In praise of Galavant

"Galavant" has wrapped up its second season, and is probably over as a series. There is an opening left for a third season if they are lucky enough to get one, but no unbearable cliffhangers like at the end of the first season. (And thank you for that!)

That was no easy task. It was possible to be equally fond of Gareth's relationship with King Richard and Madalena, but happy resolutions for both seemed impossible. What did end up happening felt plausible and satisfying. Yes, that is how it would play out, and again some room was left.

There were a lot of things that were done right, including an affection for minor characters that meant that they could grow into not-so-minor and even favorite characters. The Jester could easily have been abandoned early on, but instead he kept around, and kept relevant, until it was reasonable that he would sing the recap leading into the finale. Not only did it make sense, he did a great job.

It makes sense to have that much respect for the characters given the talent of the cast that they found. I don't know which came first; maybe it built on itself. We need a good cast, this cast is phenomenal, we need to do more with them.

The series also did a great job of balancing the serious with the silly, and they did that by a healthy grounding in reality. Yes, an army of the undead is a fantasy element, but once you accept that happening, then trying to lead them would probably go a lot like they showed.

But I really need to talk about the music.

Okay, you expect Alan Menken to deliver, but delivering three songs per episode and two episodes per week is challenging for the time element alone, and time is a factor in a different way as well. With the amount of plot that needs to be covered, along with the desire to include fun bits that may not advance the plot but they do enrich the overall experience, the songs need to do a lot of work.

Some of that comes from bringing in the familiar. That was something I noticed more this season. In an episode when you have a fight between giants and dwarfs, the rumble feel is added to with a number reminiscent of "Cool" from West Side Story (as well as one that sounded a lot like "Officer Krupke").

I think the best illustration is the scene that takes part in The Enchanted Forest.

First we learn that we are near the Enchanted Forest, ruled over by an evil queen, and people go in and never come out. The first thing that does is reference "Once Upon a Time" - the show for which "Galavant" acts as a mid-season replacement. It references and then differentiates as we see a sign that shows us that The Enchanted Forest is a pub. Then we see that this pub has an all-male clientele, and we find that people do come out, though our two heroes are briefly trapped until a beautifully silly solution presents itself and some answers.

In between, though, we get the musical number "Off With His Shirt". Besides being fun, it enhances the scene in two ways. The title reminds of us "Off with his head!" putting us well within the realm of dangerous queens in storybook lands. Simultaneously, the disco beat reminds us of "It's Raining Men", putting us well within the realm of this type of pub.

It works brilliantly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBN7FB7PsGE

I'll miss you "Galavant". I hope to see the faces you made familiar in many other shows.