The sinister group
this episode are creepy Russian grave robbers robbing graves around the world
belonging to Nicole
Noon; yes the ex-guardian
with dubious motives
While at the Library
Flynn and Jenkins are arguing. Flynn has taking Dare’s warnings to heart while
Jenkins vehemently declares “screw Mr. Dare” which is surprisingly crude for
Galahad. He thinks Dare’s fears are ridiculous, antiquated and paranoid and
it’s ludicrous that Flynn should be dodging the tethering ceremony because of
it, especially with time running out. He thinks Flynn’s real doubts come down
to Nicole - and the doubts she seeded in the first episode. And hey he’s
willing to debate Nicole’s guilt (which he still thinks is set) but the Library
needs tethering now.
Mid argument, they
realise that Eve is missing.
Eve has managed to
catch up with Nicole who is trying to stop the Russians from raiding all of her
graves. I think if she wanted to keep secret sites with artefacts hidden she
maybe shouldn’t put her name on them all.
Eve and Nicole meet
with Eve assuring Nicole she just wants to bring Nicole back to the Library,
she doesn’t like leaving people behind and she wants her to be part of the team
again. While Nicole is also very aware that Eve does not 100% trust Nicole and
also wants to keep an eye on her. And she doesn’t need the Library to be a
Guardian, she will still be a Guardian working alone. There’s a lot of
competition and snark including lots of critique of each others’ fighting
styles which ends up with the Russians escaping despite being thoroughly
beaten. They are most snarky and I like it.
Nicole tries to run
off alone but Eve makes it clear: she accepts Eve and Eve doesn’t call the
team. Otherwise she gets 4 Librarians and a Custodian following her around. So
it’s Eve and Nicole, not trusting but opening up a little. As Eve sees many
graves of Nicole she also sees the memories and photos she stored - including
all the people she left behind. It brings home to Eve just how hard being an
immortal is, especially without a person to ground them. Nicole touches on her
fears but Eve is clear: she IS afraid - but not necessarily of immortality but
being alone. Of turning into Nicole, basically. Of course that also raises the
fear that maybe the others may leave the Library and leave her
Nicole does try to
leave Eve behind but it doesn’t go well
Their actual quest is
to find Koshi’s needle, an artefact capable of various terribad awfulness.
At the Library
everyone’s tracking Eve and Nicole - and by everyone I mean Jenkins (who
doesn’t trust Flynn to be objective) and Flynn, after Ezekiel uses some
computer hacking to find them. Being Librarians they quickly catch up on the
trail, following them through England...
Ok, can we stop
saying “just outside of Lancashire” or “she’s gone to Lancashire” because that
is a completely useless direction. Lancashire isn’t a town or city. It’s a county
- a region, 3,000+ square kilometers.
Also I am deeply
amused that anyone thinks a beverage of choice in Lancashire is “cucumber
water”.
...through to Rome
and then Ukraine outside of Chechnya - so as Eve and Nicole climb a cliff they
find Flynn and Jenkins already there (the riddle closely following the legend
of Koschie)
Jenkins believes
Nicole wants Koschei’s needle because it can kill an immortal: assuming it’s
part of her revenge against him. While they argue, they have to run from
Ukrainian military and Eve and Jenkins get caught by the Russian treasure
hunters
Flynn wants to
intervene but Nicole shows a very Derrington Dare slant -the mission comes
first. But she mixes this with an insistence that Flynn doesn’t have to baby
Eve, he can trust her to get herself out of trouble without him
Which I guess is a point… and one Nicole/the writers have tried to force with references to “doesn’t Flynn let you do anything without him?” But it doesn’t follow. Flynn has never really shown a over-protective/smothering side towards Eve. In fact, as I’ve mentioned often, a large amount of the last 3 seasons are spent with Flynn off doing his own thing and leaving Eve to handle the Library and other three Librarians. Flynn has shown nothing but confidence that all the Librarians can look after themselves - including Eve. This is a moral lesson no-one needs. Also she’s been kidnapped by evil people with weapons and is tied up - declaring “oh hey I have every confidence in you” is more than a little broken and self-serving. They’re a team, they work together, having each other’s backs isn’t the same as treating Eve like a Damsel in distress.
Instead Nicole and
Flynn find the dagger while Nicole also encourages Flynn to branch out in his
life: she points out his whole life revolves around the Library making him it’s
“prisoner” and closing off his potential…
...again broken
narrative. The Library works for Flynn because it gives him purpose - no, not
shows he can have purpose. Look back at the first film - Flynn was stuck in an
academic rut, constantly studying, constantly learning, not getting out but
also a hopeless generalist rather than a specialist. I challenge that any other
career path would suit him. As someone who has embraced the swashbuckling joy
of being a Librarian, I cannot imagine him being happy in a traditionally
academic setting. As a man so in love with the breadth of learning, I cannot
imagine him being happy focusing on one subject. As a man so knowledgeable
about magic and lore, I cannot imagine him being happy in any mundane field
that is unaware of this magic.
In short - the
Library not only gave Flynn a purpose, but it’s a purpose so perfect for him I
can’t imagine a replacement. Also he’s in a relationship with Eve
This also leaves Eve
and Jenkins to listen to the bad guys sinisterly describe how bad Nicole is,
and how they (the very very obviously evil ones) are totally the good guys
really while Nicole is just terribad awful and taught black magic to Rasputin!
They need Koschie’s needle to save the world from her naughty bad evilness.
So when Nicole and
Flynn find the dagger they’re quickly stopped by Eve and Jenkins who declare
Nicole super evil and the dagger must be kept away from here and instead
handled close to evil Sinister guy who promptly grabs said dagger and uses it
to stab Nicole. Why, the obviously evil guy is evil!
He’s also Rasputin,
said dark magic using Russian immortal monk - as we see since Koschie’s needle
absorbs life force and gives you some killer hair extensions. Jenkins (full of
woe and guilt) gets Nicole back to the Library for some woo-woo while Eve and
Flynn defeat Rasputin by making him stab radiation.
I’m not even poking
that, just run with it.
Back at the Library,
the guilt ridden Jenkins does the one thing he can to save Nicole - gives her
his immortality
No
Nonononononononono!
Jenkins doesn’t die - but Jenkins is now mortal and will presumably age and not be indestructible any more. I disapprove
Still it means Nicole
can now forgive everything and go her merry way without the Library dominating
every aspect of her life. She declares herself free. And urges Flynn to do the
same
Which despite all my
objections above, Flynn decides to do. Leaving his tethering ring, a note,
taking his things and “retiring”. Which means abandoning Eve without even
saying goodbye, to say nothing of the other Librarians or Jenkins. I call shenanigans
Ok, so all my musing
last episode? Well I’m leaning towards this being resolved by Flynn actually
leaving the show entirely which would definitely address the balance issue. Or,
more likely, I think this is basically another reason to keep Flynn out of the
battle for the rest of the season.
The problem is that
the way it’s been done - Flynn, his motivations, all feels… a bit dubious? It
doesn’t feel logically consistent with Flynn’s character
On a related note -
the deep tragedy of Jenkins losing his immortality may also be a way of
focusing back on the core four - Jenkins being active and out in the world is
awesome, confining him more to the library without his immortality prevents us
having more episodes of Ezekiel, Stone and Cassandra being relegated to the
library. So I’m guessing a general refocus on those who are supposed to be the
core of the show while fighting against the overwhelming presence and
personalities of the supposed side characters
