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S01.E04: And Santa's Midnight Run

Tara Ariano

By Tara Ariano
in The Librarians [V]

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ABay

ABay

Bruce makes everything better. I hope there's a shout-out to at least one of the following: Autolycus, Brisco County, Elvis, Sam Axe. I know Evil Dead is more likely, but the others would make me so happy.

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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory

This show is a little too light and fluffy for me but I enjoyed the episode.  Bruce Campbell is always fun and I like hearing about all the incarnations of Santa.   liked th ending most of all  with Baird being the one to deliver the gift and being the one to spend the most time with Santa but refusing to call him Santa.  Yeah it was predictable but I allow predictability in Christmas episodes.  

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Frost

Frost

Most of the cast is settling in to their roles, but Rebecca seems to be regressing. Or maybe she can't handle the comedy aspects. She just seems off in tone compared to everyone else. This could be a fun fluffy show but I hope Rebecca can handle Baird's character.

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Watermelon

Watermelon

The way Baird dresses is just so weird. She's in suits and stuffy jackets when she should be in relaxed clothes, easier to run around and fight in. Her shoulders always look squared off and uncomfortable.

 

 

I really want Lamia and Stone to be a thing. The fact that she tried to kill him but he still likes that that she thinks is cute is amusing to me. Besides, Santa said she wasn't totally a bad guy...

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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

Yep, as I figured, I enjoyed this episode the best because of Bruce Campbell.  He even made the really, really silly stuff better then it should have been.  I loved when "Santa" kept switching to his different incarnations (including Odin!), his need to get the third "ho" in, and how he kept referring to himself in third person, much to Baird's annoyance.  Assuming this show does well enough to keep going past this season, I wouldn't mind if Santa needs saving again in the future.

 

Lamia and Dulaque return.  I do think Santa's bit with Lamia is a set-up that she might not be flat-out evil.  Dulaque though is, and if Jenkins is to be believed, might not be easy to kill, despite falling out of the plane.  I really want to like him, but there is still something about Matt Frewer's British accent, that just isn't working for me.  I feel like it makes him way too wacky and campy, where I feel like he could make this character more sinister just being his normal self.  Then again, maybe this is what the show wants.

 

Ezekiel with the hat making him do good deeds was amusing, but Cassandra really should have taken it from him, once it looked like he was going to send away their pilot.  It worked out in the end, but that could have gone south.  Even then, why didn't they automatically give to Santa, when they reunited?

 

I still like Jake and Ezekiel, and I am warming up to Cassandra, but Baird is still a bit too frosty for my taste.  I hope they fix that soon.

 

I'm still enjoying parts of it, but it really feels like, despite it's TV-14 rating, it's aiming more towards a much younger audience.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm just having to adjust to that.  Granted the movies were pretty safe from what I remember, but at times, I feel like this could have been one of those cheesy Saturday Morning shows back in the 90s.

 

Next week: Flynn is back and is apparently bringing dragons with him.  Fun!

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ramble

ramble

I can't help it, despite its quirks & weak spots I am loving this show! It's light & fun & I'm okay not getting bogged down in the how & why. Then again I loved the Librarian movies in all their silly goodness.

My biggest meh is Baird, who I'll now probably call Holly, Noelle, Merry or some other incorrect version of a Christmas related name when I think of her as her character name. Unfortunately she isn't really the character yet for me & I sometimes get distracted by her being Rebecca Romijn not Eve.

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GaT

GaT

I'm still enjoying parts of it, but it really feels like, despite it's TV-14 rating, it's aiming more towards a much younger audience.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm just having to adjust to that.  Granted the movies were pretty safe from what I remember, but at times, I feel like this could have been one of those cheesy Saturday Morning shows back in the 90s.

 

 

This is a perfect description of it, I keep waiting for the cast of Saved by the Bell to appear & have a wacky adventure.

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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory

My biggest meh is Baird, who I'll now probably call Holly, Noelle, Merry or some other incorrect version of a Christmas related name when I think of her as her character name. Unfortunately she isn't really the character yet for me & I sometimes get distracted by her being Rebecca Romijn not Eve.

Funny, she's the character I do like. The rest are too wacky for me. Every show needs a straight man.

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Latverian Diplomat

Latverian Diplomat

I'm still enjoying parts of it, but it really feels like, despite it's TV-14 rating, it's aiming more towards a much younger audience.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm just having to adjust to that.  

Comparisons to Leverage are inevitable. Part of it is the unreality of the fantasy elements just lower the the stakes, but also the cast has to sell the menace of their opponents and the threat they represent. Pretty much anyone in the Leverage cast could bring buckets of righteous indignation when called upon. Right now, everyone here is mostly still concentrating on establishing their quirky selves, only Larroquette is really selling that part right now, though obviously I think Kane certainly could.

 

I don't usually like the prospect of priceless objects being trashed, but the library scene really worked. Everybody sold it, even the "thugs" who looked desperate not to drop anything.

 

I enjoyed the tip of the hat to the pagan roots of Santa with the Odin bit.

 

The "Gift of Good Will" montage was cheesy, but the final scene where Baird sees herself on both sides of preventing the suicide really got to me for some reason.

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cassandle

cassandle

The "Gift of Good Will" montage was cheesy, but the final scene where Baird sees herself on both sides of preventing the suicide really got to me for some reason.

 

I liked this part, initially, but then it just kept going and going.  I get that if they had only shown one or two of the little vignettes it wouldn't have made much sense but all I could think was that they could have used that time to film/air what could have been a fun bar fight scene or the plane crash.  Granted, the plane crash they probably couldn't shoot for budget reasons but to set up a bar fight between Kane and Odin and a bunch of angry Canadians (one of whom was wielding a hockey stick) and then not deliver?  Major disappointment.   I'm not sure what it says about me that I'd rather see a bloody bar fight than someone bestowing good will...

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Slovenly Muse

Slovenly Muse

Bruce Campbell is the highlight of everything he's in, and this is no exception. Yes, this episode was cheesy, silly, and required leaps of logic that surpassed even an adult's belief in Santa Claus, but it is also showing some promising signs. Once it finds its feet, this show could be really great.

 

I think my favourite part (apart from The Chin) was Baird's story. Yeah, every Christmas special needs to have that trope of the character who "Bah! Humbug"s all over everyone else's Christmas spirit, only to reveal that they dislike the holiday because of some associated personal trauma (the death of a beloved family member, parents' divorce, etc), and with the help of their friends manages to move past their personal tragedy and find joy in the holiday again. It's been told a thousand times, and yet I really enjoyed and respected this show's take on it. Baird wasn't a grinch because of a single event that ruined the holiday for her. She had a much deeper and more resonant reason than that. She had spent many Christmases in war zones, seen humanity at its ugliest on the day that is supposed to be the happiest, and has become too disillusioned to buy that "peace on earth" bullshit that everyone else lines up for. I liked that a lot, because it is so legitimate and relatable, in a way that a fictional character's personal tragedy is sometimes not. (No disrespect to those who really HAVE suffered a loss, especially during the holidays. I'm talking from a fictional story-telling standpoint only, where tragedy can often be a lazy shorthand for character development, and nothing more) It was a damn good reason to reject the Christmas spirit, and it added some real punch to the resolution, when she WAS able to make a difference, and do some good, and bring a little bit of peace to the world after all, and we could see how deeply that affected her. It was an interesting new take on an old trope, and I liked it a lot.

 

Despite it's wobbles, I will be back next week!

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KirkB

KirkB

Christian Kane alone would be enough to make me watch the show even if I wasn't already a fan of the movies (honestly I have so much love for Leverage I will take a shot at whatever any of them are on). Putting Bruce Campbell in an episode is just icing on the cake.

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kalamac

kalamac

I was so happy to see Bruce Campbell on The Librarians (as much as I love the Evil Dead movies, my favourite Bruce role will always be Autolycus).

The episode was kind of 'the show is still finding its feet-ish', but it had some good moments. Bruce, of course, and Jake being amused at how the hat was making Ezekiel behave among them.

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BookThief

BookThief

I need to find a way to get my British boss to watch that one scene with not-Elliott and the Cockney guy.  I had never heard of Cockney rhyming slang until a few months ago (from him) and he is now often using it on me, not that I understand (today he had to get on the dog and phone, aka: telephone).  So this is a real thing!  After last night's episode I read more about it and I get the gist, but definitely something you need to be around/hear often to get.  It really is like another language despite using English words.

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

(edited)

...It really is like another language despite using English words.

More like a code.

I thought Bruce Campbell looked great. More like Brisco County Jr than Sam Axe. It's a good thing he's not a regular or I'd be stuck watching this show. Now I just have to fend off the draw to watch John Larroquette in a made-to-order role and Christian Kane being smart, nice, and funny with a charming accent.

Plus I am a librarian, so there's that.

Edited by shapeshifter
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marceline

marceline

I'm still enjoying parts of it, but it really feels like, despite it's TV-14 rating, it's aiming more towards a much younger audience.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'm just having to adjust to that.  Granted the movies were pretty safe from what I remember, but at times, I feel like this could have been one of those cheesy Saturday Morning shows back in the 90s.

 

 

Yeah, I'm fine with light and fun but this feels more like a kid's show. In spite of Bruce Campbell I consider this the weakest episode so far. 

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Shades of Red

Shades of Red

... bar fight between Kane and Odin and a bunch of angry Canadians (one of whom was wielding a hockey stick) ...

 

 I laughed when I noticed it and couldn't decide if I should be insulted or embarrassed by the way we were depicted once again on screen.  We are generally polite but just because someone comes from the land/province of tree huggers doesn't make them "slow" or too easy going.  In the end as a typical Canadian, I just laughed and went with it. 

 

Christian Kane being smart, nice, and funny with a charming accent.

 

That was very sexy and makes me smile even as I'm typing this just thinking about that scene.

 

I was reminded of Parker from Leverage when Cassandra was talking about Santa Claus. 

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Kromm

Kromm

This show is bonkers. And yet somehow I'm totally liking it.

It's essentially a new version of Warehouse 13 on a different network, but so what?

Confession time: I never saw even a single one of the movies this is supposedly a continuation of.

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Kromm

Kromm

Most of the cast is settling in to their roles, but Rebecca seems to be regressing. Or maybe she can't handle the comedy aspects. She just seems off in tone compared to everyone else. This could be a fun fluffy show but I hope Rebecca can handle Baird's character.

She's playing the humorless serious one.  Which is fine.  Someone needs to.

 

Laroquette is a genius, so he needs even more to do than he's been given.  Frewer is solid gold.  He's going pretty over the top with this, and that's just fine.  The three blind mice need some plots that dig individually into each of them--I mean they're really nothing alike, but they all serve as different duex ex machines each time we need some problem solved, so they come off less as characters and more as plot contrivances.  The girl is a cross between River Tam and Charlie from Numb3rs.  The thief is just a bag of cliches and little else.  The smart hick guy has the most potential for good character development, but they seem happy so far to stick to the cliches.

 

Again, overall I like that the show is taking a fairly bonkers approach--Warehouse 13 territory but possibly even a little sillier.  Silly is fine with me as long as the characters make sense.

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rainsmom

rainsmom

My favorite part of this episode was the stroll through Saskatchewan... spring green... flowering plants... light jackets... no snow... on Christmas eve. FOllowed by a hop, skip, and a jump to the frozen arctic in Alaska.

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kassygreene

kassygreene

Portland is a beautiful city.  Oregon has beautiful countryside.  And a production company that blandly doubled downtown Portland for Dubai isn't going to think twice about middle Alberta on December 24 being snow-free.  "London" was awfully bright and temperate too.

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HighQueenEB

HighQueenEB

Portland is a beautiful city.  Oregon has beautiful countryside.  And a production company that blandly doubled downtown Portland for Dubai isn't going to think twice about middle Alberta on December 24 being snow-free.  "London" was awfully bright and temperate too.

From the jaunt across the map it looked to me like Baird & Santa wound up somewhere in northern British Columbia, which is a far cry from either Alberta or Saskatchewan, but still shouldn't have been quite so lovely, lush and green for late December.  London's climate is, though, quite similar to Portland or Seattle.  Lots of grey days filled with rain in the autumn, winter and spring though summers are divine and usually not too hot. 

I was more thrown off by the Bavarian-style exterior of the "soup kitchen".  I thought they were up in Leavenworth and went "whuh?!" when they then stated that was "London".  The rest of the "London" didn't seem too unbelievable to me though.

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kassygreene

kassygreene

Yeah, the map did show BC, as did the road marker (BC 4), but Baird referred to Alberta on the phone call, and that's what stuck in my head.  Also, I've been to Leavenworth (WA) and yeah, that soup kitchen was totally not London.  And that truck was totally not English - steering wheel on the wrong side!

 

I wish they had cast Gretchen (Mrs. Claus), but the running gag with Jenkins' mobile phone has got to stay!

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mbutterfly

mbutterfly

I liked this part, initially, but then it just kept going and going.  I get that if they had only shown one or two of the little vignettes it wouldn't have made much sense but all I could think was that they could have used that time to film/air what could have been a fun bar fight scene or the plane crash.  Granted, the plane crash they probably couldn't shoot for budget reasons but to set up a bar fight between Kane and Odin and a bunch of angry Canadians (one of whom was wielding a hockey stick) and then not deliver?  Major disappointment.   I'm not sure what it says about me that I'd rather see a bloody bar fight than someone bestowing good will...

I'm not usually a fan of bar fights, but I wanted to see this one too. I mean you have Odin vs Canadians with hockey sticks. There was real potential. So I agree -- cut at least some of the good will. 

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Julia

Julia

It's always a pleasure seeing Bruce. However, I'd be a lot more willing to just go along for the ride if they would stop dressing Cassandra like a 12 year old.

Losing the Whedon-waif whispery little girls don't really talk like that voice would be nice too.

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pivot

pivot

Most of the cast is settling in to their roles, but Rebecca seems to be regressing. Or maybe she can't handle the comedy aspects. She just seems off in tone compared to everyone else. This could be a fun fluffy show but I hope Rebecca can handle Baird's character.

Rebecca is ruining the show for me. She is a horrible actress and has no chemistry with the rest of the cast. They really should kill off her character and bring in someone new. It isn't that her character is the "straight man" character. It's poor acting. However, since the creator cast her in his last failed show, I guess there is zero chance of her being written out. Rebecca was also the reason I couldn't make it through the creator's last show either.

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ganesh

ganesh

I don't really know what bad acting is, per se, but I thought that it was deliberate that Baird is off. She's not a librarian so she's the odd one out. She's only barely gotten a handle on the others' skills and is finally getting around to the 'solving problems with skills and wit' rather than shoot your way out. 

 

I'm having fun with the show. I mean, you have Bruce Campbell not only as Santa, but talking in the 3rd person. 

 

I like this concept of Santa. I thought it was pretty clever. It was funny that "people always get cranky at the holidays." I've always been interested in the history of Santa, which unfortunately has been lost in the massive commercialization of the 'xmas season.' 

 

Again, overall I like that the show is taking a fairly bonkers approach--Warehouse 13 territory but possibly even a little sillier.

 

Yes. Bonkers. We just don't have enough shows like this anymore. There's seems to have been a logic worked out for 'magic' so as long as that's consistent too. 

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Ottis

Ottis

I am wayyy late because I just found this show, but ...

 

Rebecca is ruining the show for me. She is a horrible actress and has no chemistry with the rest of the cast. They really should kill off her character and bring in someone new. It isn't that her character is the "straight man" character. It's poor acting.

 

And I am the opposite. I am impressed by her acting and think she has hit the perfect tone as the harder ex-soldier herding basically naive kids. I assume she will soften, but this distance is crucial to their relationships. I haven't seen anything but this show, so if there were older movies or books that had a different tone, I am unaware of them.

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Julia

Julia

Actually, I'm even more the opposite than you are. I think she needs to stop being mom and show some healthy skepticism. When one of your team sells you out and nearly gets another team member killed, the important thing is  not to make her feel better.

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myril

myril

Actually, I'm even more the opposite than you are. I think she needs to stop being mom and show some healthy skepticism. When one of your team sells you out and nearly gets another team member killed, the important thing is  not to make her feel better.

 

Didn't see Baird trying to make anyone feel better, she is IMO more a matter of fact, let's get things done and move on type. She just doesn't dwell on what Cassie did.

 

Rebecca is ruining the show for me. She is a horrible actress and has no chemistry with the rest of the cast. They really should kill off her character and bring in someone new. It isn't that her character is the "straight man" character. It's poor acting. However, since the creator cast her in his last failed show, I guess there is zero chance of her being written out. Rebecca was also the reason I couldn't make it through the creator's last show either.

 

Disagree, IMO Rebecca Romijn is not a horrible actress, liked her in Eastwick and recently saw the movie Godsend and she did some good job there. There is acting wooden and then there is wooden acting, and I don't see Rebecca Romijn do the latter. Baird is not a person people easily warm up with, and she likes to keep a distance and have it clear-cut.

 

 

Bruce Campbell was just a joy as Santa/Nick/Odin. On rewatching the episode my warped mind made me see Lucy Lawless as Gretchen, maybe for next Christmas episode ;-)

 

And what a great idea of what Christmas spirit means (or Yule, Joel, Festival of Lights, whatever you call it or whatever holiday you celebrate around that time of year). The energy of human good deeds translated into power of hope. That is a message even I as atheist can go with.

 

 

I wish they had cast Gretchen (Mrs. Claus), but the running gag with Jenkins' mobile phone has got to stay!

 

I love the prob department for these phones, different communication devices Jenkins is using.

 

Had a laughing fit when Baird asked Jake to google for how to lower landing gear. By the way, guess it was no coincidence that the plane had the designation C-XM45

 

There is much love to detail in the show, bonkers, but very enjoyable.

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Camera One

Camera One

(edited)

This show is goofier than I thought it would be.  I'm glad to watch a lighter show, but the plot and characterization is a tad clunky to be taken seriously.  

I was wondering why Santa didn't get his hat back right away but it came in handy to trick the bad guy into wearing it.  It was also ridiculous that Cassandra let Ezekiel let the pilot have a holiday.  There was seriously zero urgency. 

I did like the different incarnations/variations of Santa Claus coming out.

Edited by Camera One
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andromeda331

andromeda331

32 minutes ago, Camera One said:

I did like the different incarnations/variations of Santa Claus coming out.

That's my favorite part. It was really nice to see a different incarnations/variations of Santas. I wish we had gotten to see a few more.

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