#A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 2 Review: It’s Time to Trust Others

The blood rage killer was revealed on A Discovery of Witches Season 3 Episode 2, and if you thought it was going to be Benjamin, you got quite the shock.

Make no mistake. Benjamin is the cause of the problem, but he’s more of an instigator and string-puller than imagined.

After Matthew and Diana timewalked back to the future, things with their son fell apart.

Father Hubbard was an odd man, but he was directly responsible for Jack’s care.

Watching Jack suffer the loss he felt after Matthew and Diana left was really difficult for him, and when Jack was dying, Father Hubbard brought him back as a vampire so that he’d have a chance to find his family again.

Unfortunately for them both, Benjamin sired Father Hubbard. Benjamin has been on a mission to destroy Matthew, and by proxy Diana.

I can’t recall how much they knew about Father Hubbard’s parentage, but it doesn’t seem that they knew Father Hubbard was sired by Benjamin.

They never would have left Jack in his care if they did.

Diana was still in the dark about Benjamin in those days, but he wasn’t in the dark about her. He got into close contact with her on her way to visit the King, but he didn’t hurt her.

What he’s doing with Jack, though, hurts everyone.

Jack has blood rage, and he’s got it bad. His achilles heel is losing Matthew and Diana, growing up alone after feeling their love.

Has Benjamin had his hooks into Benjamin for centuries or has he only molded Jack into a frenzied killer for their modern life?

I read the books, but there are parts that are unclear, and that’s one of them.

What was very clear, though, is that Benjamin is everywhere. He was plucking at Father Hubbard for news about Matthew and Diana, and he’s got the ear of Gerbert and Domenico. He’s trying to destroy Matthew, and he’s using every bit of his energy to do it.

So Jack’s appearance in 2022 was a mixed bag. While Matthew and Diana were thrilled to see him, it broke their hearts that he had become a vampire and had spent so long hoping to reconnect.

But they couldn’t have imagined that he was the blood rage killer, something only revealed when Baldwin denigrated him and got attacked as a result.

[looking at Jack] One of Hubbard’s strays. It’s family only in this house.

Baldwin

First, Baldwin has always been a harsh ally. But when played by Trystan Gravelle, he was a little softer.

With Peter McDonald assuming the role for A Discovery of Witches Season 3, there’s no wiggle room. This Baldwin has no softeness; he’s all power, which he uses against his family instead of in support of them.

Baldwin: I drank his blood. I saw his memories. He is the blood rage killer! This is his work. The slaughter of warm bloods!

Diana: Jack, is it true? Is this you?

Baldwin: And you were protecting him. You know what has to be done.

Matthew: [gets down on one knee] Monsieur, I promise you. I had no knowledge of Jack’s blood rage.

Baldwin: Brother, this could ruin our family. Kill him.

Matthew: God help me.

Baldwin does protect his family, but he’s always a stone’s throw away from anger when doing it. With what he’s been hearing from The Congregation about the blood rage killer, he had no empathy for Jack, even after seeing his memories.

But it’s just not that simple. Gerbert used information that Domenico gave him about the killer against the de Clermonts, likely at Benjamin’s urging.

The Congregation, thusly, is also to be blamed for Jack’s actions because of how they helped Benjamin. I’ve said it before. The Congregation cannot be used as a vigilante service against the de Clermonts, the very family who gave them power to begin with.

Baldwin wants Matthew to kill Jack. All vamps with blood rage were killed at Matthew’s hand, so what’s another one? Except Baldwin has seen that Jack is much different.

It’s put the whole family at odds again. Diana wanted Matthew to save Jack, but Matthew didn’t want to defy Baldwin. Doing so means that they’ll have to move toward the scion that Matthew had hoped to avoid.

Matthew: So. I’ll be doing to New Orleans.

Diana: Mmm. I know. Forming a scion will be hard, but I think it’s the only way to change things.

Matthew: Mmm. Take responsibility for everyone who has inherited my blood rage.

Things aren’t going to get easier for the family, and with only weeks before the twins are born, there is a lot at stake.

Ideally, they’ll find a cure for blood rage before the twins are born. When Chris and Miriam said they needed more help to move a potential cure from years away to something more manageable, it offered another reason for Matthew to balk at the idea.

Matthew has lived a very long life. To get that life, he’s played his cards very close to the vest. He does not let others in. Bringing Chris into the fold was difficult enough, but then they wanted to use Chris’s students to help move more quickly toward a cure.

Miriam: Working alone will always limit us.

Diana: I’ve already trusted Chris. I think it’s time to trust others.

From that aspect, Jack’s reemergence helped to light a fire inside of Matthew.

Matthew has regretted losing his life and family for so long. He smothered the pain and accepted that he’d never have a wife or children again. Then he found Diana against all odds. And they nurtured Jack.

Matthew’s feelings for Jack grew rapidly, and when he passionately called Jack “our son” as he imagined putting an end to Jack’s blood-rage-induced suffering, there was no doubt that they were profound.

So, while Matthew was torn between obeying and defying Baldwin and between putting Jack out of his misery or helping him deal with the blood rage, in the end, being a father won out.

Matthew: To save Jack, I would have to disobey Baldwin, the head of my family. It’s insanity. This is a war that we cannot win.

Diana: A father protects his children.

In Jack, Matthew sees his twins unless they find a cure. He cannot turn his back on Jack anymore than he can turn his back on his other children.

The only way to help everyone is to open his mind to new possibilities.

He shared his DNA and the 24th chromosome, the creature chromosome, with Chris’s students. It doesn’t mean they’ll move mountains before the twins are born, but it shows that he’s moving forward in the 21st Century. He’s learning to trust others.

His earlier conversation with Chris about the lengths humans will go to commit atrocities found them common ground that went along way toward building that trust.

But all of this movement forward might have to slow down.

As Matthew, Marcus, and Jack awaited a flight to New Orleans, Benjamin revealed a gutwrenching video in which he manipulated Jack into blood rage by reminding him about what he lost with Matthew and Diana.

Matthew: I need your support, Marcus. And I know this won’t be easy for you.

Marcus: Find a cure for blood rage. Fight to repeal The Covenant. Defy The Congregation which upholds injustice, and form a scion so that we can breathe freely without Baldwin breathing down our necks.

Matthew: And then?

Marcus: I’ll forgive you for the murders, for the secrets, and I will be the first to offer my allegience.

That really hurt, and since the video is out there, there’s no way to know what Benjamin will do with it to manipulate the situation.

Benjamin wants his family together. It’s likely that he’ll get that wish. I’m very interested in why he wants a meeting with all of them, and why he had such a strange look on his face when he said Diana’s name.

Other essences:

• Toby Regbo was so good as Francis on Reign and is perfect to play Jack. It’s impossible not to feel for him.

• Poor Gallowglass. He’s still harboring feelings for Diana. I don’t think we’ll see anyone turn his heart before the series ends.
  
   
• “Beware the witch with the blood of the lion and the wolf, for with it, she shall destroy the children of the night.” It’s Satu? Although it was fun watching her toy with Knox, something tells me she’s on the wrong track.
  
   
• As a book reader, the scene at the stairs when Baldwin demanded Matthew kill Jack came to life exactly as I pictured it. The production of this series has been incredible.

Well, we’ve got a lot to wrap up and only five episodes left to do it.

Were you surprised to see Jack?

Were you proud of Matthew for opening up and allowing others to research blood rage and his own DNA?

Share your thoughts on the latest down below.

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.