The Librarians: The Next Chapter Episode 8 Review’ Best Episodes

Warning: SPOILERS forThe Librarians: The Next Chapterseason 1, episode 8, “And the Hangover from Hell.”

Despite recalling one of the original series’ best features,The Librarians: The Next Chapterepisode 8 struggles with a few too many pacing issues to really set itself apart.The Librarians: The Next Chaptercasthave already faced large enough issues to have uncovered a sense of identity by now, but the spinoff is still haphazardly getting to know them.

The latest episode’s focus onOlivia Morris' Lysa Pascalcertainly feels sensible, asLysa and Charlie remain the two least explored characters in the spinoff’s main cast. But, while it’s great to see Lysa getting more focus ahead ofThe Librarians: The Next Chapterseason 2, magic unfortunately takes a backseat to the episode’s meandering story structure.

The Librarians: The Next Chapter Episode 8 Falls Short Of Recalling The Original Series’ Alternate Universe Episodes

Its Noir & Spy Movie Sequences Feel Like They Were Meant For A Different Episode

Thebest episodes ofThe Librariansoften accomplish any of three things.The Librarians: The Next Chapterepisode 8, “And the Hangover from Hell,” builds out the characters’ personalities through imagined alternate versions of them, combining two strengths common to the original series’ alternate reality plotlines. Unfortunately, the episode’s magical threat fails to inspire much awe in the show’s universe.

Beginning in medias res as the characters are violently attacked by an unseen foe, the episode certainly appears ready to deliver a death-defying mystery. Butthe action halts almost immediately when Vikram decides the gang needs to recall the full story leading up to the opening scenebefore confronting the villain. For unclear reasons, said villain allows time for this.

After Vikram and Lysa establish that they’ve all lost their memories during a bachelorette party Lysa was throwing for her best friend Suki,each character remembers various pieces of the story filtered through their favorite movie aesthetic. Charlie sees the world as a moody noir mystery, while Connor sees himself as the main character in a 007-style spy movie.

There are plenty ofdifferences betweenThe LibrariansandThe Next Chapter, but one that immediately becomes notable here is thatthe “alternate universes” presented in the episode aren’t created by magic’s effect on the characters. Connor is very much aware that he did not seduce a soon-to-be-married woman or scale the outside of a building with a rope gun.

While fun, this detail presents two problems. First, since the characters know they’re telling a generally mundane story,none of their versions make the most of the film style they’ve decided to attach to each character. Other than costumes and the occasional line of dialogue, nothing interesting happens genre-wise to substantially differentiate Lysa’s rom-com memory from Charlie’s private eye fantasy.

This makes it hard to become fully invested in each character’s fantasy sequence.Each aesthetic feels irrelevant to the story its sequence is telling, like they were merely swept off the cutting room floor after episode 6 decided to go with its Agatha Christie vibe. Charlie and Connor’s visual styles feel especially like photo filters applied to otherwise unremarkable selfies.

What makes this choice particularly baffling is thatConnor surmises early on that their memories are indeed being affected by magic. This means the episode absolutely could have leaned into its aesthetics harder. But the episode’s pacing leaves little room for that, as the mystery of the magical threat takes a backseat to the mystery of who ruined Suki’s party.

Naturally,both mysteries are solved around the same time, but the result’s a bit clunky and unrewarding. Despite being told through the rom-com-tinted goggles of Lysa’s apparently pink-obsessed memory, her story largely turns out to be the truest version of events. The final reveal’s changes are so minimal as to feel roughly shoved in to resolve a mild plot discrepancy.

Finally, it made sense whenever one character inThe Librariansfelt left out of an alternate reality episode. They were usually the one visiting said reality. However,there’s no reason not to see Vikram’s version of events other than runtime. This episode desperately needed more magic. Seeing the world through Vikram’s eyes would have been a natural means of delivering.

Lysa Feels Too Much Like An Underutilized Side Character In Her Own Episode

The Librarians: The Next Chapter Still Hasn’t Said Much About Her Background

One of the greater strengths ofThe Librarians: The Next Chapterepisode 8 is that it continues building the spinoff’s unique identity. Rather than being overly reliant onThe Librarianscameos inThe Next Chapter,the spinoff has been doing a great job of establishing its new annex’s team as worthy of their own spotlight. That largely continues here.

The problem is that, aside from the fact there’s been little to establish the characters as people who’d see themselves in each sequence’s genre,Lysa’s part in the story is undercut by Charlie and Connor receiving so much early focus. Their stories rely on conversations overheard between Lysa and Suki, with Lysa demonstrating little real agency until the third act.

One particular reveal illustrates this problem toward the episode’s conclusion, during whichSuki makes a startling revelation about her friendship with Lysa that shines new light on Lysa’s background. Sadly, Lysa’s personal life and history with Suki don’t receive enough focus to give this reveal the impact it might have had if there’d been more in-depth exploration of her character.

Episode 7 revealed tons of information about Connor’s life before the Library and those he left behind.The Librarians: The Next Chapterwas right to give Lysa a similar episode. Unfortunately, she’s so overlooked amid other characters’ sight gags and storytelling affectations that it ends with the story barely having cracked the surface of what truly makes Lysa tick.