Reviewed by Alicia Glass
Welcome back to the Library! So sorry we can’t stay and chat, but here, let our immortal caretaker Jenkins (John Larroquette) serve you tea, don’t mind the flying swords or self-updating magical books, we’re sure Flynn Carson (Noah Wyle) will be back any minute to tell us of his latest adventures!
While it’s true Flynn Carson in the original ‘Librarian’ movies began the mythos the show is based on, I’m glad there was more focus on the other Librarians in this season of the beloved adventuring show. The start of the season sees the latest Big-Bad against our Librarians, an evil ancient Egyptian God named Apep, spreading his darkness insidiously out into the world. And to add more ink to the mix, the government-led supernatural hunters collectively known as DOSA, or Department of Statistical Anomalies, are hot on the trail of the Librarians too!
We find Flynn and Colonel Baird (Rebecca Romijn) as they always were, having the occasional date that usually turns into a Librarian case, tip-toing around commitment with out ever really getting there, and fighting demons and evil Gods and all sorts of nasties along the way. Cassandra (Lindy Booth) had her own trials and tribulations this season, when the question of whether or not her brain tumor is what gives her her mental gifts came to a head. With the help of the best medical technology and doctors out there (why they didn’t use magic, I’m still not sure), plus some aid from a vampire-run night spa, Cassie hops back to her sprightly self in one nervous episode, but with a twist – her gift, minus the tumor, just multiplied a ton and tossed in telepathy and auto-hypnosis-like talents too. Stone (Christian Kane) went from a sworn statement against the use of magic, to being forced to use it to save his fellow Librarians, to being branded with magic whether he likes it or not, when he went looking for solace and training in Shangri-La with the Monkey King. (The Monkey King was played by Ernie Reyes Jr., which is extra cool, btw.) And of course Ezekiel Jones (John Harlan Kim) is as he always is, master thief and technology-handler, second to none, especially in his own mind. Though the episode where Ezekiel Jones fell in love, and lost her, and gained a love potion of sorts from it, did kind of make him question what might be missing in his charmed life.
Season three saw the return of Charlene (Jane Curtin), the original Guardian of the Library, who’s been running and hiding this whole time Flynn’s been looking for her. After a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing, Charlene makes her required sacrifice and takes her place in the Library mirror alternate dimension with Judson, content that her missions and care of the Library have been turned over to the best the Library has to offer.
So here we are at the season three finale, where both major storylines have come to a massive head! DOSA is here to take over the Library, headed by Baird’s former military boss Cynthia Rockwell (Vanessa Williams), and hey guess what, they already have Apep’s sarcophagus, and think they have Apep himself under lock and key too. Baird, spurred on by some deep inner plan we just know she has to be following, tosses on a DOSA jacket and lets the military guys come in to the Library to remove everything and take it to the facility they’ve been specially building, to be the same amazing size and containment as the Library itself. But see, here’s the thing – Rockwell and the rest of the military guys don’t put any belief in magic, which means their version of containment deals with physical bars and restraints and proven science; no glyphs or wards or even a sprinkle of faerie dust contaminates this new lockdown facility.
Much of the episode deals with the apparent defection of Colonel Baird over to the Rockwell military side, but if you watch The Librarians as faithfully as I do, there are clear clues that there is a majorly deep plan laid that will explain all this nonsense, most likely in the last few minutes of the episode. And without spoilers, I can simply say that’s more or less exactly what happens – Baird, and Flynn of course, hatched an incredibly daring but necessary plan, and managed to pull it off with very little in the way of loss of life, or important artifact damage to the Library itself, either. Their plan might have been far-fetched and a little predictable inside the show dynamic, but the adorkable characters and the zingy fun attitude prevalent in the show make it so we just don’t care – we love The Librarians!
Season three had many terrific moments worth note – Sean Astin guested as the poor magician who so sorely wanted to win the heart of Felicia Day’s Charlotte; the episode featuring a high-school-equivalent-reunion with a bunch of Frost Giants was a personal favorite of mine; Flynn found a missing Librarian down the rabbit hole guarding the Eye of Ra; and yes, the episode with the vampire-run night spa retreat was beautiful and loving, lead vampire Estrella (Clara Lago) did an excellent job.
Only a day or two after the season finale aired, TNT confirmed a season four for our always amazing Librarians, so rejoice in that, fans!
Catch all the episodes of Season Three of The Librarians on the TNT website!
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