The Librarians--Season 3

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Greg Cox, Nov 19, 2016.

  1. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2004
    Location:
    Lancaster, PA
    Just a reminder that Season 3 of THE LIBRARIANS debuts Sunday night on TNT. In the meantime, TNT is running a LIBRARIANS marathon as I type this.

    Needless to say, I'm counting the hours . . . while working on the outline for yet another LIBRARIANS novel.
     
  2. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2011
    Location:
    Washington State, USA
    I'm glad its back. Its a show that always seems to just disappear between seasons. It looks like Season 1 just got released on home video in Region 1, which is great. I never thought they'd release it at this rate. I had no idea the show was so close to returning, I'll definitely be watching.
     
  3. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2004
    Location:
    Lancaster, PA
    My work here is done . ...
     
  4. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    Cool. Thanks for the heads up. I love this low-key little show and I'm glad it keeps getting renewed.

    Too many Sunday night shows these days, though. At least I'll be able to catch Ash vs. The Evil Dead earlier in the day.
     
  5. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2004
    Location:
    Lancaster, PA
    No problem. Just trying to get the word out.

    FYI: this season's guest-stars include Sean Astin, Felicia Day, Vanessa Williams . . . and Jane Curtin.

    Yes, Charlene is coming back!
     
  6. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2005
    Wow, earlier premiere than expected. I'm looking forward to it, this is a very fun show. I'm just disappointed that TNT's only given them ten episodes each season. It's just not enough, IMO. And I remember reading that the producers tried to get a larger order for the third season but TNT didn't go for it. Alas...
     
  7. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    That's pretty normal for cable series these days. I think it feels like less for The Librarians because the first two seasons opened and closed with 2-parters, so it came out to only 8 stories per season. But they're actually not opening with a 2-parter this season -- or if they are, they're not showing the parts back-to-back.
     
  8. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2004
    Location:
    Lancaster, PA
    I was actually kinda surprised that we're not getting a two-hour season premiere tonight . ...and set my DVR to tape the next hour just in case! :)
     
  9. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2005
    I know.
     
  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Honestly, I found the premiere a little disappointing. It was kind of clumsy and goofy, and it didn't seem to have as much rich substance and character depth under the comical surface as it's had in the past. The special effects were pretty bad, especially in the opening with the druid statue "tilting" while Flynn was clinging to it. Their version of the Antikythera Mechanism looked ludicrously unlike the real thing (which probably looked like this, and only exists in fragments now). And man, I know Joseph LoDuca's music has always been highly, highly imitative of other composers' work, and his music on this show has evoked Murray Gold's Doctor Who scores before, but could he have been ripping off "I Am the Doctor" any more blatantly in the climax there?
     
    Sparky likes this.
  11. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2004
    Location:
    Lancaster, PA
    What really went through my head watching the premiere:

    1) "Hmm. Forget Druids for book 3 . . .."

    2) "The magic mirror can interface with Cassandra's tablet? Hmm. I might be able to use that . . .. "

    3) "The Clipping Book!"

    Yes, this is often how I think when watching TV . . . :)
     
    Nerys Myk likes this.
  12. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    I had heard a rumor about that. I was hoping Bob Newhart might show up, too, since he's still making the occasional guest appearance.
     
  13. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Whew. I was afraid that Flynn would be a constant presence this season, now that Noah Wyle is no longer doing Falling Skies. But right on schedule, he got his quest that took him away from the Library for the bulk of the season, just like in seasons 1 & 2. No doubt he'll be back at the halfway point and for the final two episodes, per the usual pattern.

    This show has been heavily riffing on Doctor Who ever since it started as a weekly series under John Rogers, and I realized partway through that this week's plot was following the "base under siege" formula that dominated the Patrick Troughton era of Doctor Who: good guys trapped in an isolated base with a crew of guest characters who are besieged and picked off by relentless monsters, usually including an authority figure who mistrusts the new arrivals and obstructs their efforts. Although it wasn't completely true to that format, since it had Eve and Jenkins on the outside trying to come to their aid.

    Not sure what I think of this "Ultimate Battle Between Good and Evil" thread this season. I mean, "ultimate" means "last." So this is the final battle good and evil will ever have? How is that not the end of the series, either way? Unless it ends up in a draw, or with some kind of cliched "Good only exists in balance with evil" resolution, in which case it's not very ultimate, is it?
     
  14. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2005
    Location:
    Singapore
    They're taking inspiration from Doctor Who again. This time with it's the Librarians version of "The Time of The Angels/Flesh and Stone", right down to The Librarians turning a trap into a big hole that sucks in all the villains.
     
  15. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    ^Hmm, yeah, I guess that was sort of a modern version of the Troughton-era "base under siege" stories, along with others like "Under the Lake"/"Before the Flood."
     
  16. Pingfah

    Pingfah Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2005
    Location:
    Pingfah
    As Christopher said, the first episode felt really off. It's not intended to be a serious show, but it felt extremely awkward with everybody forcing themselves to act clownish. And it had some truly appalling FX.

    A big step down from what I have seen from this show before, which was a very likeable show with a lot of humour, excitement, good gags and a sly wink to the audience. This was just a bit lame feeling.

    Hope for better from ep2.
     
  17. Kahless the Unforgettable

    Kahless the Unforgettable Captain Captain

    Joined:
    May 7, 2016
    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    That's a definition of the word. Believe it or not, words can have more than one meaning.
     
  18. matthunter

    matthunter Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2004
    Location:
    Great Britain
    Lots of talk about Doctor Who riffing, but seriously - a military base with a big glowing circle on the wall, plus a person "possessed" by an Egyptian god whose voice goes all synth-y deep?
     
  19. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Hmm, maybe there's a Stargate nod in there, although the Stargate movie was massively derivative and unoriginal, so it's hard to be sure. I mean, the idea of ancient-astronaut Egyptians was at least two decades out of date by the time Devlin and Emmerich dredged it up. And deep-voiced possessions are a trope that dates back at least to The Exorcist.

    On the other hand, given that Apep is an alternate name for Apophis, it's reasonable to think they're homaging Stargate SG-1 instead of the movie. SG-1 did Anubis too, although Anubis is a favorite go-to villain in fantasy and sci-fi. (And "Anubis, the first werewolf" is a novel idea as far as I know -- especially since Anubis had the head of a jackal, not a wolf.)

    Anyway, it was a supercollider facility. There's no reason that would be a military base, since it has no defense or weapons applications, just pure theoretical physics research. I assume the soldiers were just its security contingent.
     
  20. matthunter

    matthunter Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2004
    Location:
    Great Britain
    Ah, OK, I only caught the ending and one of the few survivors at that point was the Scottish soldier, and the base looked a bit military inside.

    And yeah, I didn't really think they were referencing the Stargate movie but SG-1.