'The Librarians' Recap: 'And the Curse of Cindy'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

I think it is safe to say that every single fan of TNT's The Librarians was wondering when the threat of 'new magic', something that was seen for the first time in this universe a couple of weeks ago, was going to rear its ugly head once again, and as it turns out, the wait to see its return turned out to be a short one to say the least. Because last night's episode, 'And the Curse of Cindy' brought forth the return of magic in the hands of people who simply don't understand it in what turned out to be another tragic and hauntingly beautiful episode as our intrepid Librarians did their best to contain its power.

This time around the Clipping Book sent them to a lovely mansion to investigate what at first seemed to be a strange cult, only to discover that a young woman named Cyndi, one that seemed quite familiar to Ezekiel, had control over the hearts and minds of every single person in this complex since everyone there adored her in obsessive fashion. It leads to the discovery, shortly after Flynn and Jake suddenly find themselves obsessed with her as well, that magic was clearly involved in her quest for fame, forcing the group to work quickly to uncover what kind of magic she was making use of before more people fell under her powerful spell.  

But what made this particular episode so engaging and magical, for lack of a better word, was the fact that once again the series went deep into the mind of the villain to understand their motivations and need for more in this life and while at first it seemed as though Cyndi was cut from the same vengeful cloth as Kirby Goulding, she turned out to be nothing like him. Cyndi, whose real name was Cindy Kroger, turned out to be a former reality show contestant who was voted off of The Life Show in cruel and malicious fashion for no discernable reason and being rejected in front of a national audience, combined with the fact that Cindy already felt like an outcast that no one cared for in life, drove her to take up an offer from the show's makeup assistant Agnes to build a love potion that would give her the adoration she so craved. 

However what truly makes her story such a tragedy is that unlike Kirby, there was no quest for revenge in her heart, just mountains of pain and severe loneliness and she never wanted to harm anybody, she simply wanted to be loved and adored and needed by people, making her less of a villain, and more of a relatable character. Because at some point or another in our lives we've known people like Cindy, or we've been Cindy and her shattered psyche allowed for her to become nothing more than a pawn for Apep since it turns out he was really the one behind the potion, using the poor girl's pain to help spread evil throughout the world.

Thankfully the Librarians found a way to neutralize the potion and save the world from Apep's evil plan, and truth be told much of the credit for putting an end to this madness needs to go to Ezekiel since he was able to reach Cindy on a fundamental level with his own harrowing story of rejection and pain and while this story ended in beautiful fashion, we can never forget about the greater threat out there, and unfortunately for the Librarians, their problems just became a touch more complex because we now know that DOSA is involved in this ultimate battle between good and evil whether they know it/like it or not, since they are the ones in possession of Apep's sarcophagus, inadvertently (or intentionally) providing him with a safe place to regenerate. Either way, this was simply another incredible episode and I love the fact that they were able to explore new magic in a wholly different and fascinating fashion. Until next time.

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