Disenchantment Season One Review
By: Nik S
So after having one of the longest-running television series in history and one of the most believed science fiction cartoons, what is one to do? Make a Netflix exclusive, of course! That's basically what happened with Matt Groening with his third television series Disenchantment. Where The Simpsons tackled modern family matters in a dysfunctional manner, and Futurama was a self-aware science fiction in the future, Disenchantment tackles a medieval fantasy theme. Like his previous shows, Groening uses colorful settings, a growing cast of absurd characters, and writing filled to the brim with satirical elements. While all those elements certainly worked for both of his previous works, they're rather hit-and-miss with Disenchantment.
So without spoiling too much of the plot, the story follows Bean (Jacobson), princess of Dreamland who is a rebellious youth who does anything to anger her father, King Zøg (DiMaggio). On the day of her arranged wedding, she receives her own personal demon, Luci (Andre), that's somehow tied to some mysterious cult. Their paths cross with a small forest elf, Elfo (Faxon), who ran away from his hidden village to experience something other than happiness and candy. So as it turns out, there are legends about elves that their blood can give eternal life, so Zøg wants to get his hands on Elfo. Along the way, the trio gets into some crazy situations (mainly due to some heavy drinking) and find out that there's a lot of secrets being kept from them.
So there's some returning magic in the writing for Disenchantment, since some one-liners are well written. Where the show comes off flat is the characters. Since it's the first season, it seems like they're throwing different personalities at each character and seeing which one sticks with the audience. When we meet Elfo he's melancholy and rather cynical compared to his singing happy counterparts. The moment he's out in the real world that attitude disappears and it's replaced by a new airhead outlook on things. It's understandable that everything is new to him, but it doesn't match what we saw earlier. Bean, who we spend the most time with overall, comes off bland and boring. Maybe as the series goes on, they can truly expand on these characters and give them each some depth.
While there are plenty of mythical creatures thrown into the world of Dreamland, there really doesn't seem to be enough magic to push things through. It's almost like the writers assumed that them being in a magical foreign land would almost write itself. There are some things that certainly shine through to make the viewing experience somewhat pleasurable, like some plot twists and a few likable main characters, but anything outside of that just seems to be overlooked. Unless something truly out of the ordinary happens, you almost forget that you're watching a cartoon about a mystical land with fairy-folk and magic potions.
The first two episodes of the season start off a little rocky and slow, probably to introduce the cast. Where the series shines is the six episodes in the middle of the season, where the characters aren't fully tied down to the canonical story and can fool around a little. The last two episodes have them ride the canonical story train hard and it slows back down. The first season does end with a gigantic cliffhanger, so hopefully, season two will start off with a bang.
Disenchantment is something to watch out for in the future, once Groening is able to flesh out his characters. It took a while for Futurama to find its own footing, so it might just take a season or two before things really start looking up for the show. If you have a few hours to kill, then you'll be entertained by Disenchantment. Just know that a lot of the jokes don't pan out as well as the writers hoped so you might groan once or twice to yourself. When the writers make the characters unknowing self-aware is when you'll get a few good laughs.
Check out these other great articles:
DVDumpster: The Dependables
The Venture Bros: An Exercise in Failure
BlacKkKlansman Review
Follow us on social media:
Rated: TV-14
Created/Developed by: Matt Groening
Produced by: Matt Groening, Josh Weinstein, David X. Cohen
Cast: Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, Nat Faxon, John DiMaggio, Tress MacNeille, Billy West
Production Company(s): The ULULU Company, Rough Draft Studios
Distributor: Netflix
So after having one of the longest-running television series in history and one of the most believed science fiction cartoons, what is one to do? Make a Netflix exclusive, of course! That's basically what happened with Matt Groening with his third television series Disenchantment. Where The Simpsons tackled modern family matters in a dysfunctional manner, and Futurama was a self-aware science fiction in the future, Disenchantment tackles a medieval fantasy theme. Like his previous shows, Groening uses colorful settings, a growing cast of absurd characters, and writing filled to the brim with satirical elements. While all those elements certainly worked for both of his previous works, they're rather hit-and-miss with Disenchantment.
So without spoiling too much of the plot, the story follows Bean (Jacobson), princess of Dreamland who is a rebellious youth who does anything to anger her father, King Zøg (DiMaggio). On the day of her arranged wedding, she receives her own personal demon, Luci (Andre), that's somehow tied to some mysterious cult. Their paths cross with a small forest elf, Elfo (Faxon), who ran away from his hidden village to experience something other than happiness and candy. So as it turns out, there are legends about elves that their blood can give eternal life, so Zøg wants to get his hands on Elfo. Along the way, the trio gets into some crazy situations (mainly due to some heavy drinking) and find out that there's a lot of secrets being kept from them.
So there's some returning magic in the writing for Disenchantment, since some one-liners are well written. Where the show comes off flat is the characters. Since it's the first season, it seems like they're throwing different personalities at each character and seeing which one sticks with the audience. When we meet Elfo he's melancholy and rather cynical compared to his singing happy counterparts. The moment he's out in the real world that attitude disappears and it's replaced by a new airhead outlook on things. It's understandable that everything is new to him, but it doesn't match what we saw earlier. Bean, who we spend the most time with overall, comes off bland and boring. Maybe as the series goes on, they can truly expand on these characters and give them each some depth.
While there are plenty of mythical creatures thrown into the world of Dreamland, there really doesn't seem to be enough magic to push things through. It's almost like the writers assumed that them being in a magical foreign land would almost write itself. There are some things that certainly shine through to make the viewing experience somewhat pleasurable, like some plot twists and a few likable main characters, but anything outside of that just seems to be overlooked. Unless something truly out of the ordinary happens, you almost forget that you're watching a cartoon about a mystical land with fairy-folk and magic potions.
The first two episodes of the season start off a little rocky and slow, probably to introduce the cast. Where the series shines is the six episodes in the middle of the season, where the characters aren't fully tied down to the canonical story and can fool around a little. The last two episodes have them ride the canonical story train hard and it slows back down. The first season does end with a gigantic cliffhanger, so hopefully, season two will start off with a bang.
Disenchantment is something to watch out for in the future, once Groening is able to flesh out his characters. It took a while for Futurama to find its own footing, so it might just take a season or two before things really start looking up for the show. If you have a few hours to kill, then you'll be entertained by Disenchantment. Just know that a lot of the jokes don't pan out as well as the writers hoped so you might groan once or twice to yourself. When the writers make the characters unknowing self-aware is when you'll get a few good laughs.
Check out these other great articles:
DVDumpster: The Dependables
The Venture Bros: An Exercise in Failure
BlacKkKlansman Review
Follow us on social media:
Comments, questions, recommendations, or concerns? Let us know in the comment section!
Comments
Post a Comment