DVD/TV Series Review: The Librarians: Season 3

 

The third season of The Librarians aired during the 2016-2107 season and consisted of 10 episodes. The show followed the same format as the first two seasons, having both a serial arc that involved a "big bad" character (which this season was Apep, the Egyptian god of chaos) and story-of-the-week procedural episodes in which the main storyline was resolved by the end of the episode. The show does a good job balancing the ensemble cast, giving each character a lot of good material. One of the best episodes is one that almost exclusively involves Jake and Cassandra who are stuck at a lodge that is hosting what looks to be a corporate retreat (which is also one of the episodes that was directed by Noah Wyle this season). Jane Curtin also returns to reprise her role as Charlene in a great werewolf-themed episode. As usual, Noah Wyle only has a recurring role in the series, but since the other series he was appearing, Falling Skies, ended the previous season, he does appear in more episodes (seven of the ten) and directs two of the episodes this season. 

As far as extras go this season, there is a commentary track on each episode, usually including the series creator, the director of the episode, and one or two cast members. And then there is a director's video blog for each episode. So, you actually get quite a bit of bonus content if you like watching/listening to it. 

Overall, the series continues to be strong. It has a good blend of action and comedy, with some dramatic moments mixed in. The writing and acting continue to be good, and the actors seem to have very good chemistry with each other. The show also continues to get a good slate of guest stars this season including Sean Astin, Felica Day, Ernie Reyes Jr., and Vanessa Williams. So, if you liked seasons 1 and 2, then you will probably enjoy season 3 as well. 

DVD/Movies Review: The Librarian Trilogy

 

This is a two-disc set containing the three Librarians movies, starring Noah Wyle in his first major post-ER role. Wyle stars a Flynn Carson, a perpetual student with a multitude of pretty useless degrees and no life. Flynn receives an invitation to apply for a job as the librarian at the New York Metropolitan Library. He discovers that the Librarian collects and protects magical and supernatural artifacts like Excaliber, Pandora's Box, and The Ark of the Covenant. In the first movie, The Quest for the Spear, the Spear of Destiny is stolen from the Library, and Flynn and his Guardian, Nicole Noone, (played by Sonya Wagner) have to recover it. In the second movie, Return to King Solomon's Mines, Flynn and an archeologist named Emily Davenport (played by Gabrielle Anwar) must find, and guard the secret of King Solomon's Mine. The third movie, Curse of the Judas Chalice, is set in New Orleans and has a storyline that involves vampires and their version of the Holy Grail. 

The movies are basically Indiana Jones knockoffs with even more supernatural elements than Indiana Jones, mixed with a love story. In each movie, Flynn ends up falling in love with the female lead (Wagner in the first movie, Anwar in the second, and Stana Katic in the third). None of the movies had a huge budget, so the special effects could be a bit cheesy, but I think cheesy was the vibe they were going for. 

Each of the movies has some extras including deleted scenes and some behind-the-scenes featurettes. The extras run about 15 minutes or less per movie, so none of the movies have an extensive amount of bonus content, but it is there for you.

I'd say that the movies are good, but not great. They do have strong supporting casts including Jane Curtin, Bob Newhart (both of whom reprise their roles in the spin-off TV series The Librarians), Kelly Hu, Kyle McLaughlan, Olympia Dukakis, 

DVD/TV Series Review: The Librarians - Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains a minor season one spoiler, but no major season two spoilers +++

Season two of The Librarians picks up months down the line from the defeat of Lancelot at the end of the first season. The individual Librarians have separated and retrieved different magical artifacts, only to be reunited at an exhibition in NY, only to discover that they have all been acquiring artifacts for a mysterious client who turns out to be one of the season-two protagonists. From there, the show follows the same format as it did in season one. A mystery/case-of-the-week intertwined with episodes that advance the main, larger serial arc. This season, the big storyline deals with Shakespeare's play The Tempest, and the fact that characters from literary works can come to life. 

For those who get the DVD set (the show was not released on blu-ray), the is a decent amount of bonus material including a gag reel, seven short behind-the-scenes featurettes, and ten (one for each episode) different "Directors of The Librarians" featurettes that are basically conversations with the directors of each episode that discuss how the particular episode was made. So, a good amount of material for those who like watching the bonus content.

Overall, the season is very good. The entire cast returns, and like in the first season, Noah Wyle's character Flynn only appears on a recurring basis because of Wyle's commitment to the series Falling Skies which was airing at the same time. Pretty much every character gets a "centric" episode, with all of the actors getting a chance to shine. There are also some recognizable guest stars this season including Drew Powell (from the series Gotham), Michael Trucco (probably most recognizable from the series Fairly Legal), and John DeLancie (who played Q on Star Trek: The Next Generation). So, if you liked the first season, then you will probably feel the same way about this one. 

DVD/TV Series Review: The Librarians: Season 1

 

The Librarians TV series is a spin-off of the Librarian trilogy of TV movies that starred ER's Noah Wyle made in 2004, 2006, and 2008. In the series, The Library recruits Colonel Eve Baird ( played by Rebecca Romijn), of the NATO Anti-Terrorist Unit to be the new Guardian, Ezekiel Jones (played by John Harlan Kim), a consummate thief, Cassandra Cillian (played by Lindy Booth), a brilliant scientist and mathematician, and Jacob Stone (played by Christian Kane), polymath, linguist, expert in architecture, art, art history, archaeology and world cultures of the past and present, including Native American cultures, and other fields too numerous to mention, including bar fighting, to be new Librarians. We discover that Cassandra, Ezekiel, and Jacob received invitations from the Library at the same time as the current Librarian, Flynn Carsen (played Noah Wyle reprising his role), but for various reasons didn't show up for their interviews. They work out of an annex to the library, aided by Jenkins, the caretaker of the Annex played by John Larroquette (of Night Court fame).

In the first season, Wyle is a recurring character (because of his commitment to the series Falling Skies), so he makes appearances here and there, but the focus of the series is on the new characters working out of the Annex. Jane Curtain and Bob Newhart reprise their roles as Charlene and Judson as well. The ten episodes are a mix of procedural case/mystery-of-the-week and a larger serial arc involving an evil organization called The Serpent Brotherhood. The themes of the show involve time travel, magic, dragons, and more.

For those who get the DVD set, there are actually quite a few extras. There are video blogs for each episode, each episode has a commentary track with some combination of the showrunners. director of the episode, and/or members of the cast, and then there is a gag reel. Given that the show did not have a wide appeal and aired on a basic cable network, the fact that it got a DVD release at all, much less with extensive extras is impressive.

Overall, the show is very good. It got in and out of the season quickly with the limited ten-episode run, and had a lot of twists and turns packed into the ten episodes. The acting and writing of the series were great, and the show had a good special effects budget to work with because the effects did not look too fakey as they do on some shows that do not get funding that shows that air on the broadcast networks get. All of the cast members seem to have very good chemistry and Wyle made the most of his appearances, easily stepping back into the character of Flynn.

So, if you were a fan of the TV movies this is definitely worth watching as it has a very similar vibe to those, yet stands on its own very well. It also has a great guest and recurring cast including Lesley-Ann Brandt, Matt Frewer, Tricia Helfer, Bruce Campbell, René Auberjonois, Alicia Witt, and Jerry O'Connell (who of course is Rebecca Romijn's husband in real life). It is definitely worth watching.