S02.E01: And The Drowned Book / S02.E02: And The Broken Staff

[Tara Ariano]

After being on their own for months, the Librarians gather together to investigate a mysterious and massive storm that has planted itself over Manhattan. The Season 2 premiere.

 

Prospero conjures other Fictionals, and the Librarians are soon pitted against Frankenstein's monster and Sherlock Holmes' adversary, Moriarty. Meanwhile, Flynn and Baird clash over how to proceed against Prospero.

[ChelseaNH]

So, Flynn is off on his own mission again, the team is back together again and we have our villain.  The Fictionals are a fun twist.

 

I suspect the tree Flynn destroyed will turn out to be significant.

[sjohnson]

I think the tree has something to do with Flynn's sudden change of attitude towards Baird. The true of True Love, or something along those lines?

 

I need to see a face-off between Charlene and Jenkins. And between Charlene and Col. Baird. And between Charlene and Jones. And Charlene and Jake.

But for some reason I think Charlene would blatantly favor Cassandra. 

 

I'd like Judson too, but I feel guilty about slave-driving Bob Newhart, who has surely earned a peaceful retirement. 

 

Still, glad to see some goofy good humored fun. Most TV is so very solemn, honest levity is a relief.

[Primetimer]

The second-season opener of The Librarians raises a question the first season never did: what is Rebecca Romijn wearing?

Read the story

[ganesh]

Still, glad to see some goofy good humored fun. Most TV is so very solemn, honest levity is a relief.

 

Honestly. Every show has to be a Show now. Where's the fun shows? This show is fun. These are good actors. They're having fun. I'm having fun watching. 

 

Clearly, this was about getting the team back together. Also, it was about RR grabbing me, oh sorry, Flynn, and smooching him on the sidewalk. swoon.

 

Funny how NW/Tom Mason was ridiculous but NW/Flynn on a show with magic is more realistic to me.

[andromeda331]

I loved Flynn's explanation as to why the Roman and Greek stuff can't be in the same room. The show also

made my day with that and Mars and Ares spears next to each other.

And how cute the Tree of Knowledge was.

I also love how they have a second sun and where it was.

I wonder what was the tree that was burn.

[GaT]

Hmm, I didn't enjoy this as much as I did last season, I'll watch a few more episodes, but I may be done with this show.

[fastiller]

Still, glad to see some goofy good humored fun. Most TV is so very solemn, honest levity is a relief.

 

&

 

Honestly. Every show has to be a Show now. Where's the fun shows? This show is fun. These are good actors. They're having fun. I'm having fun watching.

 

Yep - it's nice to have some TV that's not all about "THE DEEP DARK <whatever>"

 

Did anyone take "the Italian" and her query of "is this when one of your team members dances through the laser beams?" as shoutouts to Leverage?  Just me?

[Misanthrope]

 

Did anyone take "the Italian" and her query of "is this when one of your team members dances through the laser beams?" as shoutouts to Leverage?  Just me?

Both shows are John Rogers joints, so I'd be shocked if it wasn't.

 

Hell, there's a fair chance both shows share a universe as I know he loves that kind of stuff.

 

Oh, and anyone who's a fan of this show should follow him on Twitter. He puts a lot of cool insights about the show online during it.

 

https://twitter.com/jonrog1

 

(Also, the bit with Frankenstein re: plastic surgery and Tinder was hilarious.)

[Julia]

Anyone care to weigh in on the Cassandra issue? Did they dial her back?

[fastiller]

Both shows are John Rogers joints, so I'd be shocked if it wasn't.

 

Hell, there's a fair chance both shows share a universe as I know he loves that kind of stuff.

 

Oh, and anyone who's a fan of this show should follow him on Twitter. He puts a lot of cool insights about the show online during it.

 

https://twitter.com/jonrog1

 

(Also, the bit with Frankenstein re: plastic surgery and Tinder was hilarious.)

 

That's what I was referring to.  Rogers does have a great Twitter feed.  I don't know how much Kung Fu Monkey has been updated with Librarians content.

[CoderLady]

Up until now I've hated how shows bring in Moriarty as a recurring villain and have him keep showing up, smirking and twirling his mustache, but this Moriarty can stay. He has more dimensions besides EVIL!! and he's really, really good-looking. Yes. Keep him.

[FineWashables]

Prospero is such an OTT ham that Mr Washables and I had to laugh every time he opened his mouth.  There was an episode on Frasier once where Frasier and Niles funded a production of Hamlet in order to showcase an actor they'd revered as children and who turned out now to be the world's worst.  The actor, Derek Jacobi, sounded exactly like Prospero did last night, to the point where we had to look it up on IMDB.  .

Edited November 2, 2015 by FineWashables

[ChelseaNH]

it's nice to have some TV that's not all about "THE DEEP DARK <whatever>"

 

Also no relationship angst.  Baird and Flynn don't need to analyze how to classify their relationship with Flynn off pursuing his own mission; they just get on with their lives and trust themselves to work out whatever needs working out when they're together again.

[ganesh]

Kind of like, oh I don't know, actual adults.

[fastiller]

Also no relationship angst.  Baird and Flynn don't need to analyze how to classify their relationship with Flynn off pursuing his own mission; they just get on with their lives and trust themselves to work out whatever needs working out when they're together again.

 

 

Kind of like, oh I don't know, actual adults.

 

Which points out to me -- considering their work on Leverage & evidence seen here -- John Rogers & Dean Devlin could give a master class in "HOW TO WRITE AN ADULT RELATIONSHIP"

 

Edited to add: "Hello, my name is fastiller, and I'm a Leverage addict.

Edited November 2, 2015 by fastiller

[ganesh]

I must have missed why, but I loved Moriarity calling Eve "Duchess". 

 

I suspect the tree Flynn destroyed will turn out to be significant.

 

I figured Flynn was pulling a con on Prospero with the tree, but I was hoping the tree was just a tree. 

 

The preview for the season looks really fun too. I'm all for a time loop episode. 

[cassandle]

Up until now I've hated how shows bring in Moriarty as a recurring villain and have him keep showing up, smirking and twirling his mustache, but this Moriarty can stay. He has more dimensions besides EVIL!! and he's really, really good-looking. Yes. Keep him.

 

I agree.  And if I'm not mistaken John Rodgers is a big Sherlock Holmes nerd so I'm hoping he'll do the character justice.

 

I must have missed why, but I loved Moriarity calling Eve "Duchess". 

 

I think he was just being flirty.  But I'm not sure if he knew that Flynn was a capital L Librarian (and that Baird was a Guardian) or just figured out that he used to work in the museum as a regular person. 

 

I also liked this season's Cassandra more than last year's.  I think they dialed her back just the right amount and hopefully it sticks.  And Jones seemed much less obnoxious which I appreciated.  And Christian Kane is always awesome IMHO so no complaints there :)

Edited November 2, 2015 by cassandle

[ganesh]

I thought he was being flirty, but I didn't know if he made a quip about how she looked like a character from one of the stories.

 

Christian Kane has ridiculous comic timing. Even from Leverage. When Eve pinched him he looked like he was going to fall over. And I liked how he kept kind of shaking the injured hand throughout most of the episode too. The look on his face when the little girl was shaking them down was priceless. 

 

[Julia]

I also liked this season's Cassandra more than last year's.  I think they dialed her back just the right amount and hopefully it sticks.  And Jones seemed much less obnoxious which I appreciated.  And Christian Kane is always awesome IMHO so no complaints there :)

 

Thanks. Last-season Cassandra was kind of a dealbreaker for me, Hopefully this version is easier to take :)

[ABay]

Cassandra's clothes are still little-girly waif crap but the character isn't quite as vomit-inducing as last year. Jones is also slightly less punch-worthy. 

 

The actor playing Prospero is AWFUL. Not in the fun OTT no scenery is safe from his chewing sort of way--he's just dreadful. 

 

Moriarty is being played by one of the actors who played Charles Widmore on Lost, which made it difficult for me to evaluate him as Moriarty. Of course he was flirting when he called Eve Duchess. "All of the royalty here and you outshine them all." Flirting for the purpose of distracting, maybe, but obviously flirting. 

 

I really disliked many of Rebecca Romijn's line-readings.

 

It took me a ridiculously long time to realize Frankenstein's Monster was Paul Kinsey from Mad Men.

 

I love Jenkins but no one looking at John Laroquette is going to deduce "man of action." Unless they're thinking of Dan Fielding and a different sort of action.

[Crim]

Thanks. Last-season Cassandra was kind of a dealbreaker for me, Hopefully this version is easier to take :)

Taking some Cassandra stuff to her thread. She still ain't doin' it for me because she is still too hyper and infantile. And to think that I started watching the show because you and another person told me I'd like her. I grit my teeth and watched all of season 1 and this episode. I thought maybe she'd grow up between seasons, be more like the alt-version or something. I found her as tremendously annoying as before, which is the deal breaker. There's nothing to keep me watching and plenty of things to drive me away: the acting is dodgy, Jones is someone I'd like to take a hammer to, the new villain is cringe-worthy, the impression that the show tries to be another Warehouse 13 still hasn't faded, and I found most of the humor either too facile to be funny (What could the "They'll never know we were here" line possibly cut to? How about the "they'll never get through our security" shtick?) or... just not funny for me.

 

When Rebecca Romijn was trying to go for "wacky" as opposed to last season's all colonel all the time, it really didn't work. She is ok in the role, mostly, but her acting range is what it is. It wasn't even necessary; her character worked before. I'm all for development, but it doesn't look like RR can act this particular one.

 

Then again, Christian Kane is the only one who didn't ham it up to 11 - or maybe I am just disappointed because I thought the acting and/or characterization will be improved from season 1. Not so.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Crim

[ganesh]

I chalked RR up to Eve not seeing any of the Librarians for a long time, and she's just really happy they're back and wants everyone to work together again. nbd for me. 

 

I figured Prospero is supposed to be like that. Shakespeare wrote his lines and now he doesn't so Prospero is just spouting drivel. Flynn called him on it at the tree basically. 

[ajsnaves]

How can I not like a show that knows the difference between "The Queen of Hearts" and "The Red Queen", two separate and distinct characters. It always bothers me when they are rolled into one.  Add in the discussion of the difference between book Frankenstein's monster and movie monster, they get extra points. Although, shouldn't it have been Frankenstein's Creature, not monster?

[cassandle]

How can I not like a show that knows the difference between "The Queen of Hearts" and "The Red Queen", two separate and distinct characters. It always bothers me when they are rolled into one.  Add in the discussion of the difference between book Frankenstein's monster and movie monster, they get extra points. Although, shouldn't it have been Frankenstein's Creature, not monster?

 

I was a split-second away from a Queen of Hearts/Red Queen rant when Stone very thoughtfully corrected Eve and saved me the trouble.  And that's why he'll always be my favorite.

[andromeda331]

I loved how excited Flynn was when he thought he was meeting Sherlock Holmes and getting to work

on a case with him. How they dealt with Frankenstein, plastic surgery and finding a match for him.

[thuganomics85]

Oh, The Librarians.  I thought you couldn't top Prospero and Moriarty being your recurring baddies for this season, but then you bring in axe-wielding Queen of Hearts and Frankenstein's Monster, played by Michael Gladis of all people.  I just love how flat-out wacky this show is.

 

Overall, a fun return, and I'm curious to see where this season will go.  I really, really hope Prospero continues to use his book powers, because I can only imagine what this show would do with various famous literature characters popping out from the books.  I'm also hoping that we'll get more of the Librarian trio soon, because they were bit in the background this time, but I think a lot of that was because they were using these two episode to set things up for Flynn to take off again.  Which, I'm fine with.  I enjoy Flynn and still think Noah Wyle is way more fun here then in Falling Skies, but Jake, Jones, and Cassie are "the Librarians" of the show.

 

I actually like Jenkins mentioning that the reason he didn't want people to know artifacts were disappearing, was because he didn't want people to think he was incapable of running the Library, like Judson did.  A relatable moment, compared to his normal arrogance and all knowing attitude.

 

I had no issues with Eve.  Rebecca Romjin isn't the strongest actress out there, but I think she can be fun, when they allow the character to embrace the craziness, instead of just always complaining.

[Mulva]

I feel I should have liked the eps more than I did. Cassandra and Ezekiel really ruin it for me.

They should focus more on Christian Kane - he's the best thing about the show.

[highway61]

The only thing that bugs me is that Shakespeare's Prospero isn't a bad guy! He's got his faults, but he's certainly not like Moriarty. Oh well, if it makes anybody read The Tempest....

[Julia]

The only thing that bugs me is that Shakespeare's Prospero isn't a bad guy! He's got his faults, but he's certainly not like Moriarty. Oh well, if it makes anybody read The Tempest....

 

Well, he is sort of a megalomaniacal mass murderer at the beginning of the play. I mean, all those drowned sailors had nothing to do with his family issues, such as they were. 

[highway61]

 

Well, he is sort of a megalomaniacal mass murderer at the beginning of the play. I mean, all those drowned sailors had nothing to do with his family issues, such as they were.

 

 

I think you owe Prospero an apology:

 

 

PROSPERO

    But are they, Ariel, safe?

ARIEL

    Not a hair perish'd;

    On their sustaining garments not a blemish,

    But fresher than before: and, as thou badest me,

    In troops I have dispersed them 'bout the isle.

    The king's son have I landed by himself;

    Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs

    In an odd angle of the isle and sitting,

    His arms in this sad knot.

PROSPERO

    Of the king's ship

    The mariners say how thou hast disposed

    And all the rest o' the fleet.

ARIEL

    Safely in harbour

    Is the king's ship;; in the deep nook, where once

    Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew

    From the still-vex'd Bermoothes, there she's hid:

    The mariners all under hatches stow'd;

    Who, with a charm join'd to their suffer'd labour,

    I have left asleep; and for the rest o' the fleet

    Which I dispersed, they all have met again

    And are upon the Mediterranean flote,

    Bound sadly home for Naples,

    Supposing that they saw the king's ship wreck'd

    And his great person perish.

PROSPERO

    Ariel, thy charge

    Exactly is perform'd: but there's more work.

Edited November 7, 2015 by highway61

[Julia]

Ok, my bad. He's not a murderer, just a kidnapper.

[netlyon2]

Ugh, after spending most of last school year teaching The Tempest*, I can totally believe the show’s vision of Prospero.  I never trusted that Act 5 face turn!

 

 

I can tell I’m going to spend the season playing “Find the Leverage Alum.”  We’ve got Michael Gladis in the premiere (I was trying to figure out why he looked so freakin’ familiar) and I spotted Drew Powell in the previews.  This will be fun!

 

* I am now super-sensitive about seeing literary works that I’m teaching pop up on TV shows.  Last year’s episode of Gotham that had the disrupted performance of Tempest aired just before I took the entire senior class to see the play.  Sure enough, our school went on lockdown while we were out and I had to hold the kids at the theater until we were cleared to return to the building.  Drama!

[Clanstarling]

I love Jenkins but no one looking at John Laroquette is going to deduce "man of action." Unless they're thinking of Dan Fielding and a different sort of action.

I thought Laroquette's body language was off in these episodes, more folded into himself than usual. Maybe the bit about him being afraid he was doing a poor job as compared to Judson is supposed to explain it.

 

I loved the card catalog moment. As a person who went through library school just before everything started switching over to computers (yes, I am that old), I loved the nostalgia for the card catalog. There was a time I complained about how flipping through the catalog would lead to discoveries that didn't happen with online catalogs. But card catalogs are for slow winter afternoons and cups of cocoa. Databases - now that's what you need when time is of essence. I loved that Ezekiel had transferred his clippings to some kind of app, and I look forward to the modernization of the library (just not too much).

 

I'm glad Flynn is gone, though he wasn't quite as frantic as he was last season. I never watched the movies, so I have no particular love for the character. I do enjoy the series and am glad it's back on my playlist.

[ABay]

I loved the card catalog moment. As a person who went through library school just before everything started switching over to computers (yes, I am that old), I loved the nostalgia for the card catalog. There was a time I complained about how flipping through the catalog would lead to discoveries that didn't happen with online catalogs.

MLS 198...something here. Remember DIALOG? Heh. I do miss the serendipity of card catalogs but it is nice to see right away if the book is on the shelf or checked out, not to mention being able to renew online. And databases are fantastic. Cross-referencing in print indexes and abstracts and then having to figure out if your library had the journal the articles were in or if you'd need to use very slow interlibrary loan...so much better now.

 

I kind of wish they'd do a little better at library stuff. Not that I want them to depart from their startlingly accurate portrayal of what we do for a living! I mean, really, if I've recovered one magical crystal skull, I've recovered a thousand. But just the occasional touch that of real life, like we have graduate degrees in the profession, not all libraries are public libraries, we don't all use Dewey...anything.

 

I haven't watched Sunday's episode yet; it's been a rough week and I've saved it as comfort food.

[Clanstarling]

MLS 198...something here. Remember DIALOG? Heh. I do miss the serendipity of card catalogs but it is nice to see right away if the book is on the shelf or checked out, not to mention being able to renew online. And databases are fantastic. Cross-referencing in print indexes and abstracts and then having to figure out if your library had the journal the articles were in or if you'd need to use very slow interlibrary loan...so much better now.

 

I kind of wish they'd do a little better at library stuff. Not that I want them to depart from their startlingly accurate portrayal of what we do for a living! I mean, really, if I've recovered one magical crystal skull, I've recovered a thousand. But just the occasional touch that of real life, like we have graduate degrees in the profession, not all libraries are public libraries, we don't all use Dewey...anything.

 

I haven't watched Sunday's episode yet; it's been a rough week and I've saved it as comfort food.

 

DIALOG! I'd forgotten all about it. I loved cataloging - but no one really does that anymore. And I loved reference - which meant getting to know the reference books and the things you could find in them. That was an adventure (not unlike the show), chasing down a piece of data. 

 

Yeah, getting a job in a university library was impossible (where I lived) unless you had a second master's in a specific area. For that matter, I graduated just after Prop 13 passed in California, which decimated (hah) the public libraries and literally hundreds of people applied for each entry level position. My timing sucked.

[Camera One]

I considered becoming a librarian way back when.  Didn't realize how much computers would change things even with basic internet existing.

These first two episodes were fun, with the fictional characters come to life. 

I haven't read "The Tempest", so I'm tempted to read it now.  I figured this show's representation of him was inaccurate, and I usually don't like watching adaptations before reading the original source.

The first episode was more frustrating, how they let the villain get the chess piece and the earrings.  The second episode had its annoying moments too, like how they had to let the villains get away.

I liked how they actually used knowledge from the books to defeat/neutralize the threats.  For example, finding a mirror to get rid of the Queen of Hearts from "Alice in Wonderland" and getting to the root of Frankenstein's monster's destructive behavior.  Ezekiel trying to use movie knowledge to scare the Frankenstein monster was funny.  

The different trees at the heart of the library were a neat and amusing concept.  I'm intrigued by the missing rooms and the problems with the library.  

[andromeda331]

On ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 10:34 PM, Camera One said:

I considered becoming a librarian way back when.  Didn't realize how much computers would change things even with basic internet existing.

These first two episodes were fun, with the fictional characters come to life. 

I haven't read "The Tempest", so I'm tempted to read it now.  I figured this show's representation of him was inaccurate, and I usually don't like watching adaptations before reading the original source.

The first episode was more frustrating, how they let the villain get the chess piece and the earrings.  The second episode had its annoying moments too, like how they had to let the villains get away.

I liked how they actually used knowledge from the books to defeat/neutralize the threats.  For example, finding a mirror to get rid of the Queen of Hearts from "Alice in Wonderland" and getting to the root of Frankenstein's monster's destructive behavior.  Ezekiel trying to use movie knowledge to scare the Frankenstein monster was funny.  

The different trees at the heart of the library were a neat and amusing concept.  I'm intrigued by the missing rooms and the problems with the library.  

I liked them using knowledge from books too. I liked how Ezekiel asked if there was a difference when Flynn pointed out in the movie he was afraid of fire. I liked how they solved Frankenstein by suggesting he play sports and signing him up on Tinder. He even already got a match! The second episode was better then the first except for Flynn excitement when he thinks he's teaming up with Sherlock. He's just so excited. And that they had a sun in the sunroom. Letting the chess piece and earring and then villain go was annoying. After a year of being Librarians they'd know better then to just leave the chess piece and earrings alone.