Warning: SPOILERS forThe Librarians: The Next Chapter, season 1, episode 10, “And Going Medieval.”
Nostalgic twists abound inThe Librarians: The Next Chapterepisode 10, but a few odd continuity nitpicks unfortunately stand to pull viewers right out of the story. With only a few episodes left until the wait forThe Librarians: The Next Chapterseason 2, it’s becoming increasingly important for the series to showcase its full potential.
Differences betweenThe Librariansand the spinoffare essential to forging the new series’ identity, butthe spinoff’s callbacks to the originalLibrarianssometimes lead to fun references with little actual plot importance. By contrast, episode 10 tiesThe Librarians: The Next Chaptercastto the original in a way that, although meaningful, could have been executed much better.
The Librarians: The Next Chapter Episode 10 Delivers The Best Twists Of The Series
Albeit Not Without Some Rather Unfortunate Caveats
It’s rare for an episode to start introducing twists within the first few minutes, but “And Going Medieval” picks up from whereThe Librarians: The Next Chapterepisode 9ended with several major reveals.The episode’s time travel plotline itself revolves around a major story twist, albeit one the series has been foreshadowing since the first episode.
Although it initially seems as if the episode will take place in 1847, the year Vikram left behind, complications result in the episode taking place roughly 20 years after the fall of Camelot. However,the episode still continues the spinoff’s subplot about Vikram and Anya with a huge revealthat will seemingly close out that storyline for good.
Perhaps the biggest twist is the reveal thatan importantThe Librarians: The Next Chaptercharacter shares a surprising connection with two major characters from the original series. One of these original characters is recast for the episode, although the casting is so perfect it’s easy to recognize them on sight, and their performance is impeccable.
Pay close attention to new actor Philip Rosch’s wider expressions. He possesses a seemingly natural dental feature that, were he not so perfect for the character he’s portraying, would have made him a perfect shoo-in for episode 9’s vampire tale.
The problem with these twists is two-fold. They rely on a major character having kept their true identity secret until this point whenat least two other characters should have guessed their identity twist from their name alone. Second, all twists rely on a trope involving time travel stories that raises more questions than it answers.
Without giving too much away, most of the episode’s twists only work because of the main characters going back in time to set up certain events for later.The episode uses the “fixed point in time” explanation for why their actions during time travel necessitated that same time travel, but it’s ultimately a facile explanation with little real meaning.
That’s not to say these closed-loop time travel stories aren’t enjoyable, and this one is about as entertaining as it gets.Every twist provides new information about at least one character that adds incredible depth to their development, but that sadly puts a spotlight on the relative lack of fine-tuning in the script, particularly during exposition-heavy scenes.
Charlie & Elaine Fall Just Short Of Becoming The Librarians: The Next Chapter’s Power Duo
The Screenplay Paid Them Less Mind Than The Screen Itself
“And Going Medieval” carves out chances for everyone in the main cast to shine, such as Vikram responding to the prospect of being tortured with 007-like sexual intrigue and Lysa finding a surprisingly scientific use for the leavings in a chamber pot. Butthe relationship between Charlie Cornwall and Elaine Astalot is the episode’s most enjoyable character dynamicby far.
Much like Elaine,The Librarians: The Next Chapter’s Charlie Cornwallapproaches most things with a bit more gravity than the others. But, while their friendship makes a certain amount of sense,Elaine’s absence from half the series thus far has prevented more than a brief glimpse into her interactions with the spinoff’s Guardian. It’s nice to see that explored further.
The problem is that much of the episode attempts to build their relationship by calling back conversations between them that we’ve never actually witnessed. For instance,a conversation in which Charlie and Elaine show off their scars like twoJawscharacters is referenced in a consequential moment, but what sounds like a highly entertaining exchange has never actually occurred onscreen.
It’s not a subtle issue, either, as their relationship ties directly into one of the episode’s biggest twists when Charlie inspires the idea to use the Pentecostal Oath of the Round Table against the episode’s villain. However,Charlie’s earlier dialogue suggests the supposed conversation in which she learned about the Oath from Elaine couldn’t have happened.
Small nitpicks like this didn’t severely inhibit my enjoyment of the episode and the rapport it develops between Charlie and Elaine, butit’s distracting to constantly try and remember which aspects of their relationship have actually been established onscreen. At times, it feels uncomfortably like their friendship is being forced through manufactured memories, robbing their bond of sincerity.
“And Going Medieval” Is The Librarians: The Next Chapter At Its Visual Best
The Wardrobe Department Remain The Spinoff’s Unsung Heroes
While adventures likeThe Librarians: The Next Chapterepisode 8have played around with genre-specific aesthetics in a similar manner to certain episodes of the original series,episode 10 embraces its medieval setting in a surprisingly immersive fashion despite the series’ clear lack of budget. Even some relatively small design choices help sell the narrative in deceptively meaningful ways.
For instance, when the heroes wear cloaks to hide their modern clothing so they won’t be mistaken for sorcerers,each character’s cloak matches both their modern attire and their general fashion sensibilitiesas seen thus far. Even the lighting in otherwise identical stone rooms reflects the emotions of the characters in a subtle yet (at least subconsciously) noticeable manner.
There are still minor issues that might take viewers out of the action, such as one knight’s helmet visibly wobbling when it hits the ground, betraying that it’s merely a rubber prop. Nonetheless, even those who never noticed it before may leave this episode ofThe Librarians: The Next Chapterwith more appreciation for the spinoff’s production design than ever.
The Librarians: The Next Chapter Episode 10
Cast
The Librarians: The Next Chapter features a time-traveling librarian from the past who becomes stranded in the present. Upon returning to his now museum-castle, he accidentally unleashes magic across the continent. To address this, he assembles a new team of Librarians tasked with restoring balance.
