THE LIBRARIANS
Season 1

AND THE CROWN OF KING ARTHUR

In New York there is a magical library that houses the magical artefacts that are too dangerous to be allowed in the world. The Library has a representative Librarian who knows a lot of things about a lot of thingsand spends his time finding and bringing back those artefacts. When the old Librarian dies, invitations are sent out to those who might replace him. Someone is killing off the candidates for the last recruitment. Three of them are saved and have to go on a quest to find the lost legendary crown of King Arthur before those who are trying to kill them do.

There have been three TV movies following the adventures of Noah Wylie as Flynn Carsen, the Librarian. Now, apparently, it is time for a fully-fledged series and one Librarian is not enough. Instead of one Librarian, we will have three, plus a Guardian to keep them all organised. There was always more of a whiff of WAREHOUSE 13 and Indiana Jones about the three TV movies, possibly even NATIONAL TREASURE about the TV movies, but the show seems intent to lean into that in this opening episode. Noah Wylie, Jane Curtin and Bob Newhart are all around from the movies to add a sense of continuity, but Rebecca Romijn makes for a steady presence as the military bodyguard drafted into service, whilst Christine Kane, Lindy Booth and John Kim make less of an impact as the new Librarians in waiting, an art and history loving cowboy, a supermathematician with a tumour in her head and a master thief in turn.

With all of these characters, not to mention the bad guys, to be introduced, there isn't that much time for a plot of any real consequence. Once the group is gathered, they solve the mystery of the location of King Arthur's crown with somewhat unlikely ease, since it has avoided being located for hundreds of years. That can be forgiven though, because the pace is as rapid as Noah Wylie's delivery, pushing matters along at a clip and with enough of a sense of humour and light touch to move the audience other cracks without too much of a bump. There isn't anything here to challenge the audience, but that's not the aim and there is enough fun to be had to get by, for a first episode at least.

And it turns out to be only the start of this first storyline, so that lack can be put right in the next instalment.

AND THE SWORD IN THE STONE

The Library is breached, leading to drastic emergency action. Flynn is mortally wounded by a compromised Excalibur and a new home and ally are presented to the team.

The second part of the two part introduction doesn't have to deal with the introductions and so can get on with the task of telling the story. The break-in at the Library leads to some big changes that help to set up the format for the rest of the show. A more modest base of operations for the team and a resurgence in magic for them to go in search of. It also comes up with the excuse to get rid of Flynn Carsen to allow the new team to work without him. Throwing in John Larroquette as a grumpy artefact researcher (no doubt with a deeper, darker backstory) as magical support is a very good move, but he and Rebecca Romijn do rather set the blandness of the main trio into sharp relief.

More surprising is how sad [spoiler alert] the death of a sword can be. The sudden attraction between Baird and Flynn is disappointingly prosaic, but the script is bright and breezy and there is fun to be had in the banter. There are some possibilities emerging from this original story.

AND THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA

For their first time out, the Librarians take on the mystery of missing interns at a giant multinational corporation and discover that the mystery might also involve a labyrinth and a Minotaur.

The first episode of the sets out the template for the show has some good aspects and some not so good. The mystery is solved pretty much straight away and the team spend the rest of the running time is spent running around various forms of labyrinth from a fairly unconvincing Minotaur, who can also transform into a big human to save on the budget. Tricia Helfer (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA pops up as the bad guy, but isn't given enough to do to make any impact.

There's some fun to be had in the verbal back and forths between the team, but that isn't really enough to make up for the shortfall in plotting.

AND SANTA'S MIDNIGHT RUN

It's Christmas Eve, but the Serpent Brotherhood kidnaps Santa and has nefarious plans for his powers. The race is on to get Santa back to the North Pole before midnight, but the Serpent Brotherhood aren't far behind and Santa himself is more of a handful than expected.

A Christmas episode so early in the run? We'll forgive it, though, because it's actually a lot of fun. Matt Frewer's faux English accent is more on display and more horrible with each passing second, but Rebecca Romijn's determination not to get dragged into the Christmas cheer is fun to watch. The big win, though, is casting Bruce Campbell as Santa. Having him switch between incarnations of the historical figure is perhaps just a step too far, but his sparring with Eve Baird is completely delightful. The catchphrase of the episode is 'not calling him Santa'. The reactions of the team to learning that Santa is real and Jenkins' reactions to their reactions are icing on the Christmas cake.

The ending is hyper sappy and threatens to ruin the whole thing with its overload of saccharine sentiment, but by that point it's done enough for that to be forgiven as well. For a story that's all about building up goodwill, it earns itself enough of that.

AND THE APPLE OF DISCORD

Ezekial finds himself appointed arbiter of a conclave of the major magical races, including the devious Dulaque, whilst the returning Flynn Carsen takes the rest of the team in search of the Apple of Discord, an artefact that turns a person into the very worst version of themselves.

It's a bit early on in the series to be pulling out the alternative version of the main characters trope, but the writing is just so much fun - bright and breezy and with lots of fun moments of banter. When evil Cassandra takes out Lamnia in hand to hand combat, there are smiles all round. The newcomers have finally started to bed in and the return of Noah Wylie is hardly even needed.

It also helps that Matt Frewer has toned down his accent and the hints regarding his previous relationship with Dulaque are rapidly making him the most interesting character in the show, even before John Laroquette's increasingly delightful interpretation of the grump with a heart of gold.

That's two strong episodes in a row and the show is beginning to fulfill its promise.

AND THE FABLES OF DOOM

In a small town, fairy tales are coming to life, which isn't such a great thing when it involves angry trolls and giant wolves in frilly hats. The team oare on the case.

What starts off rather unimpressively as a troll attack develops into another romp with lots of fun references. Admittedly, we do get another alternatisve characters scenario as the main team members start to morph into popular storybook characters that are very much at odds with their real natures, but it's all done delightfully with wit and charm.

The eventual cause of all this is disappointingly prosaic, but by that point the episode has earned enough goodwill to let that slip by. Having Renee Auberjonois STARE TREK DEEP SPACE NINE as the guest star doesn't hurt things either.

AND THE RULE OF THREE

The team crash a science fair, a place that makes Cassandra both happy and nostalgic. It also leads to an encounter from Jenkins' past that seems destined to end the world.

This is an episode of two parts. There is the standard mystery to be solved before the science geeks blow up the entire building and everyone in it. There's nothing new in that, apart from the setting of the science fair. This allows Lindy Booth to shine with more excitement than is good for anyone.

What is fun is the encounter with a blast from Jenkins' past. It once again hints at the true nature of the Library researcher and sets the season finale in motion. There is a disaster coming that is woven into the Loom of Fate (whatever that is) and it will destroy everything. This foreshadowing is a sure sign of the show's increasing confidence and everything happening here underscores its right to that confidence.

AND THE HEART OF DARKNESS

The team find themselves locked in a haunted house with the remaining survivor of an attack. Can their combined skills overcome the source of the terror or are they destined to become names on a long list of victims?

THE LIBRARIANS takes on a good old fashioned haunted house story, though this show is aimed at a family audience so it can't be too scary. There is a misty shape with an axe, a creepy doll's house, some visions of previous victims, a closet full of arms and, most disturbingly of all, a long row of empty shoes. There's no blood or guts to have to contend with and the jumps are fairly tame.

This is the second episode to put Lindy Booth front and centre. The show seems to have more interest in its female protagonists than its male ones, giving them some character progression whilst the boys remain just the way they were at the start. That's not a problem, though, as both actresses anchor the story easily and John Larroquette's cameos from the annex remain a high point of the show.

The scenario also brings something different to the show, keeping it fresh within the confines of its format. That's going to be critical if there is to be any longevity in it.

AND THE CITY OF LIGHTS

Strange lights have been seen over a small town and a UFO researcher has gone missing. This fills Ezekial with glee as he believes that UFOs are real, something that Jenkins absolutely does not. When Eve goes missing as well, can the Librarians uncover the true mystery of the town and its strange gas lamps?

After a horror tale, THE LIBRARIANS gives us a straight science fiction tale. The format is pretty standard now as they wander around, uncovering clues as to what is really going on beneath the obvious and looking for a villain and an artefact. The eventual solution to the mystery is actually not standard and delightfully involves Nikola Tesla, or his work at any rate.

Christian Kane gets to step forward as his character gets a love interest (it's not as awful as it might have been) and we find out a little about his past and his dreams. It's immediately hard to see how he can keep his place in the show and this relationship end well.

AND THE LOOM OF FATE

Flynn Carsen finds a way to put all of the artefacts from the season together to open a route back to the Library. This, though, turns out badly as Dulaque hijacks the process and cuts through the threads of the Loom of Fate, causing Baird to bounce around through alternate timelines.

For an artefact that basically controls all of history, the Loom of Fate is pretty disappointing. True, it's a metaphor, but it could have been a more impressive metaphor. And this could have been a more impressive season finale. We do get to see what things would be like had each of the trainees become the sole Librarian, which is pretty fun, but setting up each of these takes up the running time, so there's none left for building up the tension. The whole of time is unravelling, but hardly notice it.

We also get the confrontation between Dulaque and Jenkins that explains the Library researcher's true identity. It's hardly surprising, given all the clues we've been handed along the way, and their actual face off is a bit of a damp squib. That sadly also describes the whole finale. It's a shame because there have been some strong episodes and the show has been getting better with each, so it would have been nice to see it end with a big bang. Anyway, there's always the next season for that.