Christian Slater guest stars in an exciting hour of Willow
Val Kilmer may not be returning, but Christian Slater is the next best thing as Willow reveals Madmartigan's fate (sort of)
TV Reviews Christian Slater
Christian Slater’s long-awaited Willow episode is here at last. For viewers of a certain age, or anyone familiar with his filmography, this is a pretty big deal. In the ‘80s, he was known for playing iconoclastic characters in films like Heathers and Pump Up The Volume, so bringing him on board a series based on a movie from that era makes sense. Up until now, we had Boorman filling in for Madmartigan as the wisecracking warrior of the group. Slater’s character is similar in tone, but he adds a new energy to the show, and there’s plenty of room for both of them. It’s just too bad they couldn’t get him for the whole series. (I prefer to think it was a scheduling issue rather than the creative team’s choice to have him in only one episode, because who wouldn’t want Slater as a regular?). He plays Allagash, who was briefly name-checked in the previous episode so it should sound familiar when we finally meet him here.
Before we meet him, we see the trolls leading Kit and Willow through the mine. It’s a massive operation, and there are many other captives here—both Daikini and Nelwyn—working as slave labor. Kit and Willow aren’t put to work, though. They’re thrown into a crow’s cage, just like the one Willow found Madmartigan in at the crossroads all those years ago. Kit is sure they can work together to find a way out, but a skeptical voice interrupts her with a laugh. Christian Slater has entered the chat.
He tells Willow and Kit that he’s been imprisoned for 10 years, give or take (apparently we’re now counting in years instead of moons, which was the only time reference up until this point). He tried to escape many times, but gave up hope long ago. “I suppose in the end, it’s hope that really breaks your spirit,” he says, giving the opposite of an inspirational pep talk. As a clever bit of meta misdirection, he introduces himself as Madmartigan.
Before we can get more clarity on that, the trio is joined by a surprisingly articulate troll who introduces himself as Lord Sarris, chief administrator at Skellin. These trolls are a vastly different species than the feral monsters we met at Tir Asleen in the original. They’ve evolved into bureaucrats, and even have upper and lower managers. Sarris continues: “This ill-tempered crank on my left is my brother, Falken. Say hello, Falken.” I kind of like this new take on the trolls. I mean, they’re nasty villains, and Sarris is outright rude to Willow, but they’re weird and funny, without the humor being forced. Sarris asks Kit who she is and she tells him—maybe those truth plums haven’t worn off yet. He tells them to settle in because no one is coming to save them. He’s wrong, of course.
The rest of the party is outside at that moment, formulating a plan to break them out. Boorman wants to go alone, but they all insist on going in together. Scorpia, who’s joined the quest for the moment, asks Boorman how he got out the last time when he slaughtered all those trolls. He has to admit he didn’t slaughter them so much as he “slaughtered their pizzazz.” They still seem pretty pizzazzy to me. Boorman leads them through the sewers, which is the actual and unglamorous way he got out the last time.
Sarris has Kit tied to a chair while he goes on about how great the Crone is. Is she the eldritch nightmare that people make her out to be? Yes, but she has some positive qualities too. She taught them how to refine the vermiscus, the evil goo at the bottom of the mine, and how to make an elixir that is presumably the cause of their evolution. As servants of the Crone, they’re preoccupied with the same question she is: Where is Elora Danan? Little do they know, she’s currently sneaking into the mine a few floors below.
Elora’s powers are growing rapidly due to the proximity of the vermiscus. She’s hearing things and causing the whole cave to shake. As they try to sneak past the trolls, Graydon wants to clarify some things that were left unsettled with Elora. She doesn’t want to have the feelings conversation at that moment, and she has a point. It’s underscored by the way their conversation is framed in the foreground with a big fight scene going on behind them. Graydon also casually reveals what his father whispered to him before they left on the quest. I had totally forgotten about that, to be honest, though it seemed important at the time. He told him to kill Boorman. But Graydon never intended to go through with it (as if he could). Everyone gets distracted when they notice the glowing goo is reacting to Elora’s presence and lighting up Cherlindrea’s wand. She’s losing control of her powers.
Willow tells Christian Slater that he knows he’s not Madmartigan. He carries on the act for as long as he can but ultimately admits he isn’t. Willow knows that he’s Allagash. Kit recognizes the name and recalls her father telling her he was “the only knight in Galladoorn that was dumber than he was.” He also might be the last person to have seen Madmartigan before he disappeared. Allagash was originally on the quest with Boorman and Madmartigan to find the Kymerian Cuirass when he was captured by the trolls. Like his former companions, Allagash is a bit of a rogue who will think nothing of lying, cheating, and stealing, but is equally capable of doing something selflessly noble in the heat of the moment. You never quite know what to expect with these types, which at least keeps it interesting.
Allagash spins a tale of betrayal among the crew who set out searching for the Kymerian Cuirass. He claims the betrayer was Boorman. Am I supposed to be suspicious of Boorman now? I find it highly unlikely that this character we’ve just met (even if he is played by Christian Slater) is more trustworthy than the guy who’s been with us on this quest since the beginning.
The rescue team gets their first good look at the full scale of the trolls’ mining operations. Scorpia wants to stay behind to save as many prisoners as possible. With a warning to Jade that she’ll one day have to choose sides and a kiss to Boorman, Scorpia takes off. The rest disguise themselves as trolls and try to blend in. One troll leads Graydon away for an assignment on another floor, and he has no choice but to follow.
With Allagash’s help, Willow and Kit manage to escape. As they sneak away, Allagash tells them what happened to Madmartigan (occasionally accompanied snippets of the original Willow score, a nice touch). It turns out this mountain isn’t just a mine, there are hidden and ancient places the trolls don’t know about. One of those is the Tomb of Wiggleheim, the final resting place of a famous Nelwyn “adventurer, raconteur, and darts champion,” who had all of his treasures buried with him. One of those treasures is rumored to be the cuirass. When their search party found the tomb all those years ago, trolls attacked them. Allagash fought them so Madmartigan could go in, and gave them his name when he got captured so they wouldn’t search any further for him (which does make sense, since they’re servants of the Crone, and she’s got a specific grudge against Madmartigan).
At the same time, Boorman is also leading Jade and Elora—not to save Willow and Kit as they believe, but straight to the tomb. When they find out they’re understandably pissed. He argues that they’d never be able to free Willow and Kit without it. It’s a convenient excuse to retrieve something we know he’s desperate to find, and maybe it’s intended to make the audience suspect him more, but I still don’t see Boorman making that kind of heel turn at this point. A magic breastplate certainly would come in handy when fighting the trolls.
Our two separate groups—plus Allagash and minus Graydon, who’s still undercover as a troll somewhere in the mines—finally meet up at the tomb. Allagash and Boorman aren’t thrilled to see each other again. They fight, hurling insults like “You puckered old bergencoif,” and “You spineless little zudcutter.” Their lively exchange feels more Willow than just about anything we’ve seen on this show so far. Boorman clarifies that it wasn’t him but Allagash who betrayed their crew (yep, called it). He stole the Lux Arcana (the magic key that unlocks the power of the cuirass for those who are worthy) and got some of their companions killed. Boorman stole it back from him but regrets that he didn’t stay with Madmartigan until the end.
The Wiggleheim’s tomb holds a series of booby traps and tests before they can get to the treasure. Working together, the group solves some riddles and gains entrance to the tomb. Allagash and Boorman waste no time racing inside and rummaging through piles of treasure, each trying to find the cuirass first. Kit follows them in at a slower pace, almost in a trance, and finds her father’s sword. A swirling portal opens, and someone on the other side calls her name. It sounds a lot like Madmartigan. He asks for her help, but Elora and Jade drag her out of the tomb before Kit steps through the portal and gets stuck in there too.
Allagash has already taken off with the cuirass and the Lux when they come out. The trolls catch up to them and demand to know which one is Elora Danan. They all say, “I am.” You’ve got to appreciate a well-placed “I am Spartacus” moment. Suddenly one of the trolls steps out—it’s Graydon, just the upper hand they need. He returns Willow’s staff, and a fight ensues. In the middle of it all, Allagash returns, not out of any altruistic motive but because the cuirass doesn’t work. Boorman says it’s because he’s unworthy. Allagash tells the trolls who he really is, calling himself “Chloe Allagash’s brave little man.” How can I stay mad at you, Christian Slater?
Before Allagash sacrifices himself so the rest of them can escape, he tells Kit that her father only let him live so he could one day tell his family that they had to protect what matters most in their world: Elora Danan. Just as it seemed Kit was starting to get over all those resentments they come rushing back. It all adds to her anger after coming so close to seeing her father again, only to be torn away. Elora has already seen this happening exactly as it unfolds here. They yell at each other for a bit (it’s always the same argument), then Kit is struck by falling debris and falls beneath the surface of the vermiscus. Elora tries to save her with a spell, and that’s where we leave them.
Finally, this episode is bookended by two brief Airk scenes. In the first one, he’s all alone in the Immemorial City, or so it seems. He hears whispers calling to him: “Join us. Embrace your power.” He isn’t tempted and tries to walk out of the city. In this last scene, he comes right back to the place where he started. Exhausted and thirsty, he drinks from a pool that looks a lot like the glowing evil goo in the mines. Then a pretty young girl appears, tells him she’s imprisoned too and asks him to let her out. It’s a good thing the quest to find Airk is back on track, because our prince may be in more trouble than he realizes.
Stray observations
- This week’s anachronistic end-credit musical track is The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations.” So much to read into there.
- Willow has been mostly fun, though it’s sometimes felt a little forced. Slater’s presence really took things up a notch, like finding just the right seasoning to complete a dish. He won’t be back this season, but I hope the writers were taking notes.
- Speaking of which, although it looked like Allagash was in dire straits when we left him, I have to believe there’s a chance they could bring him back in some way if they get a second season. This is a fantasy show, after all.
- Let’s hear it for the new and improved trolls and Tom Wilton, who plays Sarris. They were the second-best part of this episode.
- There’s a good reason the voice of Madmartigan in this episode sounds so much like Val Kilmer—it was recorded by his son Jack Kilmer. Jack’s mother is Joanne Whalley (Sorsha), who married her Willow co-star shortly after the film came out.
- Rosabell Laurenti Sellers, who played Tyene Sand on Game Of Thrones, joins the show this week as “Lili,” the girl who finds Airk at the end. We’ll see her again in the next two episodes. I have a bad feeling that may not be her true name.
32 Comments
It’s kind of remarkable that as overwhelmingly stupid as this show is, and I write that as someone who adores the ‘Just go with it’ mentality of it all, it still manages to hit those emotionally pure moments that just work for me. That final moment between Kit and Elora, even with that ultimately silly and confusing backdrop, felt honest and effective.
Also, especially after the last episode, I do like when the show just decides to go for the silliness of it all. The troll brothers somehow kept me giggling through-out it all as did the repeating riddle.
Lord Sarris was amazing. I’m very sad he’s dead.
I think that’s one thing that appeals to me too – the show isn’t pretending to be more than it set out to be. It knows it’s first and foremost a fun romp and by leaning into that it makes the emotional moments work, too, somehow. If they tried to make it The Next GoT™ and have it take itself too seriously it would just all fall flat on its nose.
I keep seeing criticism of things that the critic thinks is sloppy, when I’m pretty sure those things are intentional. The thing this show seems to do more than anything else is subvert expectations. There was some of that in the original, partly with the idea of a little person being told he’d be a great sorcerer (and who ended up saving the Chosen One baby with a parlor trick and dumb luck), even if that did get a lot of inspiration from LotR, and even more by having the only “American” accent in the entire movie coming from the charming rogue womanizing swordsmen.Now we have even more people with American accents (even though one of them is played by a British actress), using slang and talking about boobs and farts, and throwing out phrases about “kicking ass”. Consider the music which to begin with totally doesn’t fit the tone of the show: Initially it was strictly girl-power cover songs for the credits, but just when you get used to that, they use similar songs in the opening action scene of an episode and again toward the end, and use normal score music for the end credits. Then in the next (and as of today, most recent) episode they go back to having a pop song with the credits but this time it isn’t a cover, it’s a Beach Boys original. There’s the anachronistic denim worn by the women in the woods. The Bone Reavers who just like to chill in the Wildwood and party. The trolls who aren’t snarling demonic apes, but very well-spoken bureaucrats. And I think the show is better than it otherwise would be, just because they keep changing things up at every opportunity.Compare it with the various Star Wars series. The Mandalorian ended its first episode with the big reveal of Baby Yoda, but aside from that it and Boba Fett and Obi Wan and Andor all work so hard to try and fit inside of the Star Wars universe. Most of those SW series were drowning so much in fan service that you couldn’t ever feel like you were experiencing something new. Willow on the other hand, seems to constantly be reminding you that you don’t really know that much about the Willowverse.
Absolutely agree. I will admit some choices also still baffle me, though mostly in the beginning cause I didn’t know what to expect, but by now I’m just rolling with it as it’s clear the ppl behind the show are just having fun with the genre and the expectations that come with it. And it’s sooo refreshing after years and years of everyone chasing that Thrones success and wanting everything to be grimdark and super serious.
It is basically a modern Xena-ish/Sam Rami type of storytelling( visual exchange) many many women of a certain age seem to be getting that…The music is a fantastic addition. how many 80’s/90’s fantasy blockbusters incorporated modern rock and nobody gave it a second thought? It’s just a fun gay romp in the scary woods with jokes..That’s it THAT IS IT!!!
Allagash didn’t come back because the Cuirass didn’t work. He didn’t know it didn’t work until he came back to save them and got stabbed. He wasn’t trying to abscond with it he was trying to play the hero.
Also Boorman saying Allagash stole the Lux doesn’t fit with what we know because Boorman retrieved the Lux in a previous episode (and attacked the girls when Nockmaar made him think one of them had stolen it).
Both Boorman and Allagash are full of shit, clearly, but the review is giving Boorman way more credit than he’s earned from what we’ve seen. I’m sure he’ll still end up a hero – but he’s not there yet.
The biggest weakness for me in this episode was not just how vague it was about what actually happened with Allagash and Boorman, but how chill Kit was in pushing for the truth. As much as I love the show, and I do, it just often doesn’t really know how to handle big emotional aftermath. Which is why when it manages to manage that, it hits really well.By the way on the Cuirass and the Lux, and pure speculation here, considering the backstory, I think the reason it didn’t work wiht Allagash was that it can only be given out of love, not taken. That’s how the Kit/Jade story plays in to all of it.
What’s Kit gonna do? It’s Allagash’s word against Boorman’s, and neither of them is the most trustworthy.
Most of the world defines “exciting” very differently. This show is mind numbingly bad. Does your dad work on the show or something? Why is this site working so desperately hard pretending it’s anything but a cynical nostalgia rip off. It’s fucking awful.
The episode was solid. Way better than last week. I will say, though, that if they had literally attempted to come up with the most jarring, atonal, and diminishing thing that they could possibly do to end the episode, they couldn’t have come up with anything more glaringly random than the fucking Beach Boys singing “Good Vibrations”. I bounced hard out of the fantasy there. Luckily, the episode was already over, so it doesn’t matter as much, but what the hell? One of the most memorable elements of Willow was James Horner’s fantastic score. In this version, we get tiny little hints of that around the edges peaking out from behind mountains of classic rock and pop covers. It’s my biggest criticism of the show. The songs just do not work in this setting. Not even in a Knight’s Tale kind of post-irony sense. It’s just random. I wish it would stop.
Now that I know that anachronistic pop music is part of Willow (the series)’s “thing,” I’m just accepting it. And I like the Beach Boys and “Good Vibrations,” so I wasn’t bothered. I did, however, immediately want to overthink the significance of the song to the series. It seemed like the girl (who’s probably the Crone, right?) was giving “good vibrations” to Airk. Hey, if Airk falls in love with her, then Elora can be with Graydon. 🙂
I don’t even have a problem with the idea of putting in pop songs, especially if it’s only to lead into the credits. But the choices themselves are just so weird and random??
I agree the episode was solid. Disagree about the song(s) at the end.
I’m finding because each episode ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, this gives any song played a bit of a sinister vibe. We don’t know what’s going to happen next, our heroes are still in danger (immediate or not), we don’t know what choices they’re going to make now, and then you hear the familiar sound of (in this case) Good Vibrations… it’s both comforting in a nostalgic way and disquieting because we don’t know what it means in this context.
That music and song choice can do this is cool, and I think that’s the idea.
Have you watched the show Brittania? It’s on BBC (I watch it via Kodi) but it’s a fantasy show with some modern pop songs added and Willow’s end credits are very similar to it’s opening credits sequence. I still like both shows though, just found it a little interesting how I’ve seen no one mention it anywhere.
I haven’t seen Brittania, will have to check it out. Thanks
“Their lively exchange feels more Willow than just about anything we’ve seen on this show so far.” I agree with the score over pop songs feeling. It is a little less jarring when it’s at the end credits, so those get a little more of a pass as opposed to the ones during the episode. Did anyone else watch the show Brittania? I swear Willow’s end credits looks almost exactly like Brittania’s opening credits – pastel/bright brush stroke effects with modern pop songs. I think Brittania did it better, since their songs were more tailored in context. (They used Donovan’s Season of the Witch and Children of a Revolution, forgotten the 3rd season one.)
We got Hurdy Gurdy Man at the end of an episode of Willow, so Donovan’s making out pretty well with the secondary markets use these days.
Hurdy Gurdy Man may have been the 3rd season title track for Brittania. They definitely were good a good fit for both of these shows.
Thank you. Seriously, stop with the pop music. I want an original epic fantasy score as in the original, without lyrics, any time music plays on the show or end credits. Imagine watching Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones and tossing in modern pop covers to punctuate a scene. Stop, Willow.
Both Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones had songs done in a modern style over their end credits.
Never saw the Hobbit movies and haven’t seen LotR in over 15 years, but a quick listen there, those music choices seem to fit the tone just fine, and I don’t recognize them at all. “Good Vibrations” and “Enter Sandman” they ain’t. And GoT, that’s not a pop song, that’s literally an original song from the books isn’t it? And sung by HUGE pop stars (/s) the Hold Steady.
Guess it depends how far you want to split hairs or define “pop”.
They’re all arguably modern songs using modern instruments, some recognisably in a rock or pop style. And while the lyrics may come from the books, the music doesn’t.
Bottom line, they’re anachronistic to the medieval electricity-less worlds being portrayed.
why, is his mother still a casting director?
OUCH!
I’m a thirsty, thirsty soundtrack nut. I used to listen to the Willow soundtrack on cassette while biking on my paper route (remember those?). (Also btw, the soundtracks to Silverado, Explorers, Raiders, and all the Star Warses.) I appreciate that they haven’t pounded James Horner’s Willow Theme yet. Like other famous themes, John William’s Superman or Raider’s March, you can’t blast them all the way through the movie or people will get a headache. But a judicious or well placed “Blammo” of main title goes down so nice. I expect (I hope) the show is saving it for a big season ending action sequence.
He must have thought it was White Boy Day…
This episode really cemented for me more than any other that this entire series is more of a D&D campaign set in the Willow universe than it is an actual sequel to the movie Willow.And I’m more or less alright with that. It’s not like there was a TON of established canon, between one movie and one sequel novel that nobody read and apparently wasn’t actually very good.
It’s actually a whole sequel trilogy that wasn’t very good.
Obwohl die Forschung noch am Anfang steht, kann die Verwendung des höhenverstellbarer eckschreibtisch tatsächlich beeindruckende gesundheitliche Vorteile bieten.Es kann auch die Produktivität steigern.https://fezibo.de/collections/hoehenverstellbarer-eckschreibtischStudien haben gezeigt
Sarris is not played as well-spoken but as gay, but not the chic of Kit/Jade.If Airk isn’t being worked on to “willingly” bring back Bavmorda in some sense, the show makes no sense at all. The show is leaving it ambiguous as to whether Willow is merely troubled by self-doubt, being too wise to be arrogant, or whether Willow really is a fraud and fool with delusions about somehow being good enough to look at the hot, young One (Elora Danan.)
Was it just me or did Sarris sound exactly like most of the orcs in Orcs With Normal Voices (?