Hey guy's it's my very first post here, hope you're here because you were looking for a review on the TV show "A Discovery of Witches" based on the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness.
First, a quick disclaimer: I have not read the books. All I know is what's been shown in the tv series, so if there's any additional information you know that I didn't include here - you are free to share.
Let's begin with the bottom line - I'd give this show a 4 out of 5 rating and a warm recommendation for anyone into romance and fantasy especially if you're looking for something new to bite your teeth in.
Now I believe that a basic Pros and Cons summery is the best review as it would not take too much of your time and yet leave you with a decent preview of what this thing is.
***Spoilers ahead***
Pros:
1. I don't know whether it's because this is a vampire story or because Teresa Palmer looks so much like Kristen Stewart that I spent most of my time, while watching, comparing the show to Twilight. Before you say anything, I know that these days Twilight is used mainly emphasize mediocrity, but here it was very helpful in allowing me to really see the difference between a story that does and does not that itself seriously.
While "A Discovery of Witches" has a similar concept (vampire boy meets a bookworm girl, they fall in love and everybody's after them) it's a higher quality fabric. Diana Bishop is a strong, independent scientist who takes a stand even when she's taken by surprise. Unlike Bella Swan for that Matter who seemingly goes mute in front of enemies when Edward's not around. So basically if Bella portrays the classic damsel in distress, Diana stands her ground and I love that about her. She's rational, calm, observant and all in all a proper adult. This I believe is what sets aside "A Discovery of Witches" from all the teen genre.
2. THE ON LOCATION SHOTS. Omg, cinematography is such a treat. Some frames are absolute eye candy's. To add more, the styling is so elegant as well, you can't ignore how well dressed everyone is. It's a little thing but it catches the eye and makes the whole experience feel more "posh".
3. You can really sense the age on some characters. I find that nearly in-achievable in other vampire/immortal stories where centuries old characters discuss their age but never quite give-off that vintage vibe. We're used to it so we automatically overlook it as a flaw, but when someone actually does manage to convince you they're old, I love it. It's like that unique aroma an old wine has that no matter how much you'd try to recreate in younger bottles, it just wouldn't be IT.
4. The premise. Magical creatures trying to get their hands on a magical book that contains the "recipe" to their creation, prompted by genetic research in a modern day lab and a PhD researcher stumbling upon it by mere accident while writing an article. The whole thing draws you by the nose to see how they manage to incorporate magic in what looks like the most ordinary 21st century setting.
5. The concept itself isn't new, yet it manages to show you something you haven't seen before. Imagine a sentence where you've heard every word individually a thousand time before, but put together they create new meaning. So something like that. It's both old and refreshing and thus feels interesting.
6. The love story is compelling and doesn't make you afraid of sinking into it. There are stories out there that will break your heart because of how much you sympathies with the characters and there are stories that have a great start but loose their edge down the road and disappoint you. so either you're in tears or you feel like your time has been wasted, you would probably approach the next love story tv throws at you with caution. This one however, for the most part, is relatively balanced. Yes it sweeps you in to a soapy drama at moments, but the mature nature of our main characters also yanks you out of that really fast. Characters who express emotions yet not make you yawn - I like that.
Cons:
1. The VERY premature "I love you". I believe it's a given in our world that expressing your undying love towards your soulmate doesn't usually happen before the fifth date. Or, like, fiftieth. However in this story the strong, independent 30 yo Diana says the magic words three weeks into her acquaintance with this 1,500 yo vampire she just recently developed a crash on. Hmmm. I mean, things happen and 'you know when you know' etc etc but still,it was just baffling. No grown-up I've ever met would act like that, too much psychology involved. To that I say - you wanna be a grown up, act like one.
2. Lack of context. If you were to split the 8 episodes into groups, episodes 1-2 then 3-5 and 6-8 would go together because each group focuses on different things. For instance, episodes 1&2 focus on "The book of life" and exposition, who's who and how they're related. Then episodes 3-5 are all about the romance - Diana and Matthew's relationship, the trip to Sept Tours and the congregation, followed by episodes 6-8 which are about Diana discovering her powers basically. The problem is that the transition between said groups isn't very clear. When and why the distant Diana fell in love with the vampire she wanted nothing to do with? why did the center of attention suddenly shift from the all-powerful book to the romance between the two main characters? is it not that important anymore? and what exactly is Satu's agenda? why is her fixation (is it fixation?) with Diana powerful enough to justify torture? I just felt that we jumped from one stage to the other without a clear explanation.
3. The soapy drama moments. I mentioned before that the romance in the series suffered occasionally from weepy dialogue. A good example would be right after Matthew left Sept Tours for London and Diana ran after him in tears so filled with despair she made the rain fall backwards. Combine that with the previous scene where she's bagging him to tell her "shes the one" and encouraging him to defy everything he believes in to be with her!! - blah. I was like 'sister you've known him for three weeks, pull it together'. I think I would have enjoyed those scenes better were I not still baffled by point 1.
4. Marcus and Miriam - they are important, but the show forgets to explain how and why. When you say that our main character has a son (i.e Marcus) I expect you to incorporate at least three or four lines of dialogue that would inform us on how they came to be that. Whereas here, we reach the very end of the season to see Matthew acknowledge Marcus's importance a scene that has zero substance as we know almost nothing about him. Same goes for Miriam, she's just there, frowning while telling them what to do.
All in all I did enjoy the show but it's clear to me that I should probably read the books if I want the whole thing to make actual sense and not just be an eye candy.
Thanks for reading this far down, leave me your comment!
Yours,
Maichka
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