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S03.E07: And the Curse of Cindy

formerlyfreedom

By formerlyfreedom
in The Librarians [V]

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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory

Stealth Ezekiel Jones episode.  We get good backstory a little more proof that he has been making some character growth even if it is in small ways.  Plus possible (probably not shows like this don't usually have long term love interests of non major characters) love interest.

All the other character were fun as well.  Loved Stone and his sweet nothings.  Normally I wouldn't mind Stone whispering sweet nothings but not the time and not really smart to tell Cindy the location of where the library is.   I really did like that both Stone and Flynn got effected and when Jenkins tried to cure them they kinda got obsessed with each other their for moment.  They would make a cute couple.  

I really do need to start my own cult or possibly a reality tv show where the winner gets to adore me for all of eternity.  

Never trust a lady who gives you a love potion.  Love potions never end well.  

Never press the red button, Its just a fact.

DOSA!!!!!!!!!!!!

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BooksRule

BooksRule

Are we supposed to have met Cindy before?  The episode description (yes, I know that they aren't always accurate or helpful) says that 'the obnoxious Cindy Kroger has suddenly become super popular....'  It makes it seem like she was in another episode, but imdb.com only shows her as appearing in this one.  

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sjohnson

sjohnson

It is a puzzle. The Jenkins is never wrong, therefore it is Jones' invincible self-absorption that saved him from the obsession. On the other hand, Jake is the de facto male lead (which is why it's so irritating to so many when Flynn acts as lead,) which means his judgment on the de facto juvenile lead, especially on a romantic matter, must be official wisdom. Yet, for such an incompetent as Jones to effectively intervene with Cindy, he had to be telling the truth as he understood it. The notion the "love" potion couldn't work on him because he already had a true love, his team mates (even if he cut himself short when the L word came up) only makes sense if it drops the premise "Magic!" Or if the Cindy worshippers are basically us the fans, while Jones is part of the show, hence exempt. 

It seemed to me the timing on Jenkins' punch line about Jones being in love with himself aimed at surprising us with *not* hearing Jenkins say Jones is gay. I'd thought the final couples in the finale were to be Jake/Cassandra and of course Flynn/Eve. I'd thought Jones was just meant to be the odd man out, not the odd man. Then there was Jones' reaction to Cindy's kiss. It's probably just making sure they don't have to pay more money for a recurring role. 

I suppose in the end a show that has no problem making a pun on "wily" and "Wyle," has no shame about tonal inconsistency for a minor character like Jones.

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ChelseaNH

ChelseaNH

You're assuming Jones is meant to be incompetent.  Even if you see him that way, why would the writers?

Nice hero moment for Jenkins arriving with the antidote.

Totally saw the locked-in-the-freezer move coming, but I did not see them rescuing themselves.

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johntfs

johntfs

(edited)
1 hour ago, sjohnson said:

It is a puzzle. The Jenkins is never wrong, therefore it is Jones' invincible self-absorption that saved him from the obsession. On the other hand, Jake is the de facto male lead (which is why it's so irritating to so many when Flynn acts as lead,) which means his judgment on the de facto juvenile lead, especially on a romantic matter, must be official wisdom. Yet, for such an incompetent as Jones to effectively intervene with Cindy, he had to be telling the truth as he understood it. The notion the "love" potion couldn't work on him because he already had a true love, his team mates (even if he cut himself short when the L word came up) only makes sense if it drops the premise "Magic!" Or if the Cindy worshippers are basically us the fans, while Jones is part of the show, hence exempt. 

It seemed to me the timing on Jenkins' punch line about Jones being in love with himself aimed at surprising us with *not* hearing Jenkins say Jones is gay. I'd thought the final couples in the finale were to be Jake/Cassandra and of course Flynn/Eve. I'd thought Jones was just meant to be the odd man out, not the odd man. Then there was Jones' reaction to Cindy's kiss. It's probably just making sure they don't have to pay more money for a recurring role. 

I suppose in the end a show that has no problem making a pun on "wily" and "Wyle," has no shame about tonal inconsistency for a minor character like Jones.

I think your puzzle is missing a few pieces.

Being in love with somebody else (even yourself) doesn't matter.  Being gay or not doesn't matter (unless you're assuming that every woman at the cult, even the one who started the episode looking for her daughter, was gay).  The potion (at normal doses) didn't make people sexually attracted to Cindy.  They just really, really liked her and wanted to please her and be around her.

 

The potion didn't work on Ezekiel for a reason similar to the reason the Apple of Discord failed to affect him - he was already at the place that the artifact/potion would have pushed.  He was already the worst version of himself when he touched the apple.  He already liked Cindy and cared about her when he was exposed to the potion.  A "love" potion won't work on some one that already loves you.  Figure Ezekiel stepped back from the kiss because it scared him a little.  He's always been self-sufficient.  Sharing his life with another person is alien to him.  However, he did say "see you around" and it's clear he wants to see her again.

Edited by johntfs
  • Love 12
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ganesh

ganesh

I was hoping that Jones was unaffected by Cindy because he was bisexual. I thought that would be a really be a great character development. I get how it was set up that he wasn't affected by her anyway, but still.

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sjohnson

sjohnson

9 hours ago, ChelseaNH said:

You're assuming Jones is meant to be incompetent.  Even if you see him that way, why would the writers?

Because he's the juvenile. Because they write him as someone who reads the "National Inquisitor" and watches reality TV. Because he's ignorant and ill-informed by comparison with the other characters. Because the other characters look down on him, and the coolest one of all, Jenkins, would be seen as mildly abusive if Jones didn't deserve it. Because Cassandra has a brain tumor and Jake has an abusive family that suppressed his artistic sensitivity but Jones just had a hole in his heart over being poor. 

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waving feather

waving feather

(edited)
16 minutes ago, sjohnson said:

Because he's the juvenile. Because they write him as someone who reads the "National Inquisitor" and watches reality TV. Because he's ignorant and ill-informed by comparison with the other characters. Because the other characters look down on him, and the coolest one of all, Jenkins, would be seen as mildly abusive if Jones didn't deserve it. Because Cassandra has a brain tumor and Jake has an abusive family that suppressed his artistic sensitivity but Jones just had a hole in his heart over being poor. 

Just because he reads the tabloid and watch reality TV doesn't mean they write him as incompetent. I am not sure how old Cassandra is but Jones is supposed to represent the Millenials generation I suppose.

And sometimes he feigns ignorance just to annoy the others. So, juvenile yes but incompetent definitely not. In fact, Jones has saved the day in quite a few instances this season when the others were too preoccupied with the details. You are right that the other characters look down on him and that's a pity because he contributes just as much as the rest.

Jake coming from a wealthy family who suppresses is artistic sensibilities is hardly a sob story and more poor little rich boy to me. Lol.

With regards to Cindy, the magical obsession people had with her doesn't have anything to do with sexual orientation or being sexually attracted to her. It's just an obsession and they worshipped her like she was a goddess.

Edited by waving feather
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johntfs

johntfs

10 hours ago, ganesh said:

I was hoping that Jones was unaffected by Cindy because he was bisexual. I thought that would be a really be a great character development. I get how it was set up that he wasn't affected by her anyway, but still.

Why would being bisexual have mattered?  A bisexual person is attracted to men and women.  Cindy's still a woman.  Gay I could understand, but being bisexual would make you vulnerable to any person wearing a lust potion.

Oh, and the best candidates for bisexuality are clearly Jake and Flynn at this point.

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Terrafamilia

Terrafamilia

For the job they do, reading the National Inquisitor could be seen as pretty savvy. Didn't Fox Mulder read the Weekly World News or the X-Files equivalent?

The freezer not having a handle on the inside of the door seriously bugged me.

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ChelseaNH

ChelseaNH

5 hours ago, waving feather said:

Jake coming from a wealthy family who suppresses is artistic sensibilities

Is Jake's family wealthy?  There's a family business, but the implication was that it wasn't turning a profit without Jake running things.

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johntfs

johntfs

(edited)
2 hours ago, Terrafamilia said:

For the job they do, reading the National Inquisitor could be seen as pretty savvy. Didn't Fox Mulder read the Weekly World News or the X-Files equivalent?

The freezer not having a handle on the inside of the door seriously bugged me.

I recall that in the Men in Black series the MiBs regularly read tabloids to spot alien doings. Besides, the Librarians should read more tabloids instead relying exclusively on the Clipping Book.  It's not like "Woman Claims Evil Witch Turned Her Husband into a Pig!" is likely to be front page of the New York Times.

I figured Apep had the safety handle removed because he thinks people locking themselves in the freezer and dying of hypothermia is pretty damned funny.

Edited by johntfs
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andromeda331

andromeda331

18 minutes ago, johntfs said:

I recall that in the Men in Black series the MiBs regularly read tabloids to spot alien doings. Besides, the Librarians should read more tabloids instead relying exclusively on the Clipping Book.  It's not like "Woman Claims Evil Witch Turned Her Husband into a Pig!" is likely to be front page of the New York Times.

I figured Apep had the safety handle removed because he thinks people locking themselves in the freezer and dying of hypothermia is pretty damned funny.

I'll admit I was expecting a Men in Black reference when Jones mentioned reading the National Inquisitor it does seem like it would fit in with the show.

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Jamoche

Jamoche

2 hours ago, Terrafamilia said:

The freezer not having a handle on the inside of the door seriously bugged me.

And Cassandra even said it was locked "from the inside". Er... isn't that where they are?

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LisaM

LisaM

I groaned when I saw that it was a Flynn episode but he was pretty much sidelined effectively for most of it.

I didn't find Cyndi obnoxious at all - just sad. The reality tv contestants were horrible to her.

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Maelstrom

Maelstrom

Odd timing that I've been avidly watching Leah Remini's Scientology documentary and this week's Librarians is about a cult.

I ended up really liking this one, and I didn't expect to from the previews. Really appreciated the lack of Flynn for most of the episode, though I got a real kick out of brainwashed Flynn and Jake! And I also enjoyed the obvious glee of Eve, Cass and Ezekiel as they watched the recording Ezekiel had made of their brainwashed ramblings.

Speaking of Ezekiel, it was an unexpected treat to get a bit of his backstory, finally! There was some nice character development slipped in, and his interactions with Cyndi were quite sweet. To me there's something endearing about Jones, and it's nice to get to see a hint of a more human side to him. And Jenkins got to save the day again, yay!

WTF was with Cassandra's clothes this week? Normally I can get past her odd taste in clothes, but seriously... WTF? I don't know which was worse, the tie (paging Dr. Joan Watson!) or the eye-bleedingly yellow skirt. Yeesh. Also, I'd add Jones' hair to the WTF list too. OK! Done being superficial now. For a bit. ;)

I swear I've seen that same barn in half a dozen Grimm episodes, lol. Good old Portland.

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ae2

ae2

I can't begin to convey how annoyed I am about the reveal that Flynn uses magic for his "I'm a librarian" shtick. Seriously writers, this sucked out ALL the fun from this running gag. 

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lizzyp

lizzyp

1 hour ago, ae2 said:

I can't begin to convey how annoyed I am about the reveal that Flynn uses magic for his "I'm a librarian" shtick. Seriously writers, this sucked out ALL the fun from this running gag. 

Right???  It also seriously undercuts what had been a pretty interesting debate between Stone's "No magic!" and Cillian's "Magic is already in the world, why can't we use it for good!" 

I loved the running gag almost as much as I loved Jenkins random phone thing.  It looks a little like they've expanded that gag to include computers and other devices, which is fun but sometimes hard to catch.

I was wondering though if that wasn't deliberate, because this episode was the first time I heard one of the the Librarians refer to the door as 'a magic door.'  So maybe the whole argument is headed front and center and they're all starting to recognize that they've already been using magic.  

If that's where they're going, then I once again would rather get the scenery on the way.  The LIT's went away in between seasons and came back fully developed and missing most of what made them really interesting characters, and now the big question- should magic be used or was it contained for good reason may be already resolved and we didn't get to see how.

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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory

They've always used magic.  There is passive magic like the door and even Flynn saying He is the Librarian which allows others to infer what they like but in his favor and then there is active magic that is....like a monkey with a loaded AK47.  I think the show is starting to make a better distinction between the two.  

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MissLucas

MissLucas

Jones is neither incompetent nor ignorant - but his knowledge-base is not the one considered classic and highly valued (mostly literature, art, history). Yet his skills and knowledge come in handy quite frequently. In this episode he was the one who knew what they were getting into and had the others paid more attention to his insistence that he knew Cindy they would have solved the case a lot faster (obviously the episode needs to run for 40 minutes so they ignored him). I thought Jenkins' explanation for his immunity quite odd and really liked that it was not correct. Fun episode - bonus points for having Flynn in the episode without taking over.

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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory

(edited)

I never thought Jones was ignorant and I don't think the others do either.  Annoying and egotistical yes.  Where Stone's area is literature and architecture and the more classic areas of Librarianism  and  Cassandra is mostly math:  If we are not talking about breaking and entering, his areas of expertise tend to be our current technology.  

Edited by Chaos Theory
I don't think my phone speaks English
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tennisgurl

tennisgurl

I am always happy to get some Jones development. What can I say, I've got a soft spot for that lovable asshole. I certainly think he brings something to the team. Even beyond his skills at breaking into places, he can think on his feet quickly, and is the most up to date on modern day culture and technology. 

This was a nice episode, much improved from last week, probably because Flynn was put on the back burner. Again, not that I really dislike the guy, I just hate how he takes over the show when he shows up. This is an improvement. 

I love when Jenkins gets to be the hero!

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andromeda331

andromeda331

25 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I love when Jenkins gets to be the hero!

This has quickly become my favorite part. Watching Jenkins and Baird teaming up to defeat the Infernal Contract, jumping off the cliff with Baird in the Fangs of Death, and in the And the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Helping Jones during the conclave when he was losing control. And showing up to fight Lancelot.

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snuffles

snuffles

Yea, the return of the denim pantsuit. I'm glad the wardrobe department reuses clothes. I guess RR is the only person who can carry off a pantsuit, though.

Flynn was the first person of the group to be affected by Cindy, LOL.

Asep seemed to be wasting time on this "project".

I still don't get what happens to all the people affected by magic and where DOSA fits in? Does DOSA go around and zap people's memories?

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netlyon2

netlyon2

11 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I am always happy to get some Jones development. What can I say, I've got a soft spot for that lovable asshole. I certainly think he brings something to the team. Even beyond his skills at breaking into places, he can think on his feet quickly, and is the most up to date on modern day culture and technology. 

I don't know when it happened (probably with The Point of Salvation), but Jones has become my 3rd-favorite character on this show.  I definitely think they've toned down the super-obnoxious traits from early episodes; I'm not sure if that has coincided with greater depth and subtlety in Kim's acting or if it created the improvement.  Either way, I like it.

10 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

This has quickly become my favorite part. Watching Jenkins and Baird teaming up to defeat the Infernal Contract, jumping off the cliff with Baird in the Fangs of Death, and in the And the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. Helping Jones during the conclave when he was losing control. And showing up to fight Lancelot.

So, I realized that I not-so-low-key ship Baird and Jenkins (who are my top two characters on the show); their relationship has become pretty awesome.  It also, at least to me, shows another way that Flynn is redundant:  Jenkins is filling the role that the show wants me to reserve for Flynn.  Jenkins is the "Dad" of the group, the one who is a real partner to Baird and guide to the younger Librarians.  Honestly, even the age disparity doesn't particularly bother me at this point.  Jenkins has been around for well over a millennia, but if he were played by a younger actor, he and Eve would be such an obvious pairing that even Noah Wylie would think Flynn was around too much.

[Wow, I didn't know that I cared this much!]

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Clanstarling

Clanstarling

I really enjoyed Jones' "not a selfie" lines. One of my pet peeves is the misuse of the term.

Cult plots bug me in general, but there were a lot of good moments. I don't remember the exact line, but I liked them calling out the on the nose casting of the witch. Also, Flynn and Stone seemed to have so much fun when they were cured of Cyndi,  but not each other.

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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

I always find myself enjoying Jones-centric episodes the most, even though I don't think I would consider him my favorite character (that is probably either Jake or Baird.)  But I really like the insights into him in this one and how he can be a cocky prick a lot of times, but he really can be caring too and I think he does care for people and wants to help him.

Really enjoyed the actress playing Cindy.  For a second, I thought it was going to be revealed that she was the victim of some kind of social media kerfuffle, but being a humiliated reality show contestant was better.  It's been a while since I watched one of those, but I do wonder how much it can effect someone long-term; especially if there as vulnerable as she was.  Glad it all worked out, and Jones might even have a future love interest!

A good use of Flynn in this one, with him getting sidelined and some fun moments with him and Jake being obsessed: especially when Jenkins accidentally made them obssessed with one another!

Love you Baird, but you really should have known having both you and Cassandra go into the freezer was a dumb move.  At least they got out of it themselves and didn't need help.

Good episode, overall.

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