Disenchantment

Netflix

Season 1 Episode 2

For Whom The Pig Oinks

Continuing the cliffhanger ending from the first episode, Bean, Elfo and Luci have jumped off a cliff and find themselves hanging on to a branch. At the plateau, Prince Merkimer finds himself being attacked by a blind troll. Matt Barry’s performance as Merkimer is the highlight of this episode and his lines are some of the best laughs in the episode.

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After being brought back to the castle, Bean tries to find another way to get out of marrying Merkimer as the king decides that having a magical elf in his possession might be his key to creating a magic potion that will keep him young forever. John DiMaggio is pitch perfect as the boorish King Zog. His ability to turn a character so unlikable interesting is a gift.

Bean decides that the best way to get rid of Merkimer is to convince him to have a Bachelor Party on Mermaid Island. He agrees knowing that the mermaids will try to lure him into the sea to drown him. What follows is a series of misadventures that have Bean, Elfo and Luci taking turns being their worst selves.

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Following the first episode, this one has better pacing overall, but there is still the sense that the writers are playing it safe. A network sensibility doesn’t really work well in a streaming environment where attention needs to be grabbed and sustained because everything you have for that season is readily available to binge. There are a lot of fun and funny moments in the episode and the sight gags work really well (El De Barge), but I still found myself hoping for the episode to pick up the pace and to be excited with something visually or verbally.

Disenchantment S01XE02

7.5

Overall

7.5/10

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