The Librarians: The Next Chapter

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.

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.

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 really liked the original but this is a poor imitation. In the original the "Librarian" was not around for most of the series and the "team" had to solve problems with each member bringing their unique talents to the effort. Each of them was also part of the library.

In this version we have a Librarian from another time (why?) and his team is made up of more or less ordinary people (none of whom were invited) who would be best classified as just sidekicks. It seems like any one of them, except perhaps Charlie, could be replaced with no impact to the show. Even Charlie, who is supposed to be the protector, is not really doing much. Eve from the original series was kicking ass early on.

I assume that as the show continues we will see more character development and the cast acting more like a team, but for now I have seen enough.

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.