TV Show Review

TV Review: THE LIBRARIANS: Season 1, Episode 1: And the Crown of King Arthur [TNT]

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TNT’s The Librarians And the Crown of King Arthur TV Show Review. The Librarians: Season 1, Episode 1: And the Crown of King Arthur, is the 2 hour premiere episode of this promising show that focuses on a group of individuals who protect the world from a secret magic reality hidden all around. They call themselves…The Librarians.

After watching the trailer for this show I thought it was going to be a cross between Raiders of the Lost Arc and Men in Black. By the time I was 10 minutes into the episode it quickly became clear this was a family friendly cross between Da Vinci’s Demon and Warehouse 13. Strangely enough, it also reminded me of the show Leverage and there was a good reason why. The same creative team that created Leverage created The Librarians. This light-hearted show is charming but not for everyone. The acting is pretty forced and the jokes are a bit corny. I also noticed the visual Fx are very low end. This show does not take itself serious so if you can get around that…it’s a pretty fun ride.

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Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle) has been the current librarian for about 10 years. When he agreed to take this job, he went from being a fellow with a few degrees and no people skills to an adventurer solving puzzles and protecting the artifacts stored in the Library. If any of the artifacts fall into the wrong hands all heck breaks loose. When he runs into Eve Baird (Rebecca Rominj), a counter-terrorism agent, she is responding to an invite…from the Library. Yes, the Library has a charm all it’s own and it picks the Individuals who will be future Librarians. Eve was put on leave from her current job and just seems to go along with her new role as Flynn’s guardian. The Library chose her and she doesn’t really take much time to accept the new role. Her character is pretty stiff and the interest level between her and Flynn starts off pretty quickly. Bob Newhart was a pretty big surprise. He plays Judson, a character that lives in a mirror as a spirit. When I got a good look at him he actually does look like the walking dead. It appears his role is like an adviser. He cracks flat jokes and rarely smiles.

While trying to solve a murder, Flynn takes Eve with him as he picks up the new recruits: Cassandra Cillian (Lindy Booth) is first. She is an odd creature that has the gift of auditory and sensory hallucinations…basically she has an advanced photographic memory called synesthesia. When she goes into one of her episodes, we get to see the cute little visual fx rotating around her head. Ezekiel Jones (Jon Kim) is next on his list. Flynn catches Ezekiel in the middle of trying to steal a jeweled dagger. Ezekiel is a master of technology, stealing and is supposed to be a man of international mystery. His character falls short in all of these categories. It’s only the first episode and there is time to whip this character into shape. When he joins the team he seems to just go along for the ride. His character should be more outspoken and interesting. Last on the list is Jacob Stone (Christian Kane). Before getting recruited, Jacob was an oil worker living well beneath his abilities. The man has an IQ of 190 and is a living database when it comes to art history. When Eve recruits him they end up getting into a scrap with some Ninjas and Lamia (Lesly-Ann Brandt), second I command in the Serpent Brotherhood. Basically all of the four new recruits are gathered just in time to introduce the Serpent Brotherhood, a group of baddies led by an immortal character named Dulaque (Matt Frewer). While trying to break the new team in, Flynn ends up getting stabbed by Excalibur and has a magical wound that won’t heal. Cassandra betrays the team by helping the Serpent Brotherhood invade the library. While all of this was being introduced, I was looking for more plots to present themselves…then one appeared. Cassandra ends up being the weak link because she thought the Serpent brotherhood would do good unleashing magic into the world. As fate would have it she has a tumor in her noggin and assumed the magic might help her situation. She finds out the hard way The Serpent Brotherhood cannot be trusted. Well, this was the new recruits first big task and Flynn is down, Excalibur is stolen and Judson and Charlene (Jane Curtin) seal off the main library. Not bad for part one of a two hour series premiere.

Leave your thoughts on this review and this episode of The librarians below in the comments section. For more The librarians reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our The Librarians Page, subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on TwitterTumblr, or “like” us on Facebook.

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Brian Fire

Brian is a screenwriter and visual fx Artist who loves science fiction, drama and follows many TV shows. He is a versatile writer who is published and has written copy for: CompUsa, The California State Lottery and Princess Cruise lines. Every year he attends The Sundance Film Festival and the San Diego Comic Con filling up on his other passions…indie films, comic books and video games.
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