When we last left Disenchantment, our heroes—Princess Bean (Abbi Jacobson), Elfo (Nat Faxon), and Luci (Eric Andre)—were about to be burned at the stake by the impulsive, superstition-inclined Dreamland populace. Fortunately, at the last moment, they fell through the ground and landed in a catacomb populated by Trogs, a bug-eyed subterranean community under the rule of Dagmar (Sharon Horgan), Bean’s mother, who’s still trying to manipulate her daughter to fulfill her mysterious destiny. We pick up as Bean and her two comrades try to get back above ground; meanwhile, on the surface, Odval (Maurice LaMarche) and the Druidess (Tress MacNeille) continue their plot to take over Dreamland as King Zøg (John DiMaggio) recovers from his gunshot wound. When Zøg discovers their scheme and plans to re-take control, Odval and the Druidess decide to bury him alive and rid the kingdom of their enemies forever.
Little do they know that no one in Dreamland stays dead for very long, because Disenchantment’s internal logic regarding mortality, as well as the lines between medieval fantasy and other genres, remains as flexible as ever. (“I mean, people get turned to stone or burned alive, and the next thing you know, they’re walking around, no harm, no foul,” one Dreamland citizen complains before being shot in the chest with a flaming arrow.) Disenchantment’s prior commitment to maintaining the status quo—i.e., Bean and pals in Dreamland facing enemies within and beyond the kingdom walls—was enough to ensure that the series didn’t become too immersed in its own mythology, which spans multiple lands and involves numerous adversaries with ever-shifting motivations. Similarly, the series previously balanced standalone adventures against its main serialized narrative to ensure that the plot’s complexities don’t overwhelm the humor. Disenchantment tends to excel when it focuses on jokes. Generally speaking, sight gags, one-liners, and puns tend to linger in the mind longer than the particulars of various narrative strands, especially for a comedy.
Unfortunately, part one of Disenchantment’s second season (also known as “part three”) doubles down on the plot and strays further away from its comedic core. This season, Bean and Elfo (and sometimes Luci) spend relatively little time in Dreamland because they’re constantly being whisked to other lands or trying to safely return from them. This wouldn’t be a problem if these escapades weren’t primarily in service of propelling a byzantine narrative about how and why Dreamland is constantly under siege. It’s also likely why Disenchantment indulges in so much expository dialogue this season—a necessity to keep viewers abreast of the myriad conflicts. Plus, Disenchantment constantly splits up its main trio, either to sideline them in the case of Luci, or isolate them ostensibly to deepen their individual characterizations. However, much of that time is spent introducing new characters to illuminate old ones, and only a couple, like eager industrialist Alva (Richard Ayoade) and sarcastic mermaid Mora (Meredith Hagner), are interesting enough to warrant such a choice. Similarly, the series frequently digresses to explore other less interesting characters, like Bean’s Ralph Wiggum-esque half-brother Derek (MacNeille) who hits puberty while walking through an enchanted forest. In an attempt to build out the world and the rest of the bloated ensemble, Disenchantment not only shortchanges its heroes but also loses sight of what made the series modestly fun in the first place.
It’s even more dispiriting considering the too-brief moments when Disenchantment locks into gear. A two-episode return to Steamland gives the animators room to flex their muscles in a different aesthetic, like rampant mechanistic imagery and the region’s urban verticality. More importantly, the jokes ratchet up a notch as well, and include such delightful absurdities like an “educational” carnival ride that explains Steamland’s ridiculous origins, which involve a dead monk. (At one point, the ride’s voiceover confidently proclaims, “Steam! The warm, damp touch of modern life!”) It’s a potent reminder of what Disenchantment looks like when it focuses on gags instead of religiously committing to story. Alas, Bean and Elfo only voyage to Steamland in search of a traitor and leave to forgo an alliance, and once they move on, the series does as well, which irritates only because of how much time Disenchantment spends on the old conflict in the new world. It would be less of an annoyance if comedy was the main reason for such setting changes instead of setting up elements that may or may not pay off down the line.
Disenchantment’s part three will likely whet the appetites of anyone already invested in the series’ mythology or its mysteries. The 10 episodes feature plenty of callbacks to previous adventures and the return of many minor characters, which would be more amusing if they were memorable enough to have any impact. (Again, the funniest ones, like Old Man Touchy, tend to be more indelible.) But for anyone who tuned in because of the potential for it to be a gag-forward, fantasy counterpart to Futurama—a show that appropriately balanced its lore-heavy narrative and litany of inside jokes with plenty of straight-ahead amusement—will be disappointed. Disenchantment gets lost in its thicket of mythos and intrigue and forgets to come up for air.
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I found this to be largely true of the first two seasons, and it bums me out that it seems to have gotten worse.
same. I like all the characters, and the setting is really vivid and nice. even though the first season wasn’t the best TV ever, I still rewatched it 2-3 times.
Yeah- honestly I like the plot, but the jokes are definitely not that punchy.
It’s kind of a twist for a Matt Groening show to prioritize plot over jokes… but the show really cries out to be rebalanced. That said, the bit about Laundry Day in Part 2 was as good a long-form joke as anything I’ve seen on TV in the last few years. For whatever reason, Bean casually shooting a villager with a crossbow after he catcalls her to take off her boots just killed me.
It honestly feels like a mid-90s cartoon that got cancelled four episodes into its first season. That’s…that’s just the sort of tone it has for me.
There was a clear warning with how utterly woeful Bender’s Big Game was. Sure it wasn’t Beast with a Billion Backs bad, but it wasn’t far off, and I say that as someone who really does like Futurama.
Its so weird right? It feels so familiar…like my brain is programmed to laugh…but the jokes never land…EVER. And it’s not a getting older thing…in my 30s I still love Futurama, which I watched in college. This show…feels like there’s a writer missing. They aren’t copying jokes…characters yes…but the humor just doesn’t show up and the plot isn’t really that good to make up for it
Damn, I was looking forward to this. I mean, I’m still going to watch, I guess, because I’m desperate to consume, but I’ll probably end up wishing it had been a better meal.
I still have the feeling that the harsh reviews are because Disenchantment is not Futurama though it looks and feels similar. I love the series because of the Gibli levels of beautiful and imaginative backgrounds and because it really does not commit to farce, just absurdity. Will keep on watching for sure.
You’re delusional to call anything about this dull show Ghibli levels.
Fuck your ad hominems, troll. And fuck all of you who give a star when people come to a pop culture discussion to insult whoever has other tastes.
We’ll try again. There is not one piece of animation or art in this show that is even in the same atmosphere of Ghibli.There. No ad hominem. HOW you think that I don’t know, but alrighty then. You can like it. How you think it’s at such a high level I have no idea.
Well the important thing is you feel superior
because people have different tastes, maybe. The artistry in this one really gets to me. I have several “WOW” moments per episode, reminding me of some European comics as well. And I have watched a lot of anime.Imagine. Different opinions. It clicks on me. I love it. Let people love things without thinking that if this is the case they are insane. Maybe try to see why it clicks for some people and not for you. I checked your comment history and I know you have done this in the past. Just think that there is another person on the other side of the screen.
Comparing specific elements of an animated show to Studio Ghibli is not a matter of “tastes”, dude.It’s a direct analogy to one of the most storied studios in the history of animation, and yeah, people will expect you to back it up for a Groening TV show, because, like… The Simpsons is one of the most important productions in the history of animation, but if you said what you just said about this show, but about The Simpsons, people would still ask you what the hell you were thinking, because those are not the virtues of that show.And this is widely considered, by all possible measurements of “widely”, to both follow Groening and Co.’s efforts and be of a piece of them, and to be the least of those efforts. You are making an incredibly vast and sweeping claim with almost no support. When you backpedal to whining and complaining about people challenging you, you are essentially admitting you’re full of shit.
They’re right, though. There is nothing in this series that approaches the artistry of Ghibli.
LmO
I’ve never watched this show but the plot described above is already a Futurama episode, so I’ll probably never watch this show
Yo yo, I agree. I enjoy Disenchantment mainly for the characters and the design. And the design is beautiful, when you’re comparing it to all other streaming digital TV animation. The show feels comfy to me, and it uses its showpieces in specifically fantasy and illusion-driven ways, so it’s well written in spots. Where it really lacks is in the jokes, but that doesn’t bother me here. If you come to this looking for Fururama, you will be disappointed. I think I have come to enjoy it on its own terms. I don’t love it, but I enjoy enough of it.
I enjoyed the first batch more than most people, but the second half of S1 was a slog. I don’t think I’ll bother with this season.
All of these shows being written with multi-season arcs and deep continuity because that’s what people binge, right?… and they just forget to make individual episodes consistently good.
I’m not even arguing that it’s not as good as Futurama, that’s dumb. I’m arguing it’s just mediocre at best, and that’s sad.
i just finished watching and i have no idea what the hell happened, plot-wise.
the steamland episodes were nice to look at, though.
Okay so keep ignoring this and watch Futurama again on Hulu, got it
Yes.
BoJack gets the early axe, this gets made despite producing nothing but middling reviews. God I hate Netflix.
BoJack had 6 seasons.
Six seasons where the final one (and first for that matter) is pretty meh apart from the final two episodes only made because they were getting axed.Also didn’t help that it had two characters, Todd and Mr Peanutbutter, who really test your patience for the show throughout the run.
From wikipedia:Waksberg asked that, should Bojack Horseman get cancelled, Netflix warn him in advance so he could end the series properly. After the release of the fifth season, Netflix told Bob-Waksberg that the upcoming sixth season would be the show’s last. “They don’t have to do that, obviously. But I said I would appreciate it if I could have the forewarning to give the show a proper finale, and not set up some cliffhangers that will never pay off. So when they picked up season six, they said, ‘Hey, remember how you asked for that heads-up? We think that this is your heads-up.’ So I’m very grateful that we got that notice.”Doesn’t sound like it was the rush job you’re pretending it was; like it or not (I thought the final season was fine, and the finale was good), the show went out on its own terms.
Your opinion of Todd and Mr. Peanutbutter invalidates everything else you have to say about the show.
Todd is my favorite character, and if I ever meet Aaron Paul, I’m going to yell “Shut up, Todd” in order to provoke an “Awww”. I also kind of liked Mr. Peanutbutter, although I can see how his cheerfulness in the face of adversity could get a bit repetitive.
I find both unbearably awful because in a show that went into dark topics with surprising depth and warmth they’re just surface-level idiots who quite frankly are the worst people on the show.Todd by the end is basically written as so unbearably moronic I can’t tell if the creators just hate people with special needs given the way he’s written and voiced as though he has the mind of a toddler and whose dumb escapades cause several people a world of hurt while Mr Peanutbutter’s intense selfishness sees him treat women as badly as BoJack, be a corporate sellout just for likes, and literally gets at least one person killed because of his political campaign and yet neither of them face any consequences for any of it.
I felt like making Todd a literal cartoon character in a cartoon show full of real characters was an odd choice, especially since he’s also one of the first openly A-sexual characters on any television show……but also, Bojack is so relentlessly dark that without a few comic relief chracters it would almost be unwatchable.
The thing is all the other characters have light and warm moments woven in brilliantly, so there’s really no need for Todd or PB. They feel like S1 characters whose actors had expensive contracts that couldn’t be cut.Also how they spent maybe five minutes acting like they were going to do something well-done with asexuality before turning it into a fucking joke played for laughs was shitty.
Yeah for how dark that show get Todd and Mr. PB being consistently whimsical was probably deliberate. They do have to fit in the comedy section for award season after all
I see what you mean about PB but the scene where he cheerfully explains that we’re all just keeping ourselves occupied as we march to the grave, something that fills most people with existential dread, really stuck with me. Made me realize it’s possible to be cynical and optimistic at the same time. Or that PB is some kind of non-aggressive sociopath, I’m not sure.I think you are right about PB and Todd even though I love them. PB was simply Bojack’s rival/foil and Todd was his comedic sidekick. But when they tried to expand those roles it had the effect of trivializing Todd’s story while revealing PB’s charm to be only an attractive veneer. They didn’t cut the comedic bits with those two even after their character arcs undercut their hijinks.
I can’t fucking stand those Todd/Mr. Peanutbutter characters, and I couldn’t fucking stand them on Bojack.“No, but they’re funny and likeable BECAUSE they’re NOT funny and likeable, see?! It’s irony!” Fuck off. Doing something ironic is still fucking well doing it. If I kick someone in the nuts ironically that’s not gonna stop them from falling over, grabbing their crotch, and making pained coughing sounds.
…and it got cut short. Waksberg and co. were prepared to do more as they’ve said multiple times and you can see that in the final one: its first half is rushing to establish what was supposed to be the final arc of the entire show.This shit will also run for 6 seasons, only because it got Groening at the helm.
Eh, I’m fine with Bojack stopping at six. I love the show, don’t get me wrong, but there was only so much of the main character fucking up repeatedly I could take while still remaining emotionally invested. It told a complete story and had satisfying ending. It’s good for what it is.
I loved the show , but Christ! it could be depressing* .Honestly if it had gone to seven seasons either me or Bojack was going to be jumping off a ledge (*I mean in a fantastic and honest way , but still feelbad TV)
I can even sympathize with the argument that the show should have been tighter and shorter. But that just wasn’t how RBW wanted to run it. He wanted to run it for as long as possible.
Honestly , six seasons was about the right length to tell it’s story.A better argument would have been maybe Tuca and Bertie only getting one. (or in my case since I’m the only one who liked it ;Hoops)And yeah Disenchantment isn’t really pulling its weight , but theres a baked in audience from Futurama fans I guess.There’s a lot of worse shows out there though.
I keep hoping the characters and show will grow on me but I think I’ll probably just give it up. I know it’s hard to not compare to Simpsons or Futurama (the latter took a bit to grow on me as well) so I’ve been trying me best to give it some time to get its legs, but doesn’t sound like it is.
loses sight of what made the series modestly fun in the first place. First it’s sad that the bar is set to the low height of modest fun, then sad again because it fails to meet that bar.
I’m Commento!
What’s the opposite of stars, black holes? I give you black holes.
This show is an unfunny turd wasting its voice cast. For everyone saying “It’s not supposed to be Futurama!” then hey, that’s technically correct (the BEST correct) but considering Futurama is one of the greatest comedies/animated shows of all damn time, maybe it SHOULD have tried to be “Fantasy Futurama”. Who would have fucking said no to that?
Instead we get…this. At best it’s good to have on as background noise while I play a Switch game.
Bender’s Big Game is basically proof of concept that Fantasy Futurama sucks quite a bit.
As someone who hates D&D, BBG was actually the least worst movie for me. The other ones just didn’t hit the right spot – they felt like they were trying too hard.
Good call
To be fair I’d place Disenchantment on the level of post-revival Futurama (I do not enjoy post-revival Futurama).
Both varying levels of mediocrity.
The Steampunk parts make me think that this universe is bigger. MUCH bigger. As in it’s no coincidence almost everyone from the Futurama cast is here. (Hint, hint)
I think we’re at the point where we have to just admit that this show isn’t going to suddenly get better. They’ve had plenty of time now to find their feet, and it’s just continued to be mediocre, despite a great cast and decent writing talent.
I’ve yet to watch this latest season, but it’s issues appear largely identical to those of parts one and two.Disenchantment always felt like a show that was produced first and foremost with lore-hungry nerds in mind. The Futurama (snore) fans who wanted more metanarrative. For whom Rick & Morty (ugh) and Steven Universe (*shrug*) had already proven the viability of said approach.Disenchantment just feels like it shamelessly capitalizes on all of the above while simultaneously cashing in on the largely undeserved legacy of its creator.None of which would be bad if the results weren’t so resoundingly meh.
I’ve yet to watch this latest season
Nobody’s watched this latest season. It comes out Friday. That’s why I hate these pre-release reviews.
Honestly curious which animated shows you love (as opposed to “shrug” at). Not to disagree with your monosyllabic assessments, I really am curious. Old Simpsons? King of the Hill?
The important thing is you feel superior.
no idea what this is referring to.
Yea odd remarks there by that guy. Those are all different shows renowned for a variety of genre defining qualities.Literally what does he like, sailor moon? Voltron? Late season family guy?
The Simpsons through season eight. (Through season eleven with caveats.) Futurama never did a thing for me. Truth be told, you could take my original post, swap ‘Disenchantment’ with ‘Futurama’, and have a mostly accurate assessment of my feelings on the topic. Again, it just felt like a program made with a specific type of nerd in mind. For whom anything they enjoy is the quote Best. [Insert Thing Here]. Ever. Unquote. But, again, a lot of the above is joined at the hip with my opinions on Matt Groening and what I feel to be is his grossly undeserved clout.Also, The Critic. Cromartie High School. (Urusei Yatsura for the more old school anime absurdism as well.) Archer. Aqua Teen Hunger Force. (Though, in general, I don’t love the Adult Swim approach of ‘Hey, Aqua Teens and Tim & Eric worked, so let’s make all of our programming like that except less good.’)Adore She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (and am bummed that He-Man won’t be getting handled by the same team). I *shrug* at Steven Universe because, while the show does nothing for me, I’m very much not the target demo for either it or She-Ra. So I try to keep any opinions in check as, again, they are programming aimed primarily at children.BoJack Horseman was a revelation.Big Mouth overstayed its welcome by a season and a half and feels increasingly like Family Guy in structure with each passing episode.Run very hot and cold and Bob’s Burgers. Haven’t watched the show in at least two years.Loved Beavis & Butthead, but always found King of the Hill painfully dull. Have no opinion one way or the other on Daria.Am a huge fan of Ren & Stimpy, but have grown to retroactively detest a lot of what it spawned. Up to and including ‘Tumblr nose’.Used to enjoy South Park when I was, like, nineteen or twenty. Grew out of it. Now I just hate both it and its creators for their collective roll in the rise of the alt-right.I loathe Family Guy and everything associated with it to a likely unhealthy degree.The fans killed Rick & Morty for me. In a vacuum, I do/did enjoy the show.
Simpsons goes up to Season 9 for me. Death of Maude is what truly killed the show. “Realty Bites” is one of my favorite episodes and that one is Season 9.
Oh, it’s not that I think there isn’t plenty of worthwhile stuff in seasons nine and ten. Even season eleven has a few bangers. Enough to be worth owning, at least. Twelve is…watchable…and still better than a majority of what followed, but it was also when all of the shittier tendencies which started cropping up in season nine had fully calcified.But, yeah, Homer to the Max is season ten and feels more like season eight’s lost episode.And while it was The Principle and the Pauper where The Simpsons personally jumped the shark for me, I vividly recall watching season nine as it aired and being struck by just how sharp of a decline it felt like in comparison to the previous handful of seasons (I think I laughed once my entire first viewing of Treehouse of Horror VIII). And it’s weird because, watching seasons eight and nine back to back today, the turn is noticeable, but feels nowhere near as dramatic as it did back in ‘97-’98. I guess when you go from strength to strength as that show did for its entire early run – but seasons five through eight in particular – even a slight drop in quality will feel massive at the time. And for my money, seasons seven and eight of The Simpsons has yet to be topped by any other animated comedy. I mean, I rewatched those two seasons recently – having not viewed them in years – and it floored me how fresh and biting a majority of the satire still felt. But I guess that’s what happens when an extremely forward thinking comedy runs headlong into America’s rapid decline into fascism.
But, again, a lot of the above is joined at the hip with my opinions on Matt Groening and what I feel to be is his grossly undeserved clout.Seconded. I love Futurama. It’s one of my favorite comedies and animated shows.
Do you like…anything?
Your comment is deeply depressing given the one to which you’re replying
I like plenty of stuff. I just happen to not enjoy Futurama, have no major opinion on Steven Universe one way or the other, and actually enjoyed Rick & Morty until the fans killed that one for me.
Another review where the reviewer clearly hates what they’re reviewing.
PremieresFriday, January 15 on NetflixI’m really getting tired of this. I don’t give a shit if it’s standard practice industry-wide or not.STOP WRITING ABOUT SHIT BEFORE IT COMES OUT! NOBODY ELSE HAS HAD A CHANCE TO SEE IT YET!I’m not complaining about spoilers. Pre-release reviews aren’t a common place to finder spoilers anyway. But keep your fucking opinion to yourself until the rest of us have had a chance to form an opinion of our own.This should’ve been published on Jan. 16.
I believe you’re totally missing the point of both a review and a preview …
I’m shocked. Shocked. Well, not that shocked.
YOU BINGE-WATCHED IT, YOU CAN’T UN-BINGE-WATCH IT.Stay tuned for more…TALES! OF! DISINTEREST!
I watched the first two parts but have already forgotten a lot? Wasn’t the elf turning into a goddamn incel or something? And did they ever say what he was, half elf half-something? I’m not sure if I’ll watch to find out because everything in this review was true of the first parts and it sounds like it’s gotten worse. If I do it’ll be for Eric Andre’s demon cat shadow thing.
No they will probably reveal whatever Elfo’s thing really is in part 6 when the only people watching are reviewers… and me
Honestly, every time I watch an episode of Disenchantment (jeez, what a prophetic title), I forget who the characters are and their back stories. Seems like there’s a lot of “comedy” going on in each episode, but all I ever feel is lost and bored.
What I really don’t understand about the “we must serialize so subscribers will binge!” approach to streaming content is that the towering successes and plumb prizes of the streaming world are all heavily episodic long-running network sitcoms.
It’s unfortunate that it isn’t that good, because it is absolutely gorgeous to look at.
Strangely enough, Covid has made me more picky about this kind of thoroughly mediocre TV. The first two parts of Disenchantment were basically instant watches for the pedigree of the creatives behind it, but I just don’t feel any inclination to watch this one immediately. It’s not bad, but there’s not much about the show that sticks in my memory other than than Bean and Elfo recreating the most excruciating version possible of the Fry/Leela dynamic.
Disenchantment has always been way too plot focused and not nearly funny enough. Futurama had plenty of plot (and ever a serialized arc at times) but always brought the funny. Luci and Zog are the best of the core group at being more consistently funny but this is definitely the weakest link in the Groeningverse.
A few things. My late mom’s name was Agatha, so I found the name of the main fairy “Sagatha”….hilarious-I have a feeling my mom would have felt a little insulted but would have laughed as well.I did like the side-trip to Steamland, the freak show on the pier had some interesting displays like “Congress of Squirrels” and “The Incredibly Lost Customer”.It was also good to see them taking advantage of the 4K more with the detail in the distant establishing shots.
I’m on a weird level where I don’t find this series funny, but there’s just something about the aesthetic and the characters, and even the story, that it’s comforting, even when the humor felt way more miss than hit this season.And while to a degree I am enjoying the plot more than the humor, 3 parts in it just feels they are dragging them too much, and a lot of set up that has yet to pay off.There are some pieces that aren’t clicking, and I really hoped that by part 3 they did; the show is managing to do great by its characters and their relationships, of all the things, but the humor and the constant mysteries that are -admittedly- being figured on the fly are bringing the whole thing now.But yeah, still enjoyable, and most of it, it feels genuine in a way I forgive a lot -unlike the disappointment The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina left me with.I still want more Disenchantment, but with how it is going, I’d rather they lowered the humor and tightened the plot, because the truly standing out moments have been about the characters relationships.
Yeah I do like the plot and the music’s great, the jokes just tend to fall flat. I liked the episodes with the mermaid romance/dream and where Derek has his coming of age in the forest. I think a C is fair though bc it is trying to be funny we’re just not laughing. It feels like they need another person in writers room to handle the gags. The plot does make more sense than Chilling Adventures of Sabrina though
as always top notch voice casting from the dream team of british Comedylet’s see.. Matt Berry; Rich Fulcher; Richard Ayoade; Noel Fielding. It’s crazy how you instantly recognise them.
Also Eric Andre; and Abbi Jacobson. they all work very well.
2 episodes in and this season is kind of dull so far
Thanks Vikram! You really nailed it.
I would even go one step further and dare say: all those new characters popping up are pressing the life out of the exisiting ones, culminating in Luci being relegated from a main character to a boring sidekick.
Part 3 was no longer any fun to watch – let alone funny. It seems to me that the authors have totally lost control of the plot and don’t really know where it’s going anymore themselves, making it up as they go along, episode per episode. And the whole is totally running away from them as the plot gets more illogical and convoluted over time.