S04.E01: And the Dark Secret / S04.E02: And the Steal of Fortune

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

When a secret sect of the Vatican Church unearths an ancient map detailing the locations of the four cornerstones of the Library of Alexandria (the original Library), it’s up to Flynn and the Librarians – with the help of an unexpected ally – to stop them before the stones can be used to destroy the Library.

and

When people begin getting hurt in the unluckiest of ways, the Librarians are led to a casino where the owner appears to possess an artifact capable of stealing people's luck. Despite falling under the bad luck curse themselves, the Librarians must turn the tables before the plague of bad fortune spreads to the wider world.

[johntfs]

I think this is the one with John Noble in it.  I've been missing this lovely little show.  Plus it gives me something to watch until Legends of Tomorrow comes back in February.

[millahnna]

I had to double check cast listings to make sure I hadn't just forgotten that Rachel Nichols played Nicole Noone before (she hadn't; it was a recast).  Nice to see her again; I love her acting and have been missing her since Continuum went off the air.

Edited December 14, 2017 by millahnna

[johntfs]

I like Rachel Nichols and the first episode was pretty good, but I think I liked the second one better.  Watching Cassandra gleefully "cheat" the luck-suckers was really fun.

[Barlowe]

A part of me was kind of glad that Flynn might die last season because sometimes he can be so self-absorbed that it's grating but ultimately I was okay with him surviving. I'm not very excited for Flynn's eventual doublecrossing of the team but I am interested to see what other mini-plots they introduce this season.

[tennisgurl]

I am super glad that this show is back, its so much fun, and I really enjoy the characters. I had to check IMBD to see if Nicole was the same woman from the movies, and I was happy to see it was her. She did a good job, I hope she comes back again. Its nice when they tie things into the movies, even if its just every once in awhile. Although, if Flynn ends up deciding to take some time off and chase her around the world and we dont see them for awhile, I would be just fine with that. I like Flynn, and but I like the TV cast much more, and I would rather spend time with them. Thats probably why I liked the second season more than the first, although I enjoyed the first one just fine. I forgot how happy this show makes me,and how much I like watching these characters. 

I didn't see the Fortuna twist coming, and I feel like kind of an idiot for not realizing something was up with the random floozy woman. I did feel a little bad for her, being stuck as a statue/luck force. Not THAT bad for her (what with trying to send the world into chaos and being generally not a nice personification) but still a little bit. Cassandra being a super excited winner was hilarious, and I liked the callback to Stones backstory, with his love of horses and keeping his intellect a secret from his family. I also liked how quickly Cassandra figured out who Fortuna was, and went with it. As goofy as our gang can be, they generally are pretty good at their jobs. 

On 12/7/2017 at 8:18 PM, johntfs said:

Plus it gives me something to watch until Legends of Tomorrow comes back in February.

I hadn't thought of that comparison, but now I totally see it! A group of weirdos with vastly different skills and personalities, who are all trying to find their place in the world, are brought together to have wacky adventures while also growing as people and learning about friendship and teamwork and stuff. Maybe thats just my ideal plot set up?

Edited December 14, 2017 by tennisgurl

[libgirl2]

I enjoyed the first episode but I liked the second one better. There was a bit more humor and it felt "easier".  I forgot how much I missed this show. It makes me smile and with all that is going on nowadays, that means a lot. 

[Chaos Theory]

Chasing Possibly evil Nichole is a good way to keep Flynn only semi there on the show.  It also puts in a pretty good question for him.  He has devoted most of his life to the library does he really want to devote himself to it for the rest of time?

i actually liked the second episode better.  I prefer the wacky  hijinks and when they use Cassandra well which they did in this episode.     Watching her “cheat” luck was a hoot.  

Edited December 14, 2017 by Chaos Theory
Because my autocorrect does not like the word “wacky”.

[libgirl2]

Cassandra was so funny winning all that money! And I liked how I didn't expect who the villain turned out to be. 

[Maelstrom]

So I'm on the record for not being a Flynn fan at all, and personally wish that he hadn't come back to the show more permanently after Falling Skies was canceled. So it's not much of a surprise that I didn't really like the first episode. IMO when Flynn is featured heavily, the show becomes far too goofy and silly for me. And worse, all of the other characters are sidelined or reduced to caricatures. I'm glad Rachel Nichols is getting work (though once again she gets the short end of the stick when it comes to time wimeyness!) but I have to admit the blond hair and British accent were strangely distracting. I don't know why, but it was.

The second episode, however, was a different story. I loved it, and know it's one I'm going to rewatch a lot. I loved the team dynamics, the storyline was fun, Richard Kind was perfect as the sniveling jerk who's too pathetic to be a true villain (which is pretty much what he always plays, but he does it well). And, like everyone else, I loved watching Cassandra at the roulette table. Especially at the end, with the trench coat and dark wig, telepathically projecting the winning number into everyone's minds. Hell, I'd watch a spinoff of Cassandra Killian: Telepathic Gambling Crime Solver. My favorite moment of the episode had to be an offscreen Eve chanting "Punch her, punch her in the face" to a very confused Stone and Cassandra. Ha!

[johntfs]

I admit to wondering how long it will be before someone draws a parallel between the Library's need to be tethered to humanity and the Librarians' need to have some tether to regular human relationships.  Figure one reason so many previous Librarians died or went evil was that they were unbalanced.  They were so focused on the Library that they lost connection with humanity.

[Terrafamilia]

Those cornerstones must have been hollow for them to be carried around so easily. It's almost as if they weren't made of stone at all! ;-)

Seems like the tethering thing is a way to write Flynn out of the main action and keep him in an advisory role.

[call me ishmael]

54 minutes ago, Terrafamilia said:

 

Seems like the tethering thing is a way to write Flynn out of the main action and keep him in an advisory role.

Well anything that will write Flynn out is fine by me.  I think what always strikes me is that he has chemistry with no one, let alone Baird.

What I thought was most interesting about the first one was how bad it made Jenkins look.  His rigidity and smugness (which they had done so much to get rid of) came back with a vengeance.  I was entirely sympathetic with Rachel Nichols and was flabbergasted that anyone held the fact that she ran away at the end after saving the library against her.  Why she should return to Jenkins who wanted to return her to a dungeon he had held her in for 500 years is beyond me.

[Frozendiva]

I like the show. It's fun. Only caught the first episode - I was out and forgot to set the DVR.

[Barlowe]

7 hours ago, call me ishmael said:

Well anything that will write Flynn out is fine by me.  I think what always strikes me is that he has chemistry with no one, let alone Baird. (+2 this!)

What I thought was most interesting about the first one was how bad it made Jenkins look.  His rigidity and smugness (which they had done so much to get rid of) came back with a vengeance.  I was entirely sympathetic with Rachel Nichols and was flabbergasted that anyone held the fact that she ran away at the end after saving the library against her.  Why she should return to Jenkins who wanted to return her to a dungeon he had held her in for 500 years is beyond me.

1

1

Don't forget that Jenkins almost strangled Baird when he thought she'd betrayed them and that was literally in the last finale.

Edited December 15, 2017 by Lilacly

[andromeda331]

I'm probably one of the few people watching that loves Flynn. But I don't like seeing him sad all the time. Part of the fun of watching the movies was seeing Flynn having fun while he solved clues and found the artifacts. I want to see him happy and working with the team and having fun. If he's not going to be completely integrated in the show as an equal among the rest of the Librarians, Baird and Jenkins I'd rather have him off on his own adventures and have him pop in once or twice a season when they need an extra hand or call him when they need information. I don't want Flynn to die I want him to be out doing his job whether its with the team or on his own. I thought by now he would be integrated. Happy, working together with people instead of being sad again.

I agree Nicole had ever reason to be ticked off and I can't believe none of them think that. I'm surprised at Jenkins about locking her up. I almost want to see a Librarian sent back 500 years and trying to survive that sounds like it would be fun to watch.

[johntfs]

1 hour ago, andromeda331 said:

I'm surprised at Jenkins about locking her up.

I'm not.  Jenkins has been described within the show as "the world's oldest soldier."  He's all about duty.  From his perspective back then, a mysterious woman with a weird amount of knowledge of the Library has been swiping artifacts, including one that granted immortality.  She did this for 400 years before she was finally captured.  Eventually Jenkins and presumably Judson learned who she was and recruited her knowing what would happen because prophecy.  After the prophecy was fulfilled he kept her locked up because she was immortal with a personal agenda and a likely grudge against the Library.  As it turned out, it was kind of good that he did because if he hadn't, the Library would likely have been destroyed.

It was probably wrong/bad of Jenkins to do what he did, but I see his reasons for doing it.  Meanwhile, Nicole is now out there, immortal (or at least unaging) with a personal agenda and a likely grudge against the Library.  So, fun times ahead, I guess.

[Clanstarling]

On 12/13/2017 at 9:08 PM, millahnna said:

I had to double check cast listings to make sure I hadn't just forgotten that Rachel Nichols played Nicole Noone before (she hadn't; it was a recast).  Nice to see her again; I love her acting and have been missing her since Continuum went off the air.

I thought she looked familiar, I just couldn't place her.

I'm glad the show is back. For some reason my DVR didn't record the second episode, but I managed to find an on demand episode. I was distracted while watching it, but got the gist of it. Cassandra at the roulette wheel was fun.

[Lugal]

On 12/14/2017 at 4:24 PM, Maelstrom said:

My favorite moment of the episode had to be an offscreen Eve chanting "Punch her, punch her in the face" to a very confused Stone and Cassandra. Ha!

Christian Kane and Lindy Booth really sold that one, with his confused "you want me to what?" look and her frantic "please no!" head-shaking.

[ganesh]

#shallow - Eve wearing her one piece Guardian get up *swoon*

I always like the teamwork aspect of the show, and they brought that in E1 for sure.

I do like the idea of questioning the role of the library, though I do think the current Librarians are inherently good people. Clearly, Flynn has doubts, and that's fine. I'm not a Flynn fan, so the less is better for me. NW loves playing Flynn so I wouldn't begrudge him that, but when he is there, it can detract from the team because whenever he's on, he goes off half cocked on his own.

In the last season finale, I thought it was made clear to Flynn that being a team was what made it all work. Yet here, he just jumps into the cone of light whatever and expects the rest to bail him out.

[thuganomics85]

Seasons kicks off with the heroes having do take on a bunch of murderous priests apparently lead by Bishop John Noble, to prevent them from using four magical stones to destroy the Library.  Oh, and those stones were hidden by Flynn's old ex, who is immortal and over 500 years old.  Classic The Librarians! 

Glad this show has returned finally.  It's incredibly silly, but just so charming with how they embrace the goofiness of everything, but still does a solid job with their characters and their interactions.  Like with most seasons though, the first episode did have too much Flynn (I like him, but part of me still wishes they'd just continue doing TV movies for him, and let the actual Librarians take front and center in their premieres), but them bringing back Nichole Noone is an interesting idea.  I guess they couldn't get Sonya Walger back, but I certainly won't complain about getting Rachel Nichols back on my television screen!

The second episode was more stand alone, but pretty hilarious.  I love all the wackiness due to everyone having "bad luck", Cassandra gaming the system, Jake and Ezekiel getting on each other's nerves as always, and both Richard Kind and Sunny Mabrey were hilarious in their roles.  Even Flynn was better used with the whole magical mirror gag (along with Jenkins understandable annoyance.)  I do kind of see Ezekiel's point about feeling bad for Fortuna since it does sound like she got a bad rap from Jupiter, but she still was going to cause massive chaos, so Baird and the Librarians still had no choice.  But this show is known for earlier episodes suddenly factoring into the major arc in unexpected ways, so I wonder if Fortuna will come back into play.

[CoderLady]

14 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

But this show is known for earlier episodes suddenly factoring into the major arc in unexpected ways, so I wonder if Fortuna will come back into play.

That's happened with every season so far -- there's something that happens in each episode that factors into how the finale plays out. It's always fun to see it come together.

[ganesh]

20 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I love all the wackiness due to everyone having "bad luck", Cassandra gaming the system, Jake and Ezekiel getting on each other's nerves as always, and both Richard Kind and Sunny Mabrey were hilarious in their roles.  Even Flynn was better used with the whole magical mirror gag (along with Jenkins understandable annoyance.)  I do kind of see Ezekiel's point about feeling bad for Fortuna since it does sound like she got a bad rap from Jupiter, but she still was going to cause massive chaos, so Baird and the Librarians still had no choice.

I think they played the wackiness just right because they established the rules of the bad luck. Jake stepped in the box while they were fighting, for example. Plus, the line reading from RR off screen was hilarious: Punch. HER. In. The FACE!

I would have liked if they spent a little more time on Fortuna because Ezekiel did have a point. They didn't have a chance to actually engage her beyond a level of 'you're bad and we're stopping you.' I mean, the world ruled on luck isn't necessarily chaos. You look at evolution, and mutations in genes can be called "luck". So they could have shown her a way she could have channeled that. Or, just own a casino and make a lot of money and enjoy a luxurious life. She could have bought a pro football team and moved them to Vegas. 

I have to call bs on Cassandra though. Once the dealer spins the ball in roulette, all bets are off, and they have to say that when they start the spin. So you don't actually get to watch the ball spin around and move your chips. 

I think transitioning Flynn to the mirror is a good call that keeps him out of the way. 

Though I liked the statue concept of Fortuna, and thought of W13 when I saw that. *please have crossover episode*

[ChelseaNH]

10 hours ago, ganesh said:

I mean, the world ruled on luck isn't necessarily chaos.

Luck = randomness, so I'd say that's pretty much the definition of chaos.  Luck is probably a bigger factor in our lives than we care to acknowledge, but it's not the only factor.

[ganesh]

You didn't quote the rest where I explained what I was getting at. I don't think they explored it as much as they could have. 

I hope Richard Kind is a super nice guy in real life. I can't stand the characters he plays at all. It's always a version of the same guy. 

[ChelseaNH]

"Channeling" luck means a world ruled by Fortuna, which I don't get behind either.

[ganesh]

Ah, that's different though. If it were truly luck, then she couldn't rule, by definition. 

[ChelseaNH]

Then what does it mean to channel luck, if you don't control it?  If it's controlled, is it truly luck?