Sci Fi TV Review: The Librarians – The Next Chapter

The Librarians: The Next Chapter continues in the tradition of this venerable franchise, delivering a breezy and fun show with colorful characters and some witty dialogue.

What Is It?

A 19th‑century Librarian—Vikram Chamberlain—time‑travels from 1847 to today and becomes stranded in modern Central Europe. Upon discovering his ancestral castle has become a museum, he accidentally unleashes magic across the continent. To contain the ensuing chaos, Vikram must assemble a new team of Librarians: a Guardian, a science genius, and a history‑savvy podcaster.

Airing: TNT, Mondays 9 PM EST

Starring: Callum McGowan, Olivia Morris, Bluey Robinson, Jessica Green

Created By: Dean Devlin, John Rogers

Johnny Jay’s Thoughts:

The Librarian franchise got its start in 2004 as a series of three movies airing on TNT and starring Noah Wyle as a man hired as a Librarian who comes to find out the library he will watch over has existed for centuries and protects all sorts of historical and magical objects. In 2014, a television series followed in which a team of Librarians inherited the duties from Wyle’s Flynn Carsen, and that ran on TNT for four seasons. Now we have the third entry in the franchise, which focuses on a Librarian from the past who finds himself trapped in current times and takes over responsibility for an annex of the library that exists in Europe.

This franchise has long been a fun one, and fans of the Indiana Jones movies as well as the National Treasure films and similar properties will find much to enjoy about it. Those who watched Syfy’s Warehouse 13 should also probably like The Librarians, and it’s actually a shame that those two franchises haven’t had a crossover yet. The newest installment—The Next Chapter—picks things up rather quickly, introducing a new librarian, assembling a team, and setting them to work in short order.

You can tell that Callum McGowan is having a ton of fun with the scenery-chewing role he was handed, though he doesn’t try to dominate the series, as the other actors are allowed to shine as well. Jessica Green gets to play the badass, butt-kicking woman role, which she is well suited for after her four-season tenure on Dean Devlin’s fantasy series The Outpost. The motivations for Olivia Morris’ character to join the team were a little forced, but she has worked her way into a solid co-lead with the rest of the cast. And Bluey Robinson delivers a different take on the conspiracy-theorist character, playing it much less manic and turning him into a solid contributor to the team. Together, all four have a definite chemistry that helps carry the episodes.

The Librarians franchise is nothing groundbreaking, and it borrows liberally from genre entries that have preceded it. But it’s also not a straight ripoff, and it does a good job with what it is trying to do. The previous installments delivered entertaining and fun television, and The Next Chapter is doing the same. Like 2014’s The Librarians, the new series is fairly episodic, though each ep continues to develop the characters and advance some of the storylines. But you can pretty much just pop in at any point and follow along.

We’ve already had one crossover with the prior series, with Christian Kane showing up as Jacob Stone in the premiere episode, and hopefully more past characters will show up as well. I would especially love to see Bruce Campbell make a return appearance as Santa Claus, so hopefully they have that lined up at some point. And I expect The Next Chapter to introduce some colorful characters of its own as it continues in the same tradition as the other installments in the franchise, delivering a fun and breezy genre entry that doesn’t demand too much grey matter but still has a nice wittiness to it.

What’s Next?

The show is more than halfway through its twelve-episode first season, and it has already been renewed for a second year. It was originally supposed to air on The CW, but they ended up kicking it to the curb, and it shifted over to TNT, which has been the long-time home of the franchise. The first season has performed well enough in the ratings, and this franchise does have a dedicated following, so it could stick around for several years.

Where Can You Watch It?

New episodes air at 9 PM EST on Mondays on TNT, and you can catch the past five episodes on TNT’s website or ap. The prior series and the movies are streaming for free (with ads) on The CW’s website and ap.

Are you watching The Librarians: The Next Chapter, and are you enjoying the revival of the franchise? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments section below.

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