English Dub Review: The Witch and the Beast “The Witch’s Pastime: Final Act”

Overview

The murders continue to escalate as Ashaf, Guideau, and Kiera try to discover the true identity of the killer. 

Revenge is the name of the game when it comes to this show– so far at least. The witch’s motive in the first episode and now Kiera’s. Considering the show’s awfully loose with its mortality, as seen by our two main leads, there’s no need to go through the usual song and dance about the dangers of pursuing revenge in the first place. It’s something that our depraved cast of characters are well aware of from the very start, so it’s a topic that we breeze through quite quickly. 

The procedural stuff was much less engaging this time around. The ol’ twin switcheroo did catch me off guard, the way they were framing things before I thought the twist was going to be that Kiera herself was behind the murders. Which would’ve been silly and nonsensical, but the actual reveal ended up being that anyway. Kiera’s sons ended up coming in contact with an ancient grimoire that slowly eats away at them unless they’re able to find human sacrifices. It’s a weak motive for sure, and it only just gets more bizarre when they reveal that they also had feelings for their mother at the very last minute too. Ashaf casually explaining the entire mystery just ended up making the reveal even more flaccid than it already was. 

The twins end up getting put down and shot by the same woman who raised them. The irony isn’t lost on me, but I’m a little confused on what I’m supposed to take away here. Love being the most twisted form of revenge? Considering we had an episode and half of build-up I was expecting the climax to deliver. In terms of depravity it did at least.

Weak end to an arc that held a decent amount of promise. I’m getting a proper handle on the format at least. Hopefully the next city they go to and the next “witch of the week” will be a little more compelling next time.