Galavant – Two Balls/Comedy Gold

And so the quest continues – our three heroes are on their way to the kingdom of Valencia, ready to stop the evil King Richard and save Madalena. Or, at least, that’s the idea – aside from a touch of emotional development and the very last moments of the fourth episode, it doesn’t feel as though the plot is actually moving. Not really a problem when what we get is as fun as it is, but considering we’re halfway through the run, we haven’t really progressed.

It doesn’t feel as though the plot is actually moving…

Last week, I lamented that the show hasn’t really done anything with the character of Sid, and this week decided to help me out. For a pit stop, we wound up in Sid’s home town of Sidneytown, full of Jewish people who adore him and believe him to be the most heroic knight ever. Isabella pretends to be his fiancée, and Gal his squire. The characters have settled into a groove now – although Gal is still a bit dull, his sarcastic quips throughout the episode had me laughing. ‘Oy, What a Knight’ features the entire town singing, packed full of Jewish stereotypes that skate the fine line between offensive and funny and sets up a ball in his honour. Later on, we have ‘Jackass In A Can’, (a song with just the echo of I Got A Dream) in which the squires sit about their poor treatment at the hands of their masters, leading to Gal learning a lesson about becoming a bit more sensitive. It doesn’t feel rushed and is a nice moment.

Source: abc.go.com

As is expected, the more fun half of the story is in the court of King Richard. Richard decides to try and have some fun, electing to hold a ball for the Valencians and orchestrating some eunuch kicking for the fun of it. A lot of the entertainment is off, as Richard’s takeover has destroyed any form of culture in the city, leading to him getting the executioners to provide the music – they play Dance Until You Die, an upbeat rock number all about death (‘Do the strangulation, do the burn-at-the-stake’). Richard is played as a villainous simpleton, empathising with the starving people by burning his food too, and it is really funny, as is the incredibly ill-conceived ball. More is added to the Richard dynamic – when asking the Valencians to be honest with him, the eunuch tells him that Madalena is sleeping with the jester (Ben Presley).

Richard is played as a villainous simpleton, empathising with the starving people by burning his food too, and it is really funny, as is the incredibly ill-conceived ball.

Source: ABC/Todd Antony

This is a plotline I’m glad wasn’t dragged out, and it is dealt with in the second episode, though not in the way you’d expect. Richard is unable to understand that his wife is just using the jester for sex, and it convinced the reasoning must be that he is not funny enough. He forces the jester to teach him to be funny, and this occurs through the eponymous number Comedy Gold. Richard learns the basics of comedy, and it terrible – this culminates in a cringe-worthy stand-up routine which only gets a laugh after Gareth gets a pie in the face.

I can’t emphasise enough how good Timothy Omundson is, and he continues to be the best thing about the show. And whilst his villainous boy-child is good fun, the show seems to be setting up Madalena as the big bad – after the jester develops a conscience, she has him locked in the dungeon (‘Let me change my clothes – these are gang colours’).

Meanwhile, this episode was the team bonding one for our heroes. We open with a daft cheesy number called Togetherness, where the three discuss their friendship and bicker over little things throughout a bit of quest, which ends with them being captured. And who has caught them?

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I’ve rarely ever seen pirates done in a fun and amusing way, but Galavant is on it – a freak accident has left the pirate ship on a hill, so these are land pirates. Led by Peter the Pillager (Hugh Bonneville), the pirates too are suffering from a lack of cohesive teamwork, sans in their shanty Lords of the Sea, a funny little ditty about the things they get up to on land and how they are the masters of the sea (‘We’re the lords of the sea, though technically next to the sea’). The pirates are great, and the incredible absurdity of their situation makes it all the more funny.

The three escape from their bondage, and decide to get the pirates to work together too, with the plan that they can head straight to Valencia. This is accomplished, and they soon set sail. Isabella tells Gal that she is betraying him, but because he doesn’t listen when she talks, he still has no idea.

It continues to be silly, camp and good fun – the jokes were of a noticeably higher standard, and played to the character’s strengths rather than relying on the clichés.

I came into these episodes a bit more clued up than before, and I found them much more satisfying than I did last week. It continues to be silly, camp and good fun – the jokes were of a noticeably higher standard, and played to the character’s strengths rather than relying on the clichés. Playing these characters against type works incredibly well – the soft pirate, the pleasant tyrant – halfway through, and I’m delighted to report Galavant is hitting its stride. If the rest of the series is as good, we’re in for a treat the next two weeks.