On Willow, an encounter with Bone Reavers answers questions we weren’t asking
In an exposition-heavy episode, Kevin Pollak returns to remind fans why they loved Willow in the first place
TV Reviews Willow
Having read some of the comments about the use of anachronistic music in Willow, I already know some of you are really going to hate the beginning of this episode (and some of the other scenes, too). Personally, I don’t mind it in something like this that’s heavily referential and purposefully modern, but up until now, they’ve limited it to the end credits. It’s a bit strange waiting until episode five to incorporate it—either do it from the start or not at all.
Anyway, we start out with our heroes being chased by the Gales (the four creepy monsters who kidnapped Airk in the premiere) as rock music plays over the scene. Willow shoots fire at them using some kind of device we’ve never seen before. When Boorman voices my question out loud and asks Willow what the hell it is he just answers, “Don’t worry about it.” With the creatures closing in fast, the group’s only hope of getting away is to head into the wildwood, a place so frightening even the Gales won’t follow them there. It sounds a lot like the fire swamp in The Princess Bride, and considering this show is not shy about its pop culture homages, that’s got to be intentional. Graydon has heard that it “makes you never want to leave” and “saps your will to do anything,” yet it’s never mentioned again. That’s certainly not what happens here.
Jade is especially freaked out because the Bone Reavers who killed her parents fled into the wildwood, and may possibly still be there. In case you need a refresher, we last saw these savage warriors in skull masks in the premiere, chasing our group on horseback across a grassy plane. One of them recognized Boorman, who was supposed to be dead according to the masked rider. So that’s two characters who have some prior acquaintance with them, making it pretty much inevitable that we’ll see more of them in this episode.
Along the way, Willow continues to be the Yoda to Elora’s Luke (another non-coincidental reference, this being a Lucasfilm property and all). She’s finally making real progress and wants to try Cherlindrea’s wand, but Willow doesn’t think she’s ready yet. That’s another setup that will pay off later, but we’ll have to wait for it because the Bone Reavers have arrived. Boorman, in the midst of giving Graydon advice about women, is the first to notice they’re not alone. He tells the group to stay calm because he has a plan.
The entire party is captured and taken to the Bone Reavers’ camp. We meet a tough-looking guy named Lori (yes, it’s played for laughs), who seems to have some history with Boorman. That’s confirmed when the leader of the Bone Reavers steps up and introduces herself as Scorpia. Boorman and Scorpia used to be a thing until he supposedly perished in the Dread Mines of Skellin, an operation run by trolls in the mountains nearby. There’s bad blood there, and more than a bit of chemistry, too (she wept for him! aww!). Scorpia interrogates Boorman about how he escaped, and we get one of those unreliable narrator montages juxtaposing his story of bravery with contradictory scenes of what really happened. It’s a bit cliché, but it does include a silly slow-mo of Boorman bathing in a waterfall, so I’ll allow it. Scorpia does too because she’s no fool.
Something else that’s immediately obvious about Scorpia is that she looks a lot like Jade. The big reveal of their connection in this episode might have been more surprising on paper, but in live-action, it’s fairly obvious from the jump. Erin Kellyman has such a distinctive look that when you put her next to someone with a passing resemblance (that’s not shared by anyone else we’ve met in this world), we’re bound to see the connection coming.
So Scorpia and Jade turn out to be sisters, but the real devastating news comes when Jade finds out that their father was General Kael, founder of the Bone Reavers and loyal servant of Bavmorda. In the film, he worked with Sorsha to find baby Elora Danan until Sorsha switched sides and betrayed them. Madmartigan eventually killed him during the Battle of Nockmaar, so now Jade has to process the implications of that on top of everything else she’s going through. (How do you tell the girl you love that her father killed your father?)
There’s a lot more exposition here laying out the origins of the Bone Reavers, and some of it is even interesting—they were slaves who fought for Bavmorda because she promised them freedom, and were ultimately betrayed—but none of it seems super relevant to the story the show has been telling so far. The episode gives us some answers, but not to the questions we’ve been asking. Like: How will they ever find Airk? Who is the Withered Crone? What does she want with him? What really happened to Madmartigan? There’s not much progress here toward any of these mysteries.
Elsewhere in the camp, Graydon and Willow are locked up together until the Bone Reavers decide what to do with them. Graydon takes the opportunity to ask him for advice about wooing Elora (he previously broached the same subject with Boorman, so he’s clearly desperate for some guidance). Willow reminds him she’s the empress of the nine realms and many other important-sounding things. He says she doesn’t have time to connect with Graydon, or anyone else. I mean, even if Willow weren’t training her to fulfill her destiny, he still has a somewhat fatherly connection to her, so he’s probably the last person Graydon should be going to for love advice. He really needs some more guy friends.
Fortunately for Graydon, Willow is distracted from his line of inquiry by some tiny houses. Brownies! Remember them? Rool and Franjean—played by Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton, respectively—were the mischievous little creatures who provided the comic relief in the original film, constantly bickering in exaggerated French Canadian accents and rolling around on oversized sets. After arguing with a young Brownie named Ganush about how not every Brownie knows every other one, Kevin Pollak shows up again as Rool. It’s wonderful to have him back, though it’s sadly just for one episode. I would have liked to have seen how much better the Brownie effects could have been done with modern technology. We get a small taste of it here, and it’s not nearly enough.
While Willow is getting reacquainted with his old pal, Kit and Elora are also stuck together and forced to admit that they might not hate each other. They also have a conversation about relationships, and Kit denies that she and Jade are in love. Elora feels sorry for Jade for loving someone who can’t love her back. Kit is grumpy until Elora reveals that she stole the wand and uses it to blast a hole in the bone bars so they can escape.
Graydon and Willow also manage to escape with Rool’s help. No one is paying attention to them, though, because a celebration is underway—a homecoming party with Jade as the guest of honor. It turns out the Bone Reavers aren’t so bad. There’s a whole musical number (with choreography!) and Kit drinks a large man under the table in a very specific homage to Raiders Of The Lost Ark, while Elora gets cooking (literally) with Chalindria’s wand. Then a groovy cover of “Crimson and Clover” plays (I warned you it was coming).
Scorpia offers them something to eat, and they all oblige (far too easily). It’s maybe not the best idea to take food offered by someone who had you tied up mere minutes ago, but it furthers the plot, so that’s what they do. These magical delicacies turn out to be “truth plums.” Frankly, they could have been a lot worse. They give the characters a chance to say everything they’ve been holding back from each other so far.
Elora confronts Graydon about the memory she saw when she pulled the darkness out of him. He admits he was possessed as a kid and pushed his brother out of the tree. It’s a little weird that it’s happened to him twice now, but the show doesn’t make a big deal out of it, so maybe it isn’t one. Guess I’m not alone in wondering what Graydon’s deal is because Elora wants to know too. She asks him directly who he is, and even under the truth plum spell he can’t fully tell her. He says he’ll let her know when he figures it out. I’m starting to suspect that maybe even the writers don’t know at this point.
Under the influence of truth plums, Willow admits to Graydon that he isn’t a great sorcerer. Would it be cool for this series to show that Willow had fulfilled his lofty magical aspirations after all this time? Sure, but I think the point is that magic was never what made Willow special. His loyalty, courage, perseverance, and strong moral compass made him a character we wanted to follow on his original quest. Accepting that about himself is going to be his true arc in the series, I predict. Jade forces Kit to honestly admit she suspected the truth about her all along (what? how?) but didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to break her heart. Jade accuses her of being an expert at it, and then everything finally comes spilling out. They’re the last two people to realize they’re totally in love with each other. Finally on the same page, Kit and Jade are about to seal it with a kiss when the camp is attacked by trolls, bringing an end to the celebration and the episode.
Stray observations:
- I can’t say that the Brownies were ever my favorite part of Willow, but it was neat to see Kevin Pollak return as Rool. During the press tour to promote the series, showrunner Jon Kasdan revealed that it was the first time Pollak and Warwick Davis had ever been on set together at the same time. Their scenes in the original film were shot separately and composited in the editing room. Rick Overton was also set to return, but evidently had to back out (I haven’t seen an explanation online, but feel free to share in the comments if you have).
- Rool’s daughter Ganush, who aspires to be famous for decoupage, is played by British actress Amalia Vitale (A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon).
- Rool’s description of Graydon as a “sad angry frown prince” is hilariously spot on.
- Another fun Willow film fact relevant to this episode: Like the Eborsisk, General Kael was named after a film critic—Pauline Kael, who once wrote that Star Wars lacked a sense of wonder, calling it “an epic without a dream.” Clearly, that didn’t sit too well with George Lucas.
- Has it been mentioned before that Boorman’s first name is Thraxus? Or is that new information in this episode? Either way, I will be muttering Thraxus Relaxus at the TV for the rest of the series now.
- Next week we finally get to the Christian Slater episode. As a one-time Gen X heartthrob who continues to appear in interesting projects and hasn’t lost any of his appeals, he was a great choice for this. I’m really excited for him to join this world.
32 Comments
It’s really weird that the show is making such a big thing about the mystery of Madmartigan’s whereabouts, given that we all know his absence is because of Val Kilmer being too sick to come in and we’ll never actually see him (though he’s said he hopes to be better enough to make an appearance if there’s a second season).Well, this backstory on the Bone Reavers is certainly going to make it a lot harder to watch the scenes in the movie where we’re supposed to root for the heroes to kill the hell out of them.
Yeah, I’m really surprised they keep stressing it and the mystery.
Depressingly, the greater public at large probably have no idea about his health and I wouldn’t even be surprised if a lot of them didn’t even know he played the role. A lot these things we all know behind the scenes aren’t generally known it often turns out to be the case.
I’m guessing Top Gun: Maverick was the first time most people have seen him in a while, and he was looking really shitty in that movie and the way he was portrayed made it seem pretty obvious that they were working around his health issues. Being that a lot of people saw that movie, it’s likely not as “uncommon knowledge” as you’re thinking. That said, I have no idea how the production of the two shows/movies lined up, so maybe the Willow team didn’t realize Top Gun was going to make it so obvious when they were making the show.
I don’t think it’s weird. Madmartigan was just about as essential a part of the charm of the original film as Warwick Davis. His absence is an unfortunate and unavoidable great big gaping hole in this revival, and making a mystery of his fate is a good way to pay homage to the character’s importance. I’m happy there is a bit of plot relevance/mystery to Madmartigan, rather than just saying he died offscreen and being done with it.
Wel IMO Boorman kind of fills Madmartigan’s role from the movie. And over al I have realy liked his character. I mean so far the show has been pretty darn excellent.
Haven’t watched the episode yet, but…
General Kael was named after a film critic—Pauline Kael, who once wrote that Star Wars lacked a sense of wonder, calling it “an epic without a dream.”
I honestly don’t know what Pauline was wanting then. The way the Force is described alone gave Star Wars a sense of wonder, not to mention an ancient order of knights, a farm boy’s dreams of something more, a whole galaxy of never before seen creatures and technology.
And I assume this review was pre-internet, so Pauline wasn’t saying it just for the clicks. Just an almost objectively wrong take.
I’ve said this before, if Pauline Kael liked a film, it was probably good. If she hated it, it was *definitely* great.
Not too much different than wanting the clicks though. The “Richards” from Time and Newsweek were actively encouraged to give opposing takes. A lot of movie reviewers back then did Broadway reviews too. They knew back then that being pissy still helped sell more papers. And it wasn’t just an act. Some of these reviewers were angry assholes. And papers hired them for that very reason. Plus they watched all their films at critic’s screenings at like 10am. Siskel and Ebert talked about this once, Ebert hated “Spies Like Us” but Siskel, though agreeing with most of Ebert’s review, admitted he saw the movie at a packed house on opening weekend and just had a really fun time.Kael seeing Star Wars was probably jonesing for a cigarette every 20 minutes and/or hung over.Plus, I never could figure out why Lucas & Co would name the two-headed dragon The Ebersisk out of revenge for some bad reviews. Siskel and Ebert both loved Star Wars and Empire. They both loved Splash. I guess they went marginal thumbs-down on Night Shift. The only thing that might have upset Lucas at the time was the duo did take a flamethrower to Howard the Duck. Howard’s reviews would line up with Willow’s preproduction, so that may be it.
“‘Star Wars’ is like getting a box of Cracker Jack which is all prizes. This is the writer-director George Lucas’s own film, subject to no business interference, yet it’s a film that’s totally uninterested in anything that doesn’t connect with the mass audience. There’s no breather in the picture, no lyricism; the only attempt at beauty is in the double sunset. It’s enjoyable on its own terms, but it’s exhausting, too: like taking a pack of kids to the circus. An hour into it, children say that they’re ready to see it again; that’s because it’s an assemblage of spare parts—it has no emotional grip. ‘Star Wars’ may be the only movie in which the first time around the surprises are reassuring…. It’s an epic without a dream. But it’s probably the absence of wonder that accounts for the film’s special, huge success. The excitement of those who call it the film of the year goes way past nostalgia to the feeling that now is the time to return to childhood.” —Pauline Kael, Contrasts, The Current Cinema, September 26, 1977.
I mean, she was right about all of it. It’s grumpy, but correct.
I immediately chuckled at the use of the anachronistic music from the jump this week. This show is goofy as hell and very far from perfect but I am enjoying the heck out of it.
Yeah it’s nice that the show isn’t trying to play every thing super straight and serious. It’s a fun light hearted, mostly, fantasy romp.
General Kael was named after a film critic—Pauline Kael, who once wrote that Star Wars lacked a sense of wonder, calling it “an epic without a dream.” Of course the name “Boorman” is also related to someone in the real world. Who had his own piece of 1980’s fantasy filmmaking.
On a bit of research it seems like Vitale is probably Jewish. But the fact I had to do said research *really* makes putting a character in a fantasy show into a yellow jumpsuit with a Star of David a choice.
“Wow! If I had a nickel for every time I attacked a loved one while I was possessed by evil, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. Right?”- Graydon
Rool proclaims Graydon as the new Rool and Franjean. I’d say that Boorman is the new Madmartigan, and maybe, Kit is the new Sorsha. Is Willow still the Willow?
No, Alora’s clearly the Willow. Willow is, I guess, the wizard who became a goat?
I am still wildly bothered by the fact that the cast regularly pronounces the prince’s name as “Erik” instead of “Airk” (‘er-ick’ versus ‘air-k’). Warwick Davis seemed to have it right in ep.2, but since then they’ve all lost it.
I love how Brownies are arbitrarily Quebecois.
In the film they wore furs…like they were some French fur trappers/traders.
This show isn’t even trying to hide that it is a DnD campaign instead of pretending to be something more serious and I’m all in for it.However, while that energy has benefitted it in the prior episode, I do think here it caused it a stumble a bit simply because it is too flighty to really be able to handle the heavier revelations. I mean, for example, the Graydon revelation is a massive one and clearly haunts the character, yet it here comes across as almost a romantic comedy beat. Which is a wild choice from the creators? Or the way in which Elora finds out the truth about Willow.
Having written that, I was swooning a bit over Kit and Jade here, so at least there was that. And I still laughed a lot during this episode.
As a sidenote, while I’m still fairly certain that of two plot points to come, I’m suddenly much more uncertain how they will be done.The first is that Kit will give the Cuirass to Jade to wear instead of trying to be the hero herself. It’s just that since they did the love declaration already here, I’m wondering how they will make that moment still feel big.The second is that Airk has a darker side and that Graydon is hiding something that happened when he was abducted, but even I still think that is the direction, I genuinely odn’t know how the show would pull that off at this point.
Sadly, Rick Overton is a hardcore anti-vax nut now. (And a few other kinds of nut.) Not saying that’s definitely why he wasn’t invited back, but I certainly wouldn’t want to work with the guy.
The music, the Kit-as-Marion Ravenwood, the return of the Brownies…this IS Willow. A goofy, charming, sometimes dumb little thing, and I kinda love it.
So the setup for things in this show is so weird.The Wildwood is so scary even the Gales won’t enter…but then, it’s just some regular woods with Bone Reavers.Bone Reavers are horrible, former allies of Bavmorda who boil skulls and wear human bones as trophies…but oh, turns out they’re all big softies and we can all be friends now? Story beats come and go with no real explanation or even consistency, it’s becoming infuriating.Also, Kael and Bavmorda were objectively evil, so I don’t know about the whole redemption arc the show is trying to apparently shoehorn in with Scorpia’s revelations.And first we had denim in a medieval fantasy, and now we have Brownies wearing graphic tees. Can’t wait to see what’s next! Boorman in a mesh Von Dutch trucker cap? Kit in some combat boots? Elora Danon sporting some Chuck Taylors? Graydon wearing a cool motorcycle jacket covered in zippers?
Even by genre standards Jon Kasdan is painfully unfunny
“After arguing with a young Brownie named Ganush about how not every Brownie knows every other one”Damn that’s so fucking racist. Can’t believe the wokesters are ok with this shit
And it was at this point I realized that I was perfectly okay with never watching another episode of this ever again.
It’s weird as hell that Disney decided to spend some undoubtedly insane quantity of money to make a show that’s roughly on the level of Xena, but I have been enjoying watching it.
In regards to the anachronistic music, I remember the filmmakers of A Knight’s Tale saying they had no problem using modern music because full orchestras are also anachronistic to any film that takes place in the middle ages or earlier. (The modern symphony orchestra only started popping up around 1700.)
Was Rool’s daughter wearing an Iron Maiden shirt?