'The Librarians' Recap: 'And the Bleeding Crown' & 'And the Grave of Time'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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You have to love it when your favorite television shows find a way to completely and utterly surprise you in ways you never imagined and that’s precisely what TNT’s The Librarians managed to pull off last night, a massive surprise that no one saw coming. Because I truly expected last night’s episodes, ‘And the Bleeding Crown’, ‘And the Grave of Time’ to be more of the same fun/quirky adventures we’ve been enjoying thus far in season four, and in many ways it seemed that’s precisely where we going before Darrington Dare and Nicole dropped a few bombshells in our laps. 
 
So, with that in mind, let me just get this out in the open now, this is going to be a vastly different recap than we normally do here at NTG. Because while there were plenty of fun and awesome moments to be found in this episode, we really need to talk about the revelations that came about in these two tales, because the ramifications and implications that came forth in this set of stories are game changers when it comes to the landscape of the show and Flynn’s journey for that matter as well and a day after watching this one I’m sitting here both stunned and intrigued at what transpired last night.
 
Because judging from how things played out, it would seem that our big bad for Season Four won’t be some mystic monster or an evil group of priests after all. No, instead, this year’s villain is a far bigger threat to the group and the Library than we ever expected, because fear and doubt are powerful weapons that can destroy anything and they spread like an infectious disease, and right now, everyone in the Library has caught them and in a way, Darrington Dare, despite his best intentions in this tale to protect the Library and get Flynn to also protect it at all costs, is more or less Patient Zero when it comes to this whole mess.
 
After all, he’s the one that brought up the whole notion of a Librarian Civil War, wherein this intrepid group of heroes would want to consolidate the power of the Library for themselves and while I honestly don’t believe that the group would be capable of such acts on their own, fear and doubt are powerful tools in motivating that kind of behavior and for proof, look no further than what happened in the second episode with Jenkins and Eve, because their ire and their concern at technically, one of their own, almost allowed for Rasputin to return to power in the world and the aftermath of that whole mess left Jenkins without his immortality, and Flynn so rattled that it would seem he has left the Library and his position altogether. 

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​So yes, the group is now fractured and broken, and I’m fairly certain there will only be greater challenges for the Librarians in the days ahead as they try their best to pick up the pieces and keep all those negative thoughts in their head from taking control, and while it seems like the series is suddenly headed into some supremely dark territory courtesy of these distressing surprises, I still see hope on the horizon for both the Library and those sworn to protect it, and I think that honestly, this could signal a brand new era when it comes to the Library.
 
Because in many ways, the Librarians and everyone that came before them, have always been at war. There’s always been a powerful evil force for them to combat, and I think part of what we saw last night with Jenkins, Nicole and Dare, is some of the unfortunate focus and paranoia that could come about with being at war for that long. After all, when you spend every single day of your life fighting, all you know is conflict and perhaps part of the problem when it comes to what we are witnessing right now, is the fact that a warrior mindset is coming into play since Nicole and Jenkins were quick to focus their fury on the easiest target available to maintain their belief that they need to be ready to go at the drop of a hat to address any and all threats, and while that’s effective in many ways…it’s simply no longer necessary.
 
Because the final battle, has come and gone. Apep is defeated, which means that an unprecedented peace awaits the Library and the Librarians at last, provided of course, they stop giving in to fear and doubt and stop chasing shadows that may or may not be there, and that’s of course going to be easier said than done. They have to find a way to unify once again and look ahead rather than toward the past and if they do, well then, an era where the Library is viewed and used as a force for good can come into play and really, what gives me hope that such a thing can come about…is the fact that once again last night they were able to prove what wonders they can achieve when they work together as a team.
 
But, in the here and now, the situation is grim and my goodness, this one tugged at the heart strings. I mean come on, Flynn leaving the library is earth shattering to say the least and credit is due to writers Tom McRae, Marco Schnabel and Larry Stuckey and directors Marc Roskin and Jonathan Frakes for being able to deliver a pair of stories that managed to surprise and engage all of us. This season just continues to get better and better, and I’m truly impressed with the fact that the enemy this time is the enemy within, because that’s the hardest thing for anyone to overcome and well, with the way this pair of episodes ended, it’s going to be a long and painful wait until next Wednesday’s episode, because I am dying to know where the story goes from here. Until next time.  

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