12 December 2014

Place this on the Very Good shelf (Review: 'The Librarians' 1.1, "...And the Crown of King Arthur" and 1.2, "...And the Sword in the Stone")

As I've probably mentioned before, I spent five years at secondary school as a pupil librarian... and in that whole time, I never met one who looked like Rachel Weisz. Or for that matter Noah Wyle.

So, naturally, I have an interest in things bibliothèque, as they say in the French Republic.
Back in the last decade, Noah Wyle (ER, Falling Skies) starred in three TV movies as Flynn Carsen, a nerd with more degrees than I've had pints of lager who gets a magical invitation to interview to become a librarian at the Metropolitan Public Library. Not just a librarian, but The Librarian, keeper of The Library, a secret underground storage facility for magical artefacts like the Ark of the Covenant too dangerous to be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. The movies got repeated fairly frequently on Sky1, but I never had a reason to watch them until now.
I watched the first a while back and the second two before watching this, hence the delay in this going up. I found the first good but not brilliant, highly enjoyed the second and will say that Stana Katic adds considerable bite (pun fully intended) to a very good third.

When I saw that TNT were making a series following up the movies, I decided to make a reservation. Seeing Christan Kane (Elliot in Leverage) and Lindy Booth in the cast attracted me... the fact that former Victoria's Secret model turned actor Rebecca Romijn was in it completely passed me by - I've only ever seen one X-Men movie and Mystique really didn't make that big an impression on me. While Noah Wyle is in this, he is only a recurrer, due to his commitments to the fifth and final season of Falling Skies, handing lead duties to Romijn.

****
This two part opener sees all-action NATO counter-terrorism agent Colonel Eve Baird (Romijn) run into The Librarian while on a mission in Berlin; both having to defuse deadly devices at the same time. Afterwards, she gets a magical white envelope inviting her to join The Library, where she becomes The Guardian, the tactical specialist whose job it is to look after Carsen and serve as the common sense to his "head in the clouds". The show's producers worked on Leverage between movies and series, sticking in a good number of Doctor Who references and Carsen is basically a full-blown one. While the James Bond/Indiana Jones/The Doctor fusion pre-dates Matt Smith's Eleventh version of the last by six years, Carsen is an Eleven expy here, down to a penchant for bow ties and tweed jacket - in fact, I wonder if Carsen influenced the Moff in creating Eleven. Not that there is anything wrong with that... although it's a good thing he's a recurrer, as it does start to grate after a while.

Investigating the mysterious death of someone in the public area of the Metropolitan Public Library, they learn that the evil Serpent Brotherhood (which does include a Dark Action Girl, parking a suitably evil British accent as well as the guy who played Dr. Leekie in Orphan Black) has been killing off the top other candidates from when Carsen got the job ten years earlier. They discover that three are still alive and go to collect them, embarking on a mission to stop the Brotherhood from destroying the world.

****

The plot allows for the setting up of the main premise of the show quite easily - as well as eliminating two expensive guest star fees from the outgoings, not to mention removing the need for a considerable amount of CGI in the Library proper. We get the by-now-standard plot for this franchises, which involves finding the location of a mysterious dangerous artefact, then getting to said artefact before the bad guys can use it to do nasty things.

Baird's job is basically to kick backside, deal with authorities and wear a blonde top knot; I found myself reminded of Clara, albeit with more punchiness. The other characters, all straight-up geniuses:
  • Cassandra: The synthesia (and brain tumour - this is important to the plot) packing maths genius, she's definitely the heart of the team and while she doesn't have a great start, she's adorable in her own way. Booth does an excellent job here.
  • Jacob: A Mid-Western oil worker who is secretly an art historian, Christian Kane is essentially reprising his Elliot role; not that there's anything wrong with that.
  • Eziekel: The professional thief of the trio, his appetite for nicking stuff that isn't nailed down might lead to plot problems later.

The CGI effects in this are very good and en par with the stuff Doctor Who does on a weekly basis; but not being the BBC means that they're probably going to have to limit themselves a tad.

This is a very, very funny show - it doesn't take itself hugely seriously and willingly lampshades its own ridiculousness (prosciutto blowtorch anyone?), with good quotes a plenty.


Conclusion

The first half is pretty awesome; the second while still good, starts to get a bit predictable. I'm reminded of Steven Moffat-era Doctor Who more than anything else and while this shows clear promise, it remains to be seen if it will fulfil that. I hope and think it will.

8/10

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