Well, that was a whirlwind, or should we say witchwind, of an episode!? It seems the series only continues to improve with this week’s episode leaving you on the edge of your seat with its action, romance, and overall intriguing moments!
During last week’s episode, Matthew went on a little hunting trip with his friend Hamish as he’s been craving Diana’s blood. After chatting to him, Matthew decides he must protect Diana. Meanwhile, Peter Knox and Satu arrive in Oxford and approach Diana about Ashmole 782, and Diana later has an altercation with the both of them. We are also introduced to Domenico, Juliette, and Gerbert in Venice who all seem to know Matthew. Diana and Matthew learn more about one another, along with Diana opening up about Ashmole 782.
A Day Out
Matthew (Matthew Goode) tells us again that creatures have all but disappeared while entering the Bodleian in search of Diana (Teresa Palmer), but he instead finds her exiting her apartment and she seems a little happy to see him. He informs her there are quite the number of creatures at the Bodleian and he’d like to take her out for the day. Enter Gillian (Louise Brealey) who tries to explain about Peter (Owen Teale), but Diana isn’t interested in what she has to say, and this only pushes Diana to spend the day with Matthew.
They drive in near silence until she learns they will be going to Matthew’s house…and by house, we mean mansion complete with acres of green grass and even peacocks! Diana is in awe of his “time capsule” house and she eyes off a painting of Matthew’s sister, Louisa. She continues with the questions about his real name and we learn about his mother who sired him and his step-father, Philippe.
We then find Matthew and Diana in a library with Diana poring over alchemical texts that Matthew inherited from his brother. He begins to ask her about how she called the book and he tests her by spilling his wine over the manuscript, but Diana’s powers flare and fling the book out of the way. He says her magic is instinctive and that she needed Ashmole 782 for her research at the time and that there’s also some link between her and the book.
As they walk outdoors, Matthew says Diana was born to be a witch and begins talking about his own life, such as being born in what was most likely 500 and reborn again in 537. Diana then asks Matthew if he would like to have dinner, to which he accepts.
A Trip To Venice and New York
Satu (Malin Buska) is travelling the open waters of Venice when she goes through a magical barrier that lifts and we suddenly see buildings everywhere, which is home to the Congregation. She is shown to the witches archives and it’s filled with rows and rows of shelves. Later on, Satu searches through the shelves and finds the files on Rebecca and Diana Bishop, which includes a lot of redacted information. Satu performs a spell to remove the redaction when Domenico (Gregg Chillin) snatches the paper from her and now he is intrigued.
Domenico then returns to Gerbert D’Aurillac (Trevor Eve) and tells him that Matthew is ‘harassing’ a witch and should be punished. Afterwards, Gerbert removes a chest from a cupboard and it contains a head. The head’s eyes snap open and utter a warning: “Beware the witch with the blood of the lion and the wolf.” Gerbert then bathes Juliette (Elarica Johnson) and sends her on her way to find Matthew.
Meanwhile in Madison County, Em (Valarie Pettiford) is water scrying, but her visions are interrupted by Sarah (Alex Kingston). Em says she’s been having strange dreams about Diana and that she sees a man following Diana. Sarah then calls Diana in alarm about Diana hanging out with a vampire. Em then reminds Diana of the stories her mother told her when Diana was little—the Shadow Prince that lived between sunset and moonrise—with Em suggesting Matthew could be the Shadow Prince…
Dinner Is Served
Diana leaves her apartment to find Marcus (Edward Bluemel), who is there to keep an eye on Diana since Matthew is away. Diana isn’t overly pleased, but she asks for Marcus’ help in making Matthew dinner. Marcus suggests a little quid pro quo: Diana’s blood for the lab in exchange for his knowledge on Matthew. She then has her bloods taken by Miriam, when Matthew barges in demanding he be the one that takes it.
Later that day, Matthew is heading to Diana’s when he’s stopped by Miriam (Aiysha Hart) as she knows he is craving Diana and it’s a big no-no as it’s forbidden by the Covenant.
With the table all set and Diana ready, she receives a knock on her door only to find that it’s Peter Knox. He’s disgusted that Diana is having him over when Matthew turns up and speeds to her side. With that, Peter leaves with a grimace. Thankfully, Matthew has brought wine.
They dig into dinner and Matthew is most satisfied with his red deer, which is followed by a barrage of vampire questions including flying and breathing. He then enchants Diana with his ability to smell and taste every element in the wine causing her to ask what she would taste like. It causes a very stern “don’t ever say that to me” from Matthew and things suddenly become electric.
Diana approaches him as she trusts him before he grabs her and says she smells of willow sap, chamomile honey, frankincense, and lady’s mantle—”ancient things he thought he’d all but forgotten”. She turns to him and slowly brings her lips to his and he does nothing resulting in a loud chuckle from myself. He promptly thanks her for dinner and leaves.
Intriguing New Characters
We are introduced to a new and pregnant character by the name of Sophie Wilson (Aisling Loftus) who is drawing the same image of the alchemical child Diana saw in Ashmole 782. As Imagine Dragons ‘Demons’ plays, she returns home to her partner Nathaniel (Daniel Ezra). He has set up a chatroom for daemons born to humans to talk to one another, while she’s picked up a whole stack of alchemy books.
The next day, a woman walks into their apartment and it turns out to be Nathaniel’s mother, Agatha Wilson (Tanya Moodie). She’s intrigued by all the information about alchemy, while Nathaniel has been given a day to close the chatroom despite her promising she didn’t report him. We learn she’s part of the Congregation and Nathaniel wants her to make things better for daemons. They’re interrupted by Sophie who shows them a figurine of the White Queen from alchemy and it’s been in her family for generations. Agatha isn’t so sure it’s her as she’s sporting a bow and arrow when Sophie continues saying that her father said she must give the figurine to the person who needs her…
Never Cross A Witch
The next day, Diana receives an envelope under her door which includes the images of her murdered parents. She goes to see Gillian to confront her about these images as she wants to know where Knox is and says she will deal with it all herself.
Diana heads to the Bodleian and asks for Ashmole 782 once more. While she’s waiting, Peter turns up and she realises there are several witches waiting, including Gillian who has betrayed her once again. Sean (Adetomiwa Edun) returns to say the book isn’t there and he’s suspicious about all the people and stands up for her when Peter begins to cast a spell resulting in Sean falling to the floor. Things begin to rattle, the air turns into fierce wind, and it throws the witches back with the power emanating from Diana. Matthew feels it and races to her to help calm her and stop her magic.
Onwards To Sept-Tours
Diana rests in her bed while Matthew packs her things and Marcus checks in on them. He wants to fight Peter as he sent the photos to Diana, while Marcus is worried about him endangering the family just for her. Matthew then decides to take Diana to Sept-Tours much to the surprise of Marcus, especially with Ysabeau there.
Later on, Diana wakes and Matthew informs her she was exhausted from the witch wind—a power no witch has summoned for centuries. He tells her she must leave as her powers are undisciplined and that they are going to France since no witch will trespass on vampire land. In that moment, Matthew then kisses her properly while a cover of “You Can Go Your Own Way” plays with them promptly leaving afterwards while holding hands.
Overall Thoughts?
What an episode! With each new episode, it seems that the series is doing an incredible job at adapting its source material for the screen, and it’s making me want to read the books once again! While it does definitely have its cliché moments with the vampire questions and some scenes that might make one cringe, it still causes one to find themselves seriously invested in the series, and how can you now with such a brilliant cast, especially Matthew Goode.
The next episode will be quite interesting with Matthew and Diana heading to Sept-Tours as we the series will get ramped up significantly, especially with it marking the halfway point of the season.
Episode 4 Official Synopsis: Matthew’s hope of keeping Diana safe at Sept-Tours appears short-lived as Ysabeau refuses to welcome the warmblood under her roof. Knox calls an emergency meeting of the Congregation to denounce Matthew for abducting a witch but Matthew’s ferocious older brother Baldwin plays a careful game to maintain control in the face of Gerbert foretelling the end of the de Clermonts – and throws Diana to the lions. Diana isn’t the only witch facing persecution. Satu pays a shocking price for her curiosity when Knox discovers she has been searching through the Witches’ Archive and learned his guilty secret. Meanwhile, things turn nasty in Oxford for Marcus and Miriam as Juliette attacks.
What did you think of this week’s episode? Tell us in the comments below!
My favourite episode! I keep playing it over and over, especially from the point she goes to the BOD at closing time to the end. Who thought to put in one of my most favorite songs: Go your own way- (playing looped in my head now! Am singing it all day now! Gahh! ) Teresa Palmer is very good and believable, chemistry is spot on, but Matthew Goode is brilliant!