Sorry about the delay on the latest Sinbad review, so let's get straight to business. As always, the script intended for Sinbad and his crew to be the heroes; in this particular instance it was Gunnar's turn to accept the flaws in his past and become a better person in his present.
Here's the thing: if Gunnar's a Viking, then how did he make it to Basra? Scandinavia is a fair distance away from the Middle East; my guess is Gunnar used to deal with Constantinople (before it became Istanbul), maybe as a member of a much-talked about Varangian guard... before he had a falling-out of some sort or another, and left to become a trader (ep 01). Maybe this career shift occurred because Gunnar became a Christian - vikings and Scandinavians in general remained pagan for a long time; longer than the rest of Europe, and as a formerly Viking berserker (or at least a raider) becoming a Christian meant a major shift not just in his career choices, but in his life philosophy, since the Christian morale may not have been an exact opposite to the Viking raiders' way of life, but it was very close.
Well, in any way, Gunnar may've repented in part before he joined Sinbad's crew and by the end of this ep he must've repented in full (more or less), but before he did that, he and the others had to deal with the Khaima, led by Obsedian. So, may I ask: WTF? Obsedian (well, Carsteen Norgaard) is Scandinavian (Danish), but the Khaima itself appears to be something rather like a cross between a secret knight order (distant influence of the Knights of Malta, maybe?) and the Ismailites (the real-life version of assassins of D&D). Ergo, how did a Dane become their member in the first place, let alone their leader? And secondly, Gunnar's fault is being a bloodthirsty Viking? What is this, kangaroo court? Or does Obsedian just have issues with his former pagan countrymen? In either option, the Khaima aren't coming out smelling like roses out of this whole mess.
Speaking of mess, what is going on in Basra? The Amir has promised Akbari to avenge Malik, but so far all of the work appears to have done by Taryn, who has actually created a "Familiar" to track Sinbad down and to kill him (or to deliver him to Akbari?). From Sinbad's POV that's bad, but on the other hand, Taryn seems to be so active, that she's almost a rocket (aside - kudos to those scientists and co. who managed to land Curiosity on Mard!): she is doing almost everything that's related to tracking down Sinbad almost by herself, with Akbari being more of her sidekick (he couldn't even get enough information from a harbor master) and the Amir just doing... nothing.
Seriously, look: Taryn is magically competent enough to create the "Familiar", she is competent enough to track Sinbad down, and she's clever enough to have Nala and Rina release her when she's captured by the Khaima. By contrast, the Amir couldn't even hire normal bounty hunters to bring Sinbad back to Basra (like the Khaima, or just some competent people). All he ever does is consoles his brother and bad-mouthes Taryn. Since Akbari isn't an utter retard, he judge for himself, which of the two is more helpful to him, and make corresponding conclusions.
Back to Taryn, or rather - her newest creation. The show called it a "Familiar", but in reality, a witch's (or a sorcerer's) familiar is their cat, toad, or raven that helps them do magic. (In some extreme cases this familiar is an infernal imp in the guise of an animal.) The witches in "Macbeth's" opening scene talk about their familiars, but Taryn's creation is something else. It appears to be a mix of a doppelganger and a homunculus.
A "doppelganger" is a body double of a man or a woman, often ghostly, usually forewarning them of their upcoming death. The Russian Empress Anna (reigned from 1730 to 1740) had encountered such a doppelganger, for example. A homunculus is an artificial creature, grown in a lab, created by magic. Neither of those creatures can be used as a familiar, whatever d20 Modern D&D setting may say. But that's okay, because obviously Taryn's familiar was inspired by the second terminator in the "Terminator II" movie, save that instead of nanobots (or whatever) it was made out of sand. And, oh, it apparently fed on anger, so when Sinbad mastered this emotion, the creature perished.
...Anger/wrath is one of 7 cardinal vices, defeated by patience/composure. This is the 5th episode out of 13 that compose the first season of "Sinbad". That gives the show just enough episode space to master all of the cardinal virtues and to arrive at the final, 13th, episode. Hopefully, that won't be the case, and Sinbad adventures won't be done through the lands of Christian theology, because if it does, then the Emir won't even be allowed into Hell, due to his hypocritical indifference (see above). After all, there only so many heartrendering speeches he can give to his brother without actualy doing anything, and not having Akbari (who is a violent madman) stab him in the back to become Amir in his place so that Basra's resources can be used to bring Sinbad to justice. If that happens, though, I'm rooting for Taryn: she has proved herself intelligent and competent enough to rule Basra if there's a coup.
PS: Apparently, in the "Providence's" future, they will arrive at an island run by a woman whom Taryn seems to recognize. Maybe Taryn is going to get her very own sidekick! That'd be awesome!
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