Galavant – My Cousin Izzy/It’s All In The Executions

And with these final two episodes, Galavant comes to an end – it’s been an interesting and not always satisfying experience, and I’m really sad to say that it closes on its two worst episodes yet.

My Cousin Izzy kicks off with a flashback to young Gal’s childhood. His father (Anthony Head) comes home, and explains that being a hero requires shutting off all emotion. He then sings Moment in the Sun, a tune Gal attempts to sing throughout the episode, being cut off every time, culminating in the gag that the song has no particularly grand finish.

It’s been an interesting and not always satisfying experience, and I’m really sad to say that it closes on its two worst episodes yet.

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Then, we find ourselves where the last episode ended – the gang are still in the dungeon, and Kingsley has taken the throne. The characters are called to the throne room, and it is decided that there will be a duel between Gareth (for Kingsley) and Gal (for Richard). Gal is preoccupied with having his hero moment, and doesn’t notice the feelings Isabella has for him (apparently – there’s not an obvious amount of chemistry there). I’m not liking the dungeon set-up either – there is a massive ensemble cast just sitting around, doing nothing.

Gal goes to duel, and is interrupted the arrival of Prince Harry (Kermal Deen-Ellis), a 12-year-old kid who Isabella is engaged to. The kid was quite annoying – let’s be frank, how many of them can actually act? – and used as a plot device to delay Gal and Isabella’s romance. Coming in episode seven of eight, this is a bit off-putting.

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The episode also looked at the Chef and Gwynne romance a bit more, with the latter encouraging the chef to kill all the royals before they wind up dead themselves. Plotting the crime, they sing A Happy Ending For Us, full of horrible lyrics and the definite highlight of the episode. Chef doesn’t kill anyone, and Richard decides to be a man and take Gal’s place in the duel, realising that he is almost certainly going to be killed. I’d like to describe Madalena and Kingsley’s actions throughout the episode, but there’s not really anything to say.

And then, we progress right into the next episode – everyone is still stuck in the dungeon, the Jester singing a bit of a musical recap before being told to shut up. Sid encouraged Gal to look at his feelings for Isabella (suggesting he Kiss The Girl, cue a lovely musical call-back to 1989), but our hero was working on a new plan – to go out drinking with Richard, and get him to kill his brother. This he manages fairly successfully, and the wonderful duet Secret Mission is one of the better pieces of this series, the two drunkenly chronically how they’re going to murder Kingsley. (They don’t).

After this, we have the long-awaited kiss between Gal and Isabella, which wasn’t particularly worth the build-up.

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Richard gets locked in the dungeon, much to Gareth’s dismay, and he sings Goodnight, My Friend, a touching number that’s about the only song this series to not be played silly and it works so effectively for this reason. After this, we have the long-awaited kiss between Gal and Isabella, which wasn’t particularly worth the build-up, before Gareth returns to put his plot into action. He takes Gal and Richard and puts them on a boat to Richard’s kingdom, where they’ll be safe.

Then, he lets everybody but Sid free from the dungeon, keeping him as collateral. Kingsley gets a bit peeved, even more so when Madalena stabs him in the back and murders him. She invites Gareth to take the throne beside her, and they sit, looking menacing. The most upsetting cliffhanger comes with the rest of the cast – they go to the annoying Prince Harry’s kingdom, and he shuts Isabella away in a sort of child bedroom prison forever, with her just tamely walking in and escaping her fate. This does not agree with her character at all, and I can’t quite understand why she does it. And then, we’re left with another musical recap, and that is the series over.

So despite the promise that the show would be a four week event, it has decided to push for a second series and leave every plotline open.

So despite the promise that the show would be a four week event, it has decided to push for a second series and leave every plotline open. And if I’m honest, this is a second series that it is incredibly unlikely it will receive, as the ratings in America have been dropping massively, which is a massive shame. There were a number of weak points, and a few songs that were rather dull, but on the whole, it has been really inventive and great fun, and I’ve enjoyed my four weeks with it. In particular, Timothy Omundson and (more explicably) Vinnie Jones have been the highlights, and the series is worth watching for them alone. When it airs over here, I urge you to check out the tale of Galavant.