In the third episode of Galavant<\/i>, the team takes a detour and meets Sid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family, who are\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 unexpected, to say the least. Meanwhile, King Richard comes up with a way to entertain the Valencians. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Galavant<\/i>.<\/p>\n
I HAVE LOTS TO SAY, LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GO.<\/p>\n
King Richard<\/b><\/p>\n
The parallel here, of course, is that there are two celebrations thrown in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Two Balls,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d both of which skirt the truth. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re built entirely on lies! But Richard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s is demonstrably more horrible than Sid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, especially since he tries to entertain the people he has conquered and slaughtered by\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 reminding them that he conquered him and slaughtered them. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bit grim at times, but it felt like it was building off a very real practice where despots or dictators derive entertainment from this sort of teasing. The casual reminder of the brutality he enacted is portrayed a little differently, of course, because Richard is often clueless as to the ramifications of anything he does. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so lost in his interpretation of the world that he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t empathize with anyone else. To him, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing more thrilling than a ball with dancing! With music! With food!<\/p>\n
And then he systematically ruins each of these things. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to note that he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do any of this with the expressed purpose of making the Valencians feel better. No, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more concerned with winning his wife over, which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 historically has not worked? Ever? In any context? Literally nothing he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever done has made her even tolerate<\/i> him for more than an hour??? So that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one reason why his behavior is so careless and cruel! He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think about how setting all the remaining food on fire<\/i> is probably a bad idea. (Seriously, is there going to be any<\/i> food left in future episodes? Well, there certainly won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be any vegetables.) Then, when he recruits the executioners to provide music, it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t objectionable to him that all they sing about is the grim future that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s waiting for all these people. For what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth, their song was way catchier than I expected??? So there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that? Even the dance they do (which I thought was a clever nod to The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/i>) is full of misery and despair.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the end, it cheers up no one, at least not until Richard begs the Valencians to just tell him the truth. WHICH ALSO GOES AWRY IN LIKE 60 SECONDS WHEN THE EUNUCH REVEALS THAT RICHARD\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S WIFE IS HOOKING UP WITH THE JESTER. Oh my god, everything about this plot was a disaster, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.<\/p>\n Sid<\/b><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/span>So, some repetition from what I said on video, but this is important to me. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m used to characters like Sid being perpetual sidekicks, and I admit that I braced myself for more of the same here. On that not alone, I was surprised that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Two Balls\u00e2\u20ac\u009d so quickly gave us an entire backstory and focused episode on Sidney, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sweet, hilarious, and the sort of thing I wish other shows did as well. Right from the start, Galavant<\/i> makes him a full character, and I appreciate that so much.<\/p>\n But I love this episode for another reason: this is probably the only transracial adoptee character and storyline that I have ever seen on a major network television show. Sid was adoptee by white Jewish parents, and none of this is portrayed as odd, terrible, or worthy of ridicule. As far as I could tell, none of these jokes were at the expense<\/i> of these people, but rather, this all was an exploration of Sid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s loving and over-excited parents. The humor, for me, wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about the conflict in the difference of cultures. For Sid, this is<\/i> his culture. Instead, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worried that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s woven too many fairy tales about his life and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll disappoint everyone in his village.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a remarkably sweet story, and it helps that amidst this, Galavant learns an important lesson about what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been like for Sidney to be his squire. The role reversal trope is common, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen it done with such kindness<\/i> before. I love the song that the squires sing, how reluctant Galavant was to join in, and then watching him realize that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve all been describing him<\/i>. That realization leads to MY FAVORITE SCENE IN THE SERIES SO FAR. I love how Galavant both thanks Sidney and then encourages him to be himself. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proud of what Sid has done in his life, and surely Sid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parents will feel exactly the same way.<\/p>\n I LOVED THIS EPISODE SO MUCH, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL.<\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Two Balls\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the third episode of Galavant, the team takes a detour and meets Sid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family, who are\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 unexpected, to say the least. Meanwhile, King Richard comes up with a way to entertain the Valencians. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark … Continue reading