A Discovery of Witches Review: Episode #2.10 (Season 2 Episode 10)
Unfortunately, A Discovery of Witches Season 2 Episode 10, “Episode 2.10,” is a massive let down.
All the threads that the series has woven over its second season fall to the floor like Diana’s attempt to tie the ninth knot. Unless Season 3 drops in a couple weeks, that ending is absolutely flabbergasting. It’s still way too many yards away from the cliff to be a cliff hanger.
For some strange reason, Jack is the focal point of the finale episode.
It’s clear that Diana and Matthew consider Jack their son, but the show hasn’t put in the narrative work to make it feel like there is that close of a bond. We see them teach him things, but that’s about it.
If the story circled back to the significance the human child has to play, other than delivering the paintings, it would make sense. But the serious screen time given to a quite insignificant character is frustrating.
Emily deserves that time.
And what about Emily’s apparent murder at the hands of a power-hungry witch?!
Pete Knox has been a threat since the first episode of Season 2. But, the payoff is incredibly slight. He doesn’t even have Satu with him for the “big confrontation” that serves as the climax of the finale. It is boring, which a show with witches, vampires, time travel and inter-species babies never should be.
The lackluster fight between Knox and Emily isn’t satisfying for another reason; it makes no sense. Emily has come clean about trying to use dark magic to connect with Rebecca. There is no reason she would risk going out by herself to the witchy zone when Sarah has already shown she wants to be by her side for such things.
Knox is such a powerful witch that he could have been a good adversary for the wives. Know and Satu versus Diana’s aunties? Now, that’s magical TV.
Instead we get a quick and dirty death for the gay Black woman. Yep, this is where this review is going to call out the use of dangerous tropes on the A Discovery of Witches finale.
Representation on A Discovery of Witches is lacking, in general. Queer and BIPOC characters are sidelined in favor of cis heterosexual white characters (another problem with the over-emphasis on Jack).
Emily is one of three dark-skinned characters on the show. She is one of three canonically queer characters on the season. She should not be the one killed.
She may not be dead, but her supposed demise and her willingness to sacrifice herself to protect Diana, is just as problematic.
Black women are not here to throw themselves upon the pyre to same white women.
Kit Marlowe is the most compelling new character of Season 2. Yet, the finale provides zero resolution for him. Matthew does not say goodbye to him.
Let me repeat. Matthew does not say goodbye to the best friend and man who loves him.
The last we saw of Marlowe Kit was him being beat nearly to death by the man he loves. Again, with my full chest, subjecting queer characters to extreme pain and indicating that they deserve it, is not okay.
The list of things that simply do not get any resolution on the finale is far too long. We don’t know who the blood rage vampire is, we don’t know what happened to Domenico, we don’t know what the significance of the new witch baby is, we don’t know what spell Diana wove, and the list goes on.
It is almost as if the series forgot to add the second half.
The best part of this sadly weak finale is the interesting connection forged between Phoebe and Ysabeau.
It makes sense that these two would connect. They are both somewhat anachronistic creatures. Ysabeau because she holds to a kind of stoic matriarchal martyrdom that doesn’t suit the modern world. For Phoebe’s part, she is enchanted by archaic things and doesn’t really care for people in the present.
Not gonna lie, they’re scene were kind of hot. (Look, Ysabeau is just as old as Marcus, really. There should be no issue here!)
Season 3 has a lot of ground to cover and many messes to clean up. Hopefully, the team that consistently brings us some of the most compelling visual storytelling out there can address the pitfalls and problematic tropes that plague the season’s finale.
What did you think of this episode of A Discovery of Witches? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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A Discovery of Witches airs Saturdays on Sundance NOW, AMC+, and Shudder.
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Janelle Ureta
Janelle Ureta is equal parts Veronica Mars, Raven Reyes, and Rebecca Bunch, but she aspires to add some Tammy Taylor to the mix. An attorney turned teacher, Janelle believes in the power of a well-told story. She is currently exploring how to tell short stories, 140 characters or less, on twitter. She loves to talk about TV, and right now she can't shut up about Timeless, Dear White People, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The 100, or Younger.
One thought on “A Discovery of Witches Review: Episode #2.10 (Season 2 Episode 10)”
I agree that this episode being the season 2 finale is a disappointment, doesn’t feel like the end of a season so much as the lead up to the next episode which could bring things to the cliffs edge for a great season finale. But sadly it didn’t. As for which characters have been killed off and which haven’t and assuming it’s another gross injustice to race, I must ask, did you read the books? Like it or not this storyline is following the books. The books just don’t happen to call out skin color for most characters, so the fact that Em is black and is killed off just happens to be based on the shows casting I would suppose but the fact her character is killed off is exactly what happens in the books. But fear not, there is another really great relationship on the horizon for Sara!
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