Why is this 2018 supernatural TV show so popular on Netflix right now?
As announced earlier this month, a number of AMC shows have now temporarily moved in at Netflix. For the next year, these series will be available on the world’s biggest streaming service before migrating back to AMC+. And to no one’s surprise, three of the AMC series are still on the list of the 10 most popular shows on Netflix a week after they arrived.
What may surprise you is that A Discovery of Witches is among the three AMC series that have broken out at Netflix. Dark Winds and Mayfair Witches are the other two. All three shows have their merits, but for now we’re focusing on A Discovery of Witches, a series that wrapped up its run in 2022. Every episode of the show is at your disposal, and we’re sharing the four reasons why you should watch A Discovery of Witches on Netflix.
It’s a supernatural romance
We could have started off with the mythology behind Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy, since her novels inspired the show. But that would be underselling the real appeal behind A Discovery of Witches. The thing that brings viewers in and keeps them coming back is the supernaturally charged romance between a witch, Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), and a vampire, Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode).
Diana has reasons to be wary about Matthew when the series begins, but those doubts eventually fall by the wayside. In this world, love affairs between witches and vampires are forbidden and frowned upon, but Matthew and Diana prove to be devoted to each other regardless of what others like them might think. Through this series, we get to watch their relationship unfold from its beginning to its natural conclusion.
A Discovery of Witches creates its own mythology
In the world established by Harkness, the three main supernatural species are witches, vampires, and daemons. All three are in decline, as the witches’ powers are diminishing, vampires can’t create new vampires, and daemons are proving to be prone to mental illness. There are some cross-species friendships, but also a lot of mistrust between the three sides.
Diana gets thrust into the middle of this situation when a mystic text, the Book of Life, appears to her. The various factions believe that the Book of Life could hold the key to reviving their respective races. And some of the more malevolent players in this game want to make sure no one else can discover the book’s secrets. The appearance of the book is what brings Diana and Matthew together, and it also sets the stage for the entire series.
The series takes the Outlander plunge
It would be too big of a spoiler to fully explain this, but the second season of A Discovery of Witches follows in the footsteps of Outlander by bringing Diana and Matthew back to 1590 for most of the season. It’s a journey of self-discoveries for Diana, while giving Matthew a chance to reconcile with the people he knew in the past.
The storyline in the present doesn’t stop just because Diana and Matthew are temporarily out of the picture. But when they do go back in time, it’s more fun to see what they’re up to than it is to play catch up on everything else.
The three-season run completes the story of the novels
Some fans are hesitant to commit to new series because they don’t like unfinished stories. Netflix itself is guilty of canceling many shows after only one or two seasons. By contrast, A Discovery of Witches was designed to only run for three seasons. The third season is shorter than the first two, but it still manages to hit all of the beats that it has to get.
The most important thing to know is that A Discovery of Witches won’t leave you hanging on a cliffhanger or keep you wondering what happened to your favorite characters. The answers are all waiting for you at the end of the show’s 25-episode run across three seasons. And that sense of closure goes a long way toward making it a satisfying story.
Watch A Discovery of Witches on Netflix.
