'The Librarians' Recap: 'And the Fangs of Death'

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

​THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

I have to admit, the more time I've had to think about the season three premiere of The Librarians, the more I find myself appreciating it. After all, it was a bold venture into new territory for the show and the subtle setup of this ultimate battle between good and evil simply got my imagination flowing as to what else the show could accomplish with such a concept, and as it turns out, none of us had to wait that long to see where this new direction for the show is going to take us because 'And the Fangs of Death' advanced this ominous plot nicely...and threw in some fine Librarian history in the process.

Because this episode featured the return of Charlene, the original Guardian of the Library and her appearance was a just a wonderful throw back to when this whole world was contained within a mini series and it was equally delightful to see Jane Curtin reprise the role. But Charlene's cameo was far more important than merely reminiscing about days gone by in the Library...her vast knowledge included the secret to defeating Apep, leading Flynn and Eve to travel to the secret location where she went into hiding several years ago and she was gracious enough to agree to help in the fight against this rogue Egyptian God, before disaster struck when Flynn and Eve discovered her bodyguards were dead, she was missing and the only clue as to her whereabouts was Apep's symbol burned into the wall, leaving Flynn worried that Apep kidnapped her and that perhaps her life was in complete and utter danger.

Her disappearance inspired him to put together a crude tracking device, one that located a pendant she was wearing when he last saw her and it brought Flynn and a majority of the group to a Particle Collider in Canada...and that's when the story kicked into overdrive. Because within the walls of this facility lay the stuff of legend, werewolves; brought to life by the God Anubis who was summoned to this plane and location by Apep in the hopes of springing a trap for the Librarians, one that they could not escape and just like that...came our first wave or darker and more challenging moments for our intrepid heroes because this trap was an outright doozy. Ezekiel was bitten by a werewolf and had to deal with the horror of potentially turning into a monster of legend, lives were lost and Flynn was shattered emotionally because he put his friend ahead of the mission and came to believe his efforts were all for naught since it appeared that Charlene died when Anubis crossed over into our world, and because the team was now in grave danger.

In fact, Flynn's journey this week was truly the centerpiece of the story because let's be honest...how often have we seen this man rattled? It's rare, and when it does happen he often rebounds quickly, finding a way out of a sticky situation or coming up with a fancy plan, but this week...he lost every ounce of confidence and for a brief moment there, gave up all hope of getting out of this situation alive. If it wasn't for Jake taking a moment to remind Flynn of what kind of hero he really is...who knows if the story would have ended with Anubis' defeat, and while this episode initially wraps up in happy fashion, with the discovery that Charlene is okay and in hiding and with Apep incapacitated for the moment...it's clear that Flynn is dealing with some severe emotional damage since he left the group to go on a solo mission to keep the team out of harm's way...and to find Charlene.

Either way, what an impressive episode this turned out to be. Everything the show hinted at last week; danger, doom and incredible challenges, arrived in spades this week. We've never seen the team tested in this fashion and Apep is quite the adversary since he will attack our heroes in brutal fashion in order to break their spirit and when all said and done, I'm dying for more. This is truly shaping up to become the best season of the show to date, and I love that the folks behind the scenes are taking incredible risks with the stories and forcing our heroes to do more and be more and if this is the kind of odds they are facing only two episodes in, I can only imagine how much tougher the battle between good and evil is going to become as the season progresses. Either way, I'll be anxiously awaiting next week's episode. Until next time.

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