Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

A Discovery of Witches: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 12, 2022

It might have reasonably been assumed that this final season of A Discovery of Witches might have started each episode with It ends with. . ., in response to the first season's trope of starting each episode with a text card stating It begins with. . . Alas, no cheeky intertitle humor is at hand, though the first episode of this final season does feature a source cue mentioning "is this the end?" in the underscore as the whirlwind, time (and species) traveling romance between witch Diana (Teresa Palmer) and vampire Matthew (Matthew Goode) hurtles toward its foretold conclusion, and that is not just a reference to the expectedly mostly "happily ever after" ambience that suffuses the piece, since prophecy and mysteriously missing pages from a so-called Book of Life have long been part of the story.

While this season does in fact continue to use the "previously" technique the second season did to bring viewers up to speed, there are summaries of at least some of the labyrinthine plot machinations of the series in my reviews of the two prior seasons of the show:

A Discovery of Witches: Season 1 Blu-ray review

A Discovery of Witches: Season 2 Blu-ray review

A Discovery of Witches simply can't quite escape the whiff of any number of other, probably at least somewhat better known, enterprises that traffic in some of the same supernatural material. My reviews of the previous seasons have either outright mentioned our at least alluded to Harry Potter, The Twilight Saga, and Outlander, to which I might add in various amounts strains of now long ago and probably little remembered series like Lost Girl, Haven, Being Human and Sanctuary (these last three kind of interestingly all out on Blu-ray courtesy of Entertainment One). That can mean A Discovery of Witches can struggle at times to find its own voice, but the series' rather luxe production design and some committed performances may help it to overcome some of the "echoes" of other properties residing within this one.

This third season of A Discovery of Witches finds Diana and Matthew returning to contemporary times, of course discovering that both their sojourn and decisions made in their "historical milieu" have wrought some unexpected changes. This season also exploits so-called "blood rage", a debilitating disease which afflicts vampires and which ends up playing into a subplot involving the quasi-son of Diana and Matthew, Jack (Toby Regbo), who has managed to survive centuries for a perhaps predictable reason. While this season continues with the same nefarious undercurrents involving the so-called Congregation, which has a sort of built in villainy, as is discussed in some of the supplements on these discs, the "real" bad guy this season is probably Benjamin (Jacob Ifan), though kind of interestingly (if again perhaps predictably), it turns out to be Diana more than Matthew who ultimately holds to key to vanquishing obstacles.

In the meantime, Diana's pregnancy unfolds and what amounts to a kind of quasi-pandemic involving "blood rage" continues to propel things forward, especially with regard to the relationship between Matthew and Jack. The contemporary time frame may actually not completely work to this final season's benefit, since the historical perspective of the second season may have offered more opportunities not just for "special guest real life personages", but also a more opulent production design.

The underlying subplot of the missing pages of the Book of Life finally gets a wrap up, and suffice it to say it's one of those "duh" moments when a revelation detailed in those (no longer) missing pages makes clear what has already been part and parcel of the story from the get go, namely that this franchise's kind of weird version of "Apartheid" was never a good idea to begin with, despite supposedly noble intentions. There is probably more plot and almost certainly too many characters and interlocking subplots for this third season not to feel a bit rushed and jam packed, but it continues this series generally compelling presentation within what increasingly seems like a Xerox copy context.

A Discovery of Witches: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Discovery of Witches: Season 3 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of RLJ Entertainment, a part of RLJE Films which is itself a division of AMC Networks, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. This season continues what has been one of the hallmarks of the series, at times absolutely ravishing visuals that offer some really evocative lighting and nice framings that can emphasize the often impressive production design. The series has a tendency to grade toward slightly chilly blues and grays, but detail levels remain strong throughout all of the episodes. The CGI is not that pervasive, but generally artful when it does show up. Fine detail is very strong in close-ups in particular. Some of the darkest scenes could arguably have benefited from just a tad more shadow definition.

A Discovery of Witches: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Discovery of Witches: Season 3 features another nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which is perfectly in line with the sonics offered on the two previous seasons on Blu-ray. There are probably more scenes overall in this series which tend to exploit somewhat less "dramatic" (from a sound design perspective) offerings like people simply speaking in a room, but there is still good, consistent engagement of the surround channels for ambient environmental effects. Some of the "blood rage" depictions can also offer fun panning effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and French subtitles are available.

A Discovery of Witches: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• The Story So Far (HD; 4:21) barely begins to skim the surface at just a little bit more than four minutes, but does discuss some of the major plot strands of the third season. This includes interviews with Teresa Palmer, Matthew Good and executive producer Lachlan McKinnon.


• Blood Rage (HD; 5:55) looks further at one of the key plot points of this season.

Disc Two

• Set Tour (HD; 9:20) is a fun backstage look with Teresa Palmer.


• Creating the Worlds (HD; 5:28) features a number of performers discussing things like production design.

A Discovery of Witches: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kind of hilariously, I was actually going back and forth as to whether I should include The X-Files in my list of series which might be considered referents for A Discovery of Witches, but decided that while I could make a case for at least some connections, they'd probably take too much explanation to warrant readers' time. Let's just say there's a bit of a punchline in that one episode this season features an admittedly minor character named Mulder. All of this may point to the fact that A Discovery of Witches may in fact feel more like rediscovering any number of other, possibly more venerable, properties. There is still a fair degree of magic in this series, though, and it is buoyed by some of the best looking cinematography and production design in contemporary fantasy laden television. Technical merits are solid and the brief supplements enjoyable. Recommended.