Galavant – Pilot/Joust Friends

And so the first two episodes of Galavant hit the screen, and we can brace ourselves for four weeks of musical fun. The episodes are full of fun, a send-up of fairy tales and musicals, and a good way to spend half an hour. The cast are likeable, and clearly having a great time, aided greatly by Alan Menken’s songs – I defy you to not get caught up in the spirit of it.

Source: abc.go.com

The first episode, aptly titled Pilot, introduces the tale, mostly via the incredibly catchy musical number Galavant that I’m still humming a week after hearing it (if you’re a Menken fan, it contains shades of If I Can’t Love Her). Galavant (Joshua Sasse) was a brave and noble warrior, spending time with his love Madalena (Mallory Jansen) until she is kidnapped by the evil King Richard (Timothy Omundson). Gal rushes to her rescue and interrupts the royal wedding day, only for Madalena to reject him, choosing the life of a queen and staying with Richard.

Gal falls into a depression, eating, drinking and wallowing in his own filth until a year later, when he is sought out by Princess Isabella (Karen David), who requires his help to save her kingdom. Unbeknownst to Gal, Isabella is working for Richard, who intends to kill Galavant – Madalena unfavourably compares Richard to Gal, so he decides to eliminate him, as outlined in the equally fun song She’ll Be Mine. Omundson is excellent as the king, playing a petulant boy child who can’t quite compete with Gal, and he is much more fun to watch than our hero – as it stands so far, he is the highlight of the show.

Omundson is excellent as the king, playing a petulant boy child who can’t quite compete with Gal, and he is much more fun to watch than our hero – as it stands so far, he is the highlight of the show.

Really, there is little to say about the opening – it’s pretty much twenty minutes of musical exposition, although much more fun than that sounds. The quest truly kicks off at the start of the next episode. Joust Friends features, unsurprisingly, a jousting tournament, where Gal must face an old enemy, Sir Jean Hamm (John Stamos). Meanwhile, King Richard is aided by his right-hand man Gareth (Vinnie Jones) in his attempts to man up in order to woo Madalena. Again, the latter story is the more fun of the two, although both have momentum.

It kicks off with a dream for Gal in which Richard and Madalena mock him, and he awakes to an upbeat opening number about his quest – I don’t know the title, but it’ll be something like Off On A Hero’s Journey. The song was fun, but it brought another problem to the forefront – I don’t quite understand the point of Gal’s valet, Sid (Luke Youngblood), although I’m hoping he will be given more to do in the future.

Source: abc.go.com

In order to raise some money, Gal enters a jousting tournament, where he comes across his nemesis – the two ham it up a bit, with Sir Jean cracking ‘your mum’ jokes until Gal can take no more. Isabella blags his way to the final, leaving her a day to train our hero. This takes place in a Rocky-style montage with a pseudo-70s rock song called Stand Down that was so forgettable I couldn’t remember it moments after it finished, and leaves Gal in such a bad state of aching that he can’t use his limbs. Isabella drugs Sir Jean, leading to a final joust in which neither man can move but which Gal eventually wins – this scene was the highlight of the episode.

After being fed his food like a child – ‘here come the cannonballs’ – Richard is advised to toughen up by Gareth. He takes the king under his wing, taking him to his chambers and teaching him how to toughen up. As strange as it feels to be saying this, Vinnie Jones is one of the best things about this show. Later, Richard follows this advice, and he and Madalena have a dinner in which the two feel a brief spark. This ends with them, and Gal and Isabella, singing Maybe You’re Not The Worst Thing Ever, a love song about how the two pairings are getting closer despite hating each other. Neither of the romances feel particularly believable, although with a series run of only eight episodes, it’s no shock that things are being rushed a touch.

I get the feeling the series is going to benefit from its eight episodes musically, but perhaps not story-wise.

So as it stands, the quest is on, with a smattering of childish humour and not a massively solid plot hanging it on. I get the feeling the series is going to benefit from its eight episodes musically, but perhaps not story-wise. I also can’t really feel for Galavant – he is really the least interesting character in the show, which is quite unfortunate. It would do well to focus more on King Richard and his court, as that is where the true potential lies. Still, with the quest underway, and a number of interesting guest stars confirmed, I’m hoping that the series will truly gain some pace. As it stands at the moment, although it is fun, it is a middling experience. Definitely worth sticking with though.