Man, I'm so glad I went into this show with an open mind; I initially figured it'd be a preachy type with a religious undertone or some such but it has managed to subvert my expectations beyond what I had predicted and completely amazed me in the process.
It certainly has its somewhat cheesy moments but I'll be damned if it ain't such an entertaining, wholesome show; if you're pondering whether this show is for you, take my advice, give it a try... it may take a couple of episodes for it to "settle" but it'll grow on you fairly quickly.
"The Batcave is literal perfection."
"It will be...when it becomes a kitchen."
When I first heard the news that my favorite Neil Gaiman comic was set to premiere as a TV show, I was delighted. Later, I found out it was on FOX, and like those damned souls entering hell, I've lost all my hopes already. FOX has messed up/cancelled all the shows that I got to like in their programming. Every one of them. The change in showrunner isn't a good sign, and demoting Tom Kapinos (the series creator and main writer) is a bad move to begin with (please, he wrote the damn pilot they greenlit!). I'm sure FOX will cancel this series after the 10 episodes commitment, and call it "an event mini-series". This show belongs to Netflix, in both scope and theme. I loved the pilot (the nod to David Bowie made me smile), please sell it to Netflix!.
This is going to be as spoiler free as possible. This was written following Ep 3 - And the Horns of a Dilemma. And this will hopefully help you make up your minds about whether to watch the show or not.
Now, the general plot is this; There is a building called the Library which houses magical items which the Librarian - Flynn Carsen - retrieves and protects. After Flynn and Eve have a chance encounter in Berlin, the Library - which sends out magical invites to potential employees - invites her to work for it as a Guardian. Flynn's guardian, to be more precise. Together the two of them discover that someone is killing off all the potential replacement Librarians, and they find and rescue the only three that are still alive; Ezekiel Jones, Jake Stone, and Cassandra Cillian.
So, what can you expect from this show?
*Firstly, a reminder that it's a TV show, so every episode has a set budget - this means that the special effects aren't always fantastic. Just try to look past that.
*Sometimes the acting is a little clunky, and the writing is too. Writing-wise they need to find their groove, sometimes they use humor and it falls flat, sometimes they use humor and it's actually kinda funny. They just need to find what works. Acting-wise - some of these guys are somewhat new to the game, give them some time they'll get better. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?
*Action, fighting, mystery, and adventure. Saving the world every week. Or at least, every week the show is on. Almost like a short Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, and Nate Drake team up every week... except without Indy, Lara, or Nate actually being present.
*Sweet character interaction - developing future 'found family' dynamic - characters who care about each other, fight for each other, and would never bail on each other. Or at least, that's what I'm hoping for - it's looking that way.
*Possible romance subplots, and you'll probably get a few new ships out of it if you're into that sort of thing!
*The bad guy is played by Dr. Leekie from Orphan Black - Matt Frewer!
*Random appearances from Flynn Carsen - other than being in the first two episodes, I've heard he's in an episode later in the season.
I suggest you try watching it. If you don't like the first episode, and I know this is hard - give it a few more episodes, sometimes shows take a little while to get into the groove of things. Maybe it'll improve in your eyes during those few episodes, maybe not, but it's worth checking, that way you don't miss a show you will later love. Maybe check out the Librarian movies if you aren't sure, or if you like the show and want to get some back story on Flynn. (There are three movies.)
This show is far from perfect, but it has potential. Hopefully over the season it will continue to improve.
