The Librarians - Jan 15

‘The Librarians’ S3 has completed its penultimate episode; here the titular heroes save Shangri-La from evil and­ finally rescue Charlene (sort of). That is good, but again, the show’s atypical shtick is breaking down.

As I probably wrote before, ‘The Librarians’ strength is that it has unconventional heroes fighting unconventional villains to save the world, (mostly). The main idea itself is fairly conventional, especially in S1, (S2, with its’ ‘fictionals’ was something else). ‘The Librarians’ get to be atypical and unique due to the unconventional secondary details, and now they are vanishing from the show.

…If they are gone, what is left? Yet another ‘team’-based show, not unlike Marvel’s AoS, or any of the DC TV shows, (the new ‘Powerless’ coming this year is going to be fun), or even something like ‘Blindspot’ with its emphasis on ‘the team’. This is not bad, but it means that ‘The Librarians’ can get lost in the crowd, plus – lower ratings. In particular, AoS has experienced them, and while the show has soldiered on for 4 seasons, it is anyone’s guess if it will be around for the fifth. ‘The Librarians’ have aired just 3 seasons, and they are already changing the formula? I am not sure if it is a good idea.

BTW, in S3 the titular heroes are dealing with Apep, (i.e. they are working with primarily Egyptian mythology in a manner that Rick Riordan would consider cavalier in an unprofessional – in an unnecessarily unprofessional – manner), and with DOSA, which is a stereotypical secret government organization, just think S.H.I.E.L.D. from Marvel’s AoS, or its’ counterpart from DC’s ‘Arrowverse’ (especially ‘Arrow’ proper). DOSA thinks that the librarians are the bad guys and is trying to handle them accordingly. Considering that yesterday’s episode has introduced Eve’s old superior, and the theme of divided loyalties, (and which action show doesn’t have such thematic clichés?), the viewers can already predict how the S3’s finale is going to go, at least to a point. Without its’ atypical trappings, ‘The Librarians’ are just left with Cassandra’s numerous dresses, (several per episode – seriously, has the actress made a contract clause that ensures that she dresses sexily/fancily/etc. every episode? Because otherwise those dress changes of her play little effect. Okay, there is the comic effect, but ‘The Librarians’ cannot be unique via this comic effect alone).

So, Apep is a typical apocalyptic monster, albeit from the ancient Egyptian mythology; DOSA is a typical evil/misguided government organization, (rather than some sort of ruthless brigands, or savage marauders, or scandalous pirates, or a secret society), and-

In addition ‘The Librarians’ are trying to change its’ formula in other ways – by expanding its’ cast, (sort of). We got Charlene, (from the initial movies) acting as a part-time love interest of Jenkins and few episodes ago, we had Ezekiel apparently fall in love with a character named Cindy. Neither of these plot developments were foreshadowed, and considering that ‘The Librarians’ have a fairly limited budget, it is yet unknown if the show is going to develop them further. Maybe in S4 neither Charlene nor Cindy will make much of appearances, who knows?

And yes, this is another change to the ‘initial formula’. These things work, (albeit usually on a scale small enough NOT to make a difference), as STTW has shown back in the 1990s (‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’). The show was ‘static’ for the first three seasons, changed one way in S4, and changed in completely different ways in the next seasons. Sadly, that final change, with Sabrina being in college and beyond, resulted in a show that was more like ‘Bewitched’ for a younger audience, instead of STTW (well, its’ comic version) proper – and I’m not sure that it was an improvement. (And Sabrina got married to Harvey all the same – what gives? Anything else would actually be honestly original rather than some sort of an unnecessary and self-defeating compromise?) Ergo, I’m not sure that this isn’t going to happen to ‘The Librarians’ as well post-S3 – the show will transform into something new, and not necessarily for the better.

…Speaking of something new, ‘Riverdale’ is coming to TV screens this year. It is loosely based on ‘Archie’ comics, (which include the original Sabrina, sort of), but everything about it show to be something original. We will just have to wait and see how it goes down.

That’s it for today; until next time, (probably with an AoS review).