In the sixth episode of the first season of Galavant, both Galavant and Richard come to important epiphanies right as Madalena’s secret guest arrives. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Galavant.Â
None of this is going as I expected! I WASN’T READY FOR THAT LAST TWIST.
The Truth
I’m noticing that Galavant, particularly when it comes to women, has a hard time hearing the truth. (The same is true of Richard, of course.) The opening duet of “Dungeons and Dragon Lady†is beautiful and hilarious, and it also DIRECTLY spells out how Madalena feels about Galavant. She’s attracted to him, she loves the idea of keeping him around to use when she wants, but she certainly does not love him the way he loves her. She never will! She’s an opportunist who has gotten a taste for power. Galavant’s idea of love (and how it manifests) is far more romantic and affectionate, and it makes him incompatible with her. And yet, he still held out hope. He does for a significant portion of the episode! He believes that there’s a chance she will reciprocate his affection, and it’s all despite the fact that she literally puts him back in the dungeon. Oh, Galavant, it’s so OBVIOUS.Â
Which is precisely what I’d say about the growing romance between Isabella and Galavant. As funny and silly as this show can be—look no further than that decoupaged stool for evidence of that—it’s also remarkably sweet. I liked that Galavant more or less forgave Isabella because he understood that she betrayed him out of love for her parents. He sees himself in that act! Didn’t he just travel hundreds of miles and overcome some really weird odds in order to try and make a final attempt to win over the woman of his dreams? So he gets it. Love can make you do silly or complicated things. Yet through it all, Isabella did support him. For messed up reasons, yes, but there’s a clear contrast here that Madalena points out before their big duet together. Galavant is pining after a woman who rejected him before, who openly opposes him, who doesn’t support or believe in him, and who, in practically every respect, is an antagonist. It’s Isabella who has been all the things he has actually wanted! (I want y’all to know I quietly expected the camera to pan over to Sid right before this reveal because… well, he fits the bill, too. I SHIP IT.)Â
I’m real excited to see what comes next for these two.
The Source
Meanwhile, Richard gets an epiphany of his own, though it is achieved through much, much sillier means. I’m not personally a Ricky Gervais fan, but his role here is small and hilarious, and it helped that he didn’t go on the journey that Chef and Richard did. I’ve greatly enjoyed how openly anachronistic Galavant is, and this is no exception. The show deliberately calls to a hippie, pothead aesthetic here in Xanax, a “wizard†who has a “laboratory†above his mother’s home. He’s just dealing drugs that send his buyers on weird trips, and this one, directed by Richard’s desire to discover why he is the way he is, features some hilarious imagery and reveals Richard’s initial humiliation.Â
I don’t feel compelled to be too serious about Galavant, but it’s clear that even in this world, there’s still the same system of patriarchy and masculinity that we’ve got. Richard suffered from it, too. He wasn’t as aggressive or “manly†as his older brother, Kingsley, so from the first moment he was crowned king, his older brother upstaged him and embarrassed him. Thus, he was always second choice, the reject, the odd one out, and it manifests in Richard’s combination of social awkwardness and desperation for validity. WHICH I UNDERSTAND DEEPLY. Welcome to like the first twenty-odd years of my life??? When you’re not the center of attention—and particularly when you’ve got other siblings who are—it’s really hard to not crave external validation. Granted, I didn’t grow up to ransack a country and murder 90% of their population. I made some terrible decisions, but nothing that bad. So this doesn’t exonerate Richard by any means; it just explains him. It gives us an idea why he is the way he is, just as he set out to find.
WHICH MADALENA IMMEDIATELY UNDOES WHEN SHE REVEALS SHE INVITED KINGSLEY TO COME BACK HOME. Oh my god, Rutger Hauer????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME. This is going to be a disaster LIKE SO MANY DISASTERS BEFORE.
The video for “Dungeons and Dragons Lady†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
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