Galavant – Love and Death/Do the D’Dew

Building on a brilliant cliff-hanger, ‘Love and Death’ and ‘Do the D’Dew’ show Galavant back on the saddle, mixing good tunes with tune and a massive narrative push. We’re one week away from the finale now, and this week has set up a good one.

After accidentally stabbing Galavant with his sword, Sid joins Richard and Roberta to find help. They eventually get the hero to a famous healer called Neos of Sporrin (Reece Shearsmith), but they’re too late to prevent Galavant from dying. Neos thinks he has a potion that can help bring the dead back to life, but it requires the hair from a virgin’s beard… Meanwhile, Wormwood is delightedly pushing Gareth and Madalena into war, but they have something far bigger on their mind – the Queen says she loves Gareth for the first time, and neither are sure how to respond. Isabella is put in charge of Hortensia’s army, but the kingdom may not be particularly prepared for war.

The last episode’s phenomenal cliff-hanger, mortally wounding our hero, is resolved in a surprising fashion – it kills him off. Of course, I never thought that he was actually going to die, but the way the thread is resolved is fantastic. They take him to Shearsmith, who ploughs his way through a patter song that lasts about as long as Galavant has life left, and the magical potion the healer concocts leads to a surprising number – a tune for Death (Eddie Marsan), which is immediately catchy and propels the narrative. It’s a double whammy, and all the better for it.

We’ve a third strong song this time round, as Gareth attempts to convey his feelings for Madalena despite his lack of colourful vocabulary – it’s really funny, and strangely sweet. And it’s a fun part of a generally quite good episode. ‘Love and Death’ packs in a lot of funny lines (and a callback to the unicorn), particularly as Wormwood mixes his evil with his wedding planning. It also develops Richard and Roberta’s relationship and, although we haven’t had that much time spent on it, it does feel natural and organic.

‘Love and Death’ and ‘Do the D’Dew’ set the stage for a grand finale next week

Onto part two, ‘Do the D’Dew’. Galvant is leading his new zombie army towards Valencia, eager to find Isabela and rekindle their love. Richard and Roberta finally consummate their new relationship, leading to mixed feelings – Richard is feeling better than ever, while Roberta is worried about losing the man she loves on the battlefield. Isabella and Madalena finally encounter to discuss a truce before their two kingdoms go to war, but any hope of avoiding battle is defeated by their mutual loathing. Meanwhile, Madalena and Gareth’s new relationship faces their first hurdle – she lies to him, enticed by Wormwood’s offer of teaching her dark magic to swing the upcoming battle in her favour.

We lean into the musical parodies again this episode, with Richard and Roberta professing their love in a tune that’s clearly based on ‘Summer Nights’. Few shows could create a fun romantic tune with a massive chorus of zombies, but Galavant is not most shows. It turns out that the zombie army is driven by love, and they should prove a good foil as Galavant seeks to win Isabella once again – particularly as he’s now lost Sid after one passive-aggressive joke too many.

Some other elements didn’t quite land for me. Karen David and Mallory Jansen share a hip-hop number that is performed incredibly but not overly enjoyable. Meanwhile, Roberta heads to Spinster Island because she is afraid that Richard will die in battle, but it doesn’t add up with the character we know – she would stay and protect him. These are only off-beats, though, in a generally good episode, and Robert Lindsay again shines as the charismatic and flamboyant villain. Seeing him in action makes me reflect on how ill-fitting Rutger Hauer was to the Galavant universe last season.

‘Love and Death’ and ‘Do the D’Dew’ set the stage for a grand finale next week – war is coming, and hopefully we’ll finally see Isabella and Galavant reunite. Here’s hoping for a big finish and, if there’s another end of season cliff-hanger, it’ll make me cry.