The Librarians: The Next Chapter

When I heard the next chapter was coming out, I was so excited cause I really enjoyed the original. The characters chemistry, the acting, the story lines, there was no sense of boredom in any of the episodes in all four seasons.

When the first episode dropped and I saw Christian Kane, I was totally stoked. Then the rest of the cast showed up and I was like, ok, let me give them a chance.

There is no chemistry between the cast, like the original Librarians.

When the next chapter came out , I went back to watch the original, then I started watching the next chapter and was wholly dissatisfied. They should use better actors for The Librarian and The Guardian.

The story is a bit all over the place. While it was some years ago, I have fond memories of the original series and I was hoping for the same level of quality. The way the characters were introduced or more importantly - NOT introduced leaves gaps in information and instead of enjoying the story unfold, I am left wondering how and why.

In one episode there was a scene where ballet slippers had char on them from being burned, in the next scene no char, then char again when they were being examined in the scene following.

I don't mind corny when it is done well and sadly, this falls a little short in my opinion.

I'm going to keep watching in the hopes that it will improve and we get some of the holes in the story filled in.

To say I am a fan of the Librarian franchise is an understatement. I loved the movies and adored most of the first series. It is up there high on my all time list of favorite TV shows.

I am through 10 episodes of The Next Chapter and I enjoy it, but it is at a level slightly below the original.

Every one of the new characters is just a little less than his or her counterpart, and may more than a little.

Noah Wyle is an insanity that is hard to top. He rules. Vikram is also dynamic but I don't feel like he is as loyal to the Library or as much of a leader. He's as arrogant maybe, but Flynn's arrogance was deserved.

Charlie falls far short of Eve. Eve is a leader and fearless and competent. Charlie has nowhere near the confidence. She follows because she needs to. And I can't say she has been the bad ass fighter so far.

Cassandra Cillian is also high on my list of all time favorite TV characters. She is so full of energy and a little crazy. Assuming Lysa follows in her footsteps, which isn't certain in my mind, she doesn't have the energy and definitely no craziness.

Stone appears in the first of these episodes and I can easily see him being the heir to Flynn. I don't see any of the new characters matching him.

Conner plays outside the box as does Jones. Of them all, Conner comes the closest to being as good.

And then there is Jenkins. While he is a true member of the team, so far Astolat hasn't lived up to that. As an actor John Larroquette was maybe as good and possibly better than any of the original team. His comedic timing was brilliant.

I can't decide if the stories are likewise slightly lesser than the original, since I have such a doubt, that seems to say they are lesser.

This review sounds like I hate the new show, but I don't. It just doesn't live up to what I've already said is one of my favorites.

I more or less enjoyed the predecessor (it was more my partner's thing, and I just sort of experienced it in passing) so we decided to try this one, too. It's more or less OK, as far as these things go, but the acting and writing is pretty poor, and as someone who has spent a lot of time overseas, I just don't understand why they've set in Belgrade but all the characters speak perfect English (maybe with an accent, but sometimes not) and all the signs in hospitals and all through the series are also in English. Seems very improbable to me (not that the magical elements are "probable"...). I suppose it doesn't do any harm, but it's hardly quality tv.

Hard to tell if Callum McGowan is a bad actor or his character is just very poorly written. The overall writing is not even close to the original and it feels as if the episodes were rushed to completion.

In addition, the network has done the shows no favors by inserting the commercial breaks in what seems like odd places.

The rest of the cast may grow into their roles, but they need to rewrite the Vikram character if this show is to continue. Some better writing of his character or a change of characters would be a good start, but better overall writing is needed if this show is going to receive a 2nd season.