The Librarians: The Next Chapter

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.

Having enjoyed the past incarnations of this series, I was looking forward to "the Next Chapter", but, sadly, it does not deliver. The acting is so bad I'm actually not sure that they weren't intentionally trying to be camp and just missed the mark. The writing is equally inept. There are so many plot holes that the writers actually have to explain why they aren't really plot holes during the story. The nice thing about shows about magic is that you can always write something off to some obscure lore that nobody knew about until it suddenly becomes a brick wall to the story. I call it the "ah, well it doesn't work that way... unless there's a full moon" effect. 4 episodes in and so far.. a disappointment.

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.

Whenever there is a reboot or "next chapter" of any show it's difficult not to compare it to the original as you watch. Especially when you're a big fan of the original series. But I tried, sometimes unsuccessfully, to keep that to a minimum.

The feel of the show is true to the original, the storylines have been good with all the humour & fun whimsy you would expect.

Vickram, the new Librarian is wonderful; he's quirky, funny, & at times as chaotic as Flynn. I want to learn more about him.

Lysa & Connor are I guess meant to be the new Cassandra & Ezekiel. I find them different enough so they kind of hold their own as new characters. They're not true "Librarians", more like a couple of folks just along for the ride, which is a bit odd. I get more of a poor man's Mulder & Scully vibe from them - he says "magic" she says "not magic, it's science" and so on.

The weakest part for me is Charlie, the new Guardian. I can't help compare her to Eve, because she is an inferior version. The character is uninteresting, the acting isn't that strong, and she doesn't have that blend of strength & vulnerability, the enormous Kick-ass potential that Rebecca Romijn brought to Eve. Maybe she will grow on me.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the season, I really want to love this one as much as the original.