1x04 Castle Party Massacre

[7.1/10] This is an episode where I like the ideas at play, but I didn’t love the execution (and it was a little lighter on laughs than I might prefer). It’s a fun notion to cross-pollinate the “party while my parents are out!” idea with the medieval setting. But the results just leave a little too much to be desired.

For one thing, I’m just not really invested in Elfo’s crush on Bean, nor do I really believe that she’d be so oblivious to it (especially with Luci basically announcing it). The characters don’t really seem likable in that particular entanglement, and likable characters aren’t everything, but they help!

That said, I appreciate that this one at least had a little narrative clarity. We get the notion that Bean is tired of guys who won’t pay attention to or dance with her because they’re afraid of being killed by her dad, so she’s attracted to the invading “Land-Viking” who isn’t scared of that, but then appreciates the bravery of Elfo drinking the infected fountain water. It’s not the smoothest progression ever, but there’s some setup and payoff there, from the water, to Bean’s initial frightened suitor, to Elfo being a jerk by spoiling the mood with Bean and Sven only to semi-redeem himself with the fountain stuff. It’s not flawless, but it’s solid.

The episode just hammers home its points a little hard, between Bean’s wallflower-ness and Elfo’s pestering of Bean. There’s also not a ton of great laughs in this one. Running gags like everyone thinking Luci’s a cat, or the royal advisors’ Eyes Wide Shut party are amusing enough. But the humor seems to be straining to get off the ground a bit. Take the B-plot with the king getting treatment at a spa. It just went on forever and I think there was maybe one half-decent laugh the whole time (the feelings stick bit).

Overall, there’s a solid foundation to this one, and the party sequences should be rife for comedy, but the results are just a little underwhelming.