While Zøg is away due to an illness, Bean seizes her opportunity to throw a wild party at the castle, but uninvited guests cause mayhem. Bean sneaks a man into her room to start the episode, but he is horrified to learn she is the princess and leaves, fearful of Zøg's retribution.
With Bean upset that she can't be normal because everyone fears her dad, Luci suggests she kill Zøg just before he arrives. He leaves when she says she's making murder plans with her cat, and laments that her life will probably just be her and her "cat" forever. In a somewhat surprising moment, we see Sorcerio and Odval making secret plans to have some sort of meeting once Zøg is gone, using comical and intentionally bad code words when they realize Elfo could be listening. Zøg arrives and we see that Elfo indeed heard and almost gives them away, but Odval covers for him. A bored Bean sits disgusted by her Zøg as he eats, but he notices his water is disgusting when a boy brings him a cup. The local well has a dead horse in it, so Odval summons the plumber and Zøg expresses his disappointment by pulling a lever to reveal a trap door. Zøg goes on a strange rant about how no one will get him to drink polluted water, but distracts his mind and takes a swig, immediately causing him distress. As the well is quarantined, Zøg is lifted to a wagon with his son and wife, the latter explaining to Bean that they're taking him to a spa. Bean urges him to stay as long as possible, and Zøg puts Odval in charge while he's gone. His request that Odval "keep his eyes" on Bean and company turns out to be more accurate than normal, as Odval has a third eye on his forehead. On the way out, Zøg declares he'll cut off Elfo's arms, then changes it to both when Elfo says his right arm is the lucky one. Odval stops them from speaking negatively about the king, talking like a typical advisor, only to start laughing and reveal he was faking until Zøg was out of the gates. Bean tosses her tiara and everyone starts cheering, making Zøg think they are cheering for his health. With Zøg out of the way, Bean decides to throw a party, and though Elfo is initially afraid due to the king's threat, Luci hints that he could hook up with Bean,l so he changes his mind. After one of the more gross-out jokes, we cut to Zøg, who finds he is chained to a bed and apparently being "cared for" by a crazy non-employee named Chazz. Bean crosses Dreamland men from the list, due to their fear of Zøg and being plague-ridden, and Luci tries to force Elfo into admitting how he feels for her. Word of the party gets out in modern wording but old style, partially from carrier turkeys being sent around. Though the crier tells people not to let everyone know, Bean even invites prisoners and some fairies light up the sky with a banner about the party. Bean is surprised to learn some of Merkimer's soldiers are a band, and Elfo becomes frustrated when she talks about how cute he is in a baby-ish way. Once the lights are going, Bean opens the gates and is surprised to see no one, but it turns out there is a scenic painting of the town hanging behind the drawbridge, which is hiding a crowd of party goers. With everyone arriving, Sorcerio and Odval are able to sneak a group of people down below, and prepare for their "Seekers" meeting by getting naked. Despite her efforts to hit on anyone at the party, Bean keeps getting shot down because everyone recognizes her in a montage where she gets more and more visibly depressed. Elfo is covering his feelings by eating all the cheese at a platter, but Luci convinces him to go for his chance with Bean. A group of vikings pulls in outside, and as a guard goes off on a tangent about what's possible in a fantasy world, they kill him and park their ship. Elfo struggles to explain to Bean that he didn't realize his height was odd in the normal world and he likes her. She begins to return his feelings, but the vikings entering interrupts them, though they're surprisingly there to party as well. Meanwhile, Chazz continues torturing Zøg, bringing in a "Feeling Stick" with the rule only the holder can speak, occasionally smacking the king with it. A jealous Elfo tries to end the party and becomes further enraged as Bean hits it off with a viking, Sven, who takes a seat on the throne. Bean continues flirting, trying to hide her status as the princess, and Elfo heads downstairs to ask for Odval's help. Odval, however, says they are in a secret group he can't see that oversees kingdoms and he is busy. In Bean's room, she pretends Bunty is the princess and heads to the bed with Sven, while downstairs Elfo learns she is unchaperoned and yells at Luci. He interrupts Bean's fun with Sven, who offers Elfo a seat to release his anger, and Bean's ruse comes undone when she tells Elfo to leave her room. He smugly notes that she can't kill him since Zøg is trying to create the elixir of life, and the viking suddenly decides he wants it as well. Her night ruined, Bean says Elfo is like her dad and they go downstairs, finding the vikings slaughtered everyone and Sven on the throne. With Sven seizing control and Zøg returning after learning the "lunatic" was part of an odd treatment, Bean has to think fast to get everything in order before he gets back. This episode focuses, at least early on, with the subject of how everyone truly sees their king when he's not around to hear them. In particular, Odval seemed to at least go along with things Zøg said and did, and Sorcerio came off as too crazy to understand how bad Zøg was. Yet in their planning scene, they give him derogatory names and obviously have something going on behind the scenes, since they're apparently part of the fantasy world's Illuminati. It's entertaining to see Zøg get some comeuppance for his actions, and his torturer is entertaining while doing so. Bean's romp at the castle makes things really a non-typical form of the classic "parents are gone, time to party" trope. Whereas normally characters end up losing control of the party and some jerk becomes the head pain before they can clean things up, here there is a a man literally usurping her family's power. Along with the problem of needing to clean up, Bean also has to "clean up" in that she must get rid of Sven and his hoard before Zøg arrives. This, to me, is one aspect of Matt Groening's style that I think has served him well in the past. Like with Futurama, the series is taking mundane ideas and overdone tropes, and using them in different ways. Now sometimes it isn't taken far enough, making the show at times feel like any other non-typical fantasy, but at it's best moments, it does. Princess who wants "more" and adventure from her life? She's a drunkard nymphomaniac, and another character wants to experience misery. Party while the parents are gone? Literal vikings attack and kill everyone at the party, leaving you to defeat them. One thing that is still rather than one-note, sad to say, is Zøg, who doesn't have much going for his character other than "weird, violent king unfit to rule." We got a hint of something when he expressed sadness over his first wife, and it's different how he gave Bean the chance to determine her own fate. But other than that, all the great John Dimaggio gets is an oaf who likes to scream, even if it provides him with some great lines. Other than that, I'm happy to keep watching to see where Bean goes now that we have stories including a pig-prince, a secret organization, and a viking aftermath.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
April 2020
Categories
All
|