‘Time Bandits’ Recap: ‘Georgian’ & ‘Mansa Musa’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Lisa Kudrow, Kal-El Tuck, and Tading Murphy as Penelope, Kevin, and Alto in Episode 106 of ‘Time Bandits’ – ‘Mansa Musa’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episodes Five and Six of ‘Time Bandits’. To revisit the previous episodes, click here.
​
One particular aspect of life that we prefer to avoid at every turn, is failure. Simply because failure leaves an awful taste in one’s mouth, and it really is seen in quite the negative light in modern society. As though going that route makes one less than who they are, and that failure will somehow set one back in life. But that is simply silly thinking when it comes to failure. For it something that is quite important to our growth. Because failure teaches us a great deal about who we are, what we really want out of life, and who we need to keep within it. Plus, it really does help us to grow accordingly, so we should in fact… embrace it, regardless of how it makes us feel.

If anything, failure, and the healthy nature of it, is top of mind today… simply because it was featured in the next two episodes of Time Bandits. Which gave the bandits a chance to grow and begin to embrace a better way and they experienced failure… in all kinds of unique ways. First, by missing out on something simple, food. For they were stuck for quite some time without it in ‘Georgian’, and that informed them of how little they did from a survival standpoint and once they did eat with gusto, they found themselves facing off against unexpected Georgian foes, such as the Earl of Sandwich. Who they managed to escape in a wild manner, but truly… this was a grand failure. For they failed to secure the basics and failed to have a general plan and that led to more failure and chaos.

Because on their way to their next destination in ‘Mansa Musa’, they outright lost Judy because they entered a portal they likely should not have. Which left them in an emotionally compromised state and forced so many to handle truths they didn’t want to face about themselves. Such as how they hadn’t dedicated themselves to the journey, and the finer details of time travel, and how they might not be the best thieves possible. Since Mansa Musa and his guards knew what the bandits were up to. Plus, they learned they hadn’t really embraced one another as a team yet, not properly that is, until they nearly lost Kevin as Mansa’s advisor upon future matters. But all of those mistakes, all of those failures, did them well. Because it taught them, they had to be better, and cherish each other, and those lessons stuck.

Since everyone walked out of this experience, transformed and eager to be more and that’s a wonderful thing. Because there is a lot of darkness working around them. After all, Pure Evil’s scary, yet delightfully British assassin, Fianna, was hot on their trail and continued to the close the gap in her efforts to capture them. In fact, had it not been for that sweet dog, they might have been in her clutches. Plus, the Supreme Being has Judy, and no good can come of that, since He is clearly laser focused on bringing Earth 2.0 to life. All of which means that time and space needs some outright heroes at the moment. People that can accomplish wonders and save lives untold and it would really seem, that the Time Bandits are about to fall into that role. Courtesy of these episodes.

But while we wait to see what lie ahead for them and what comes from the surprises sent our way here, we can celebrate two dynamic and delightful episodes. The kind that once again, made with the funny. Because all of the twists and turns regarding the Earl of Sandwich and his love of pineapples was simply amazing. Plus, the gags in Mansa Musa’s time also worked, especially the ones regarding how the rest of the world was viewed in that era. Plus, we learned again. Since this writer knew nothing of Mansa in the slightest but does now and may look into more about his life. Because that’s what this show does. But above all, it really does appear as though the hero’s journey has begun, and it will be interesting to see how the Time Bandits continue to grow as this journey continues to unfold. Until next time.

---

Watch ‘Time Bandits’

Powered by JustWatch