The magical quandary
this episode is a town where everyone is old. Worse, The Librarians made
the Florida joke before I could!
So the whole town has
been artificially aged and it’s time to investigate why with lots of questions
and investigations with all five of the main gang going to the town (ok I know
many will disagree but I kind of love that Flynn manages to make the “We’re
Librarians” line work when Stone and everyone else never can). We also have a
nice small moment of Cassandra being almost intrigued by aging since she’s
finally considering the possibility for herself now she’s not facing terminal
illness any more.
The gang is attacked
by some creepy monsters and are saved by a very dramatic man: a very dramatic
man called Derrington Dare who calls himself the Librarian
I’m all ready to call
imposter but it turns out we have a genuine time travelling Librarian. I then
cringed and expected lots of posturing between Flynn and Dare - but it turns
out Flynn is a complete and utter fanboy of Dare’s, having read his Library
record and clearly stylising a lot of his persona and technique on Dare’s. His
fanboiing is both cringeworthy and cute - and Eve is wonderfully clear in tolerating
his silliness.The other Librarians are less amused that Dare considers them
“assistants” and it’s annoying that that’s pretty much how they’re considered
for this whole episode.
The aging is caused
by Dare’s nemesis, Ambrose Gethic. It seems Dare and Gethic have been fighting
each other for pretty much ever to the extent that it consumes both of their
lives. Gethic was the one who created a time travel portal which Dare followed
him through. As Dare recounts his story, Flynn also realises that Dare is close
to the date of his death - when he goes back he dies tomorrow. Cue angsty
“can’t alter the time line” trope.
There’s lots more
adorkable fanpoodling from Flynn and when they go to the Library, Dare keeps
calling Jenkins “Galahad” which is always cool. But Dare also has a problem: 4
librarians. He reveals some secret history which Jenkins has kept hidden
(Jenkins is kind of repentant but not very): the last time there were 2
librarians (many many centuries ago) they went to war and because of that the
Library was cut from the world, cutting off human curiosity and learning and
wonder: which caused the Dark Ages
Ok let’s poke this.
First of all, the “Dark Ages” are a terribad eurocentric term which should
never be used unless you’re only talking about Europe. While Dark Ages Europe
had relatively little “progress” (little but not none), the Middle East, China
and more were quite happily chugging along with lots of this curiosity and
learning and wonder stuff. The Library, as a world wide institution, needs to
recognise that
I also question why
one example is considered a rule forever more: these are intelligent scientists
and academics, they should know better than to make a rule from one narrow
example. Or not to consider whether four librarians will be better placed to
stop one rogue member.
Dare tries to force
Flynn to promise to “fix this” and banish everyone else - he absolutely dodges
this until they can get back investigating
Back in the field,
Eve & co are captured and apparently aged, putting them out of commission.
This leaves Flynn and Dare to pursue clues and realise that Ambrose has
connected an artefact to the electrical grid and they have to go to the power
plant to confront Ambrose
Ambrose, like any
decent villain, has come to the future to kill Dare: because Dare is the
complete focus of all his activities. Since Dare has used mojo to make himself
immune to magic, Ambrose has travelled through time to find the one magic that
will kill him: Librarian magic
As opposed to a gun,
knife or bomb. I mean he charges a sword with magic and fights Dare - but
you’re telling me a normal sword wouldn’t do the job? Especially since Ambrose
is clearly the better fencer. You’re going to use time travel rather than
paying 10 goons to hit him with sticks? Hey he’s from the Victorian era, he can
probably get some bargain goons.
But he’s gone with
Librarian magic which means having 3 Librarians + Eve in containers so he can
drain all their library magic and power up his sword so it can EXTRA cut Dare
unlike a metal non-magical sword which would also cut Dare but probably not
look so cool. I guess
Flynn is forced to
choose between helping Dare fight Ambrose (and therefore proving Ambrose the
better sword fighter) or free his friends. During the necessary fight
exposition it becomes ever more clear that Ambrose and Dare hate each other,
pretty much to the exclusion of all else (probably including the Library) and
that Dare is quite willing to let the Librarians and everyone else die for the
sake of defeating Ambrose. They don’t care about good or evil - only defeating
each other
Flynn has a master
plan - he manages to take a time out from the fight to go back to the Library
and grab Jenkins
Now personally i
would have given Jenkins a sword and then sat down to wait: because bringing
Galahad to a sword fight is almost cheating and Ambrose would quickly be sliced
and diced to a million pieces
Instead Flynn throws
Jenkins in the machine believing his super super ancient Librariness will
overload the machine - which does, killing Ambrose. Personally I would have
gone with sword fight since it would have worked without risking super charging
Jenkins but that’s just me. Also I would have seen Galahad stab people again
which is always awesome.
In the aftermath Dare
is taught the importance of friends and teamwork and is returned to his time.
Which is nice: especially since his upgraded biography now shows him living
much longer. The attack that killed him now fails because he has friends who
back him up.
Which is nice he
learned - but he still leaves Flynn a note saying he needs to fire them all
because multiple librarians are a bad idea.
Ok, I am concerned
and have thinky thoughts
The new conflict
erased: the Librarian as a near loner (+Guardian, + custodian so… different
definition of loner) vs Librarians as a team. In some ways I can see why The
Librarians is going this route and may be part and parcel of how they
decide to move forwards. I’ve said repeatedly that The Librarians works
best when Flynn is somehow separated from the main group -which is what The
Librarians has done for the last four seasons. In part this worked out
because Noah Wyle was heavily involved in Falling Skies. But now that
show has ended and Noah Wyle doesn’t seem to be involved in any other major
projects that puts him more centrally on The Librarians show. And I
don’t mind that - I like Flynn, I think he makes a great Librarian and he and
Eve have an awesome dynamic that manages to turn the already tired manchild vs
Motherfigure into something a bit better than what we so often see. In another
universe, Librarian with Flynn and Eve and Jenkins would be a great
series
But I like the TEAM
more, I like, Eve, Ezekiel, Cassandra, Jake and Jenkins much more of a team,
each with their own strengths and weaknesses, all bouncing off each other well.
I think they’ve done an excellent job, despite a shaky start, in encouraging a
more equal participation and value between the three Librarians and they work.
When Flynn isn’t there
When he is there it’s
nearly impossible for them not to be overwhelmed by Flynn and turned into
sidekicks. He’s got a closer connection to Eve, he has more history with
Jenkins and, I’m, going to say it, he IS the better Librarian: he is far less
specialised, has a far broader range of knowledge, is much quicker thinking,
much more able to come up with a plan on the fly, etc. The show knows this. The
whole nod to Flynn making the “We’re Librarians” line work underscores it. The
others are great at their jobs: and better than him AS A GROUP. He is awesome
at it and can work is solo in a way they don’t really match. Which is why him
being away except for odd visits WORKED
So either The
Librarians needs to keep making equally convoluted reasons for Flynn not to
be part of group: or, as seems to where we’re going, a storyline where they
confront this and set up a new dynamic. I have a feeling i won’t LIKE this
storyline but will probably appreciate where they end up: if it goes well. But
it depends where it ends up. Flynn as a more support character (as hinted in
the earlier episodes) a la Jenkins or M? Could work. Flynn as leader and them
as sidekicks? I’m not a fan of at all. Him as just another member of the group?
Would be ideal but how would that work given the above? Is someone - maybe
Flynn himself - going to be removed?
They’re addressing a
central problem on the show, but I’m concerned that there are no good results
here.
This is all also going
to cross with the ongoing conflict of The Library is All vs The Library is an
Institution with all the potential flaws and problems inherent and can’t be
considered to be such an overwhelming priority.
