Warning: SPOILERS forThe Librarians: The Next Chapterseason 1, episode 11, “And the Graffiti of the Gods.”
Despite the spinoff’s many departures from the original series,The Librarians: The Next Chapterepisode 11 presents a return to form with an amazing one-off episode idea that unfortunately gets buried under a jam-packed plot. With only one more episode before the wait forThe Librarians: The Next Chapterseason 2, it’s unfortunate timing for such a problem to arise.
For the most part, “And the Graffiti of the Gods” gives everyone inThe Librarians: The Next Chaptercasta chance to shine, includingone of the most interesting episode-specific characters to appear in the spinoff thus far. But, while aspects of the story mimicThe Librarians’ best episodes, the spinoff still needs to work on finding an appropriate tonal balance.
The Librarians: The Next Chapter Episode 11 Would Have Worked Better As A One-Off Episode
Its Ties To The Overarching Story Often Feel Forced
Coming offThe Librarians: The Next Chapterepisode 10, it very much feels as ifthis would have been the perfect time for the series to deliver a fun, self-contained, “threat of the week” episode. There have been several episodes in a row with major story beats setting up the season finale, and a brief reprieve could have been enjoyable.
“And the Graffiti of the Gods” feels like it was tailor-made to deliver such an experience. The episode follows Hermione, a young woman from Portland, aftershe moves to Serbia and begins finding herself surrounded by menacing figures brought to life from paintings. As in many traditionalThe Librariansepisodes, the main conflict becomes finding the source of the magic.
Unfortunately, there’s relatively little attention given to this conflict. Because the episode also needs to set up Gregor’s return for the finale,Hermione’s story is shoehorned into the story of Winslow Lynch and his band trying to bring back their cult leader. The episode does tie these plotlines together, but off-balance pacing makes them feel out of sync.
This would be less upsetting if Hermione’s storyline weren’t so rife for further exploration, butwhat could have been a fun adventure about living artwork is largely replaced by a grim villain plot. This is accentuated by the fact that all whimsy is officially gone from Winslow’s band, and they aren’t the only victims of this episode’s attempted balancing act.
Hermione Is One Of The Librarians: The Next Chapter’s Most Interesting One-Off Characters
Although She Does Leave Her Story Open For Revisiting
It’s particularly disappointing that the episode splits Hermione’s storyline with Winslow’s becauseHermione is one of the most compelling single-episode characters inThe Librarians: The Next Chapterthus far. Not only does she face an interesting conflict, but she’s also given a backstory that could have sparkled with even a few more minutes of screentime to explore it more deeply.
Hermione’s family has seen magical occurrences before.There’s even a subtle clue about her family’s past hidden in plain sight when looking at her grandmother’s wardrobe, although most viewers may not catch her attire’s relevance until it’s explained.
Even Hermione’s move from Portland to Belgrade adds intrigue to her character. It adds geographical diversity to her backstory, andalso mirrors the shift fromThe Librariansfilming in Oregon toThe Next Chapterfilming in Serbia. The episode doesn’t make a big deal of this, but it’s a cute treat for fans.
Fortunately, while Hermione feels a bit robbed of the spotlight by Winslow’s plotline, episode 11 might not be her last appearance. Like Ivan Van Helsing inThe Librarians: The Next Chapterepisode 9,Hermione’s ending leaves the door wide open for her to meet with Vikram and company again. Hopefully, the episode’s other issues won’t hamper interest in her return.
Tonal Dissonance Is The Librarians: The Next Chapter Episode 11’s Biggest Obstacle
It Feels Like The Episode Is Trying To Be Three Things At Once
Tone is one of the majordifferences betweenThe Librarians’ Flynn and Vikram, in the sense thatVikram’s emotions don’t always necessarily match the gravity of the scene as well as Flynn’s typically do. But, while that works forThe Next Chapterafter spending 11 episodes with Vikram, this entire episode can’t seem to find the tonal balance it wants.
Whatever humor Winslow and his metal band provided in past episodes is completely out the window in episode 11. Unfortunately,the episode’s living art premise is treated with a sense of whimsical fantasy that doesn’t match the darker tone of the Gregor’s Hammer subplot. This leads to many scenes feeling incredibly (and often uncomfortably) disjointed from one another.
In an unusual twist (yet a fitting one when considering the episode’s premise), this tonal imbalance can be seen in the visual effects, which are also relatively lacking in consistency. For most of the episode, artwork brought to life is depicted realistically, butthe episode randomly switches to a cartoon aesthetic in the final scenes for aRoger Rabbit-style ending.
The best example of how this affects the tone can be seen in Connor’s last action beat. After climbing tall structures in seemingly every other episode,Connor’s life is finally jeopardized while dangling on the same ledge from which he just watched a cartoon anvil squish a guy. That juxtaposition makes it hard to treat Connor’s endangerment with much gravity.
It’s a fun episode when embracing its quirks, such as Lysa battling through the cartoonish finale in clown garb. AndThe Librarians: The Next Chapterstruck gold with Hermione, but her episode feels rushed out at the wrong end of the season without much attention to balance and consistency. Under better circumstances, it really could have been a season standout.
The Librarians: The Next Chapter Episode 11
Cast
The Librarians: The Next Chapter features a time-traveling librarian from the past who becomes stranded in the present. Upon returning to his now museum-castle, he accidentally unleashes magic across the continent. To address this, he assembles a new team of Librarians tasked with restoring balance.
