Winter: Season 1 Episode 5 Tuesday- The Daughter Recap

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The Third Day S1Ep5 Secret Esus 5

With Jess in labor and the islanders at war, in episode 5 Helen is called on to act as midwife. She also reveals that she’s searching for Sam on Osea. Ellie gets to know Kail, leaving Lu to her own adventures. We learn more about how Sam’s disappearance and Nathan’s death affected the family.

Recap

The story picks up in the middle of the night, with Helen sound asleep and dreaming about Sam standing on a beach, calling to her. He calls her by his nickname for her, “Cass”. She wakes up when a woman screams.

Mrs Martin’s implication that of course the pub is safe was about as truthful as any other message she sends.

The woman continues screaming and both girls wake up, so Helen gets up to find the source of the sound. Lu, ever the sensible one in the family, tells her not to go. Helen responds by ordering her two girls to stay upstairs, alone, in the dark room.

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The Third Day Part 3/Winter: Season 1 Episode 4 Monday- The Mother Recap

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Part 3 of The Third Day, Winter, picks up several months after Part 2, Autumn. It’s been nine months since Sam came to the island in May, which makes it February of the following year.

Part 3 follows single mom Helen (Naomie Harris) and her two young daughters, Ellie (Nico Parker), who’s almost 14, and Lu, short for Talulah (Charlotte Gairdner-Mihell), age 9. They arrive on Osea Island for a brief holiday, only to find that the islanders are at war again and there’s no room at any of the inns. In fact, the inns are permanently closed.

The sacred tourism idea from Parts 1 and 2 seems to have been scrapped. Instead, some residents are attempting to flee the island in tears. But with all of the chaos, the island tourism board forgot to take down room listings, so now the villagers have three cold, tired and hungry tourists to deal with, much like they had to deal with Sam at an inopportune time in Part 1.

Weird how this keeps happening, isn’t it?

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A Blast from the Past: Avengers Fireside Holiday “Yule Log” Videos

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A peek inside the Avengers’ apartments during the holidays as we hang out by their fireplaces.

I posted these Marvel Fireside Heroes videos back in 2016 (between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War in the MCU timeline) and just came across them as I was looking at old holiday posts. They’re so much fun, I decided to share them with y’all once again, since most of us are on lockdown this holiday season and have been staring at the same screens for months. They are like Yule log videos, but instead we’re sitting in Steve Rogers’ apartment, listening to swing jazz versions of Christmas carols for an hour as we watch his fire, or on the Guardians of the Galaxy’s spaceship watching Baby Groot dance next to the fire.

Each video is filled with tiny details, like the pictures of Bucky, Peggy and his mom that Steve has next to the fire, and his original USO tour shield hung over the mantel. One chair leg is held up by a stack of books, because Steve is still a thrifty Depression era guy at heart. The apartment furnishings look like they could be straight from the forties, just like Steve himself. It’s a lonely looking place, from a lonely time in his life, but we could totally join him and make it better, right?

Captain America’s Brooklyn Apartment Fireside video. The close up version is above:

Under the cut: Thor, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, the Guardians & Deadpool

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