In the penultimate episode of Sinbad, we get... a lot of things. Here are the most obvious ones.
The land of the dead & the entire religious question. I see that the plundering of Homer's "Odyssey" continues. The original "Sinbad" was a part of "1001 Nights" stories, which were Muslim fairy tales. Since Islam is a monotheistic religion, it had a Heaven and a Hell, rather than a Land of the Dead, as the one described by the pagan Homer in his "Odyssey". So, why is it in IP's version of "Sinbad"?
To elaborate: yes, all things Muslim-connected are not fashionable in the Western world once again, especially given the recent events in North Africa and Middle East, but "Sinbad" was shot way before they occurred, so - what gives? Was IP trying to be over politically correct, or something?
Secondly, it's bad to mention all things Muslim-related, but it's all right to bad-mouth (sort of) all things Christian-related? The main villian tonight was father La Stessa, a cardinal or a bishop or some other high-ranking member in the local Christian monastery. Honestly, since "Sinbad" was supposed to be Muslim-related (re: Basra), then what's with all the Christian associations, etc?
It wouldn't be that bad if there wasn't Basra. After all, Odysseus' travels occurred largely in Elfland where there weren't any religious or political connotations. But that wasn't good enough for Sinbad's scriptwriters (though they certainly enjoyed plundering the "Odyssey" for ideas, at least once or twice), they actually had to make-it quasireal with Basra. Dirtbags.
In regards to Basra, Taryn's back. She had infiltrated the monastery and when Tiger discovered the map to Land of the Dead, she had taken over her body or something. Helen Cutter, who used a similar method to infiltrate the ARC in "Primeval" (also released by IP - what a coincidence) would've been so proud.
Sadly, putting aside the fact that IP's female villains are awesome, there's the issue of Basra once more. When we left it in ep. 7, Akbari was dead, and Taryn was supposedly in charge of it. Consequently, Nala remained behind to help Basra's citizens against Taryn's tyranny. Only... Taryn is no longer on Basra, but rather on Malta, so... what's with Nala? Taryn could've captured, skinned her alive and used her organs to divine where to find Sinbad, for example, but she could've just as easily given over the keys to Basra (and the phallic-shaped hat) over to Nala, told her that she's now the amira (or whatever it's called) of Basra and left. Hopefully, the last episode will reveal what happened to Nala... but I wouldn't count on it.
And speaking of phallic-shaped things... this episode's monster was a werewolf of some sorts, whose public identity was Philip, the campiest pub owner I've ever seen. Make no mistake, his orientation wasn't the problem, it's the way he acted - so over the top that it was just wrong. At least the snake lady/professor from the previous episode was realistic (as a character from a fantasy show, of course).
And what about the rest of the cast? Tiger has been taken over by Taryn, so she's out of commission for now. The Cook wasn't seen for 95% of this episode at least. Anwar has gained enough confidence now to actually argue with Sinbad, and Rina's cloak still makes her look like a hobbit from LotR. Oh, and Sinbad is still an impulsive ass, though somewhat subdued by now.
Finally, there's Gunnar, who may've found his one true love in the guise of a tailor's widow, making him a rival for the villain of the episode (see above) and almost werewolf chow. Oh well. Of all the heroes (and male characters) he was just too cool to die, and if he lives through the Land of the Dead (yes, the pun's intended), he may actually have a place to return to - on Malta.
So, in recap: Taryn and Gunnar were awesome, the rest of the cast - not so much, the monster was sort of cliche (a veggie version of a werewolf, basically), and the religious ideology in this show that is attempting a semi-serious approach to matters of religion and spirituality is seriously messed up.
Next week - end of Sinbad S1!
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