Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, and Harper’s Island

The wife and I used to see an ass full of movies. Back when we lived in the City we’d go at least two (often more) times a week. Now…well we did see Monsters vs. Aliens two weeks ago and we’ll probably see Up when that comes out. See the pattern? So as my movie going has dwindled over the last 2 1/2 years my television consumption has gone up because it’s just easier to watch something off the DVR at midnight than try and find a sitter.

So that was a long winded way of saying I’m going to review two new TV shows.

First up, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. Now, normally I view Comedy Central the way I might consider a brain dead dog. Every once in a while it’s capable of fetching a stick, but mostly it just drools and shits on itself. Look, any channel that relies heavily on South Park and Larry the Cable Guy specials is suspect at best.

Again, there are exceptions. As I’ve stated before, The Daily Show and Colbert Report is the greatest hour of television ever conceived. Important Things is solid, and every once in a while they do a decent stand up special (anyone see the Russell Brand one from last month?) but mostly it’s shit like Crank Yankers and reruns of bad theatrical comedies.

So I was skeptical about Krod Mandoon. Especially considering that the last time someone did a good fantasy/comedy blend on film it was unintentional… But I must be honest in my assessment of the show and give it a strong recommendation. Even if you don’t like fantasy (or, maybe if you hate fantasy, even better), you can probably appreciate the show. It’s really less about the fantasy setting and more about the comedic voice than anything else. Yes, the show uses the trappings of fantasy cliche; the main character is a low born warrior who is the prophesied “golden one” who will lead the “resistance” to victory, he has a sorcerer (who has no sorceress power) and mindless slave as side-kicks, as well as a pagan girl friend who is…let’s just say monogamy isn’t her thing. I could sit here and dissect why the tone the show strikes works so well but I’ll just throw some clips in here and consider this job well done.

One last thing, the guy who plays Dongalor (the bald “bad guy” in the above clip) is none other than Matt Lucas from Little Britain. If you’re not familiar with Little Britain it is, as the kids say, the shiznit!

Now on to the second show that premiered last week, Harper’s Island. I’m going to set out some spoilers so if you haven’t seen it yet, follow that link you just scanned over and watch the whole first episode…or just keep reading…whatever.

OK

I’ve actually been waiting anxiously for this show. The tagline for it, in fact, reads “They thought they were coming for a wedding. Instead they came to die – one by one.” Come on people, that’s the kind of thing to get you pumped! The premise is this, a rich girl and regular guy are getting married. They plan a week of marital festivities (for all of their guests) on Harper’s Island. The island, we are told as the show opens, is 37 miles off the coast of Seattle. Less than halfway into the first episode we learn a few things about the island:

1. The groom to be used to spend his summers on the island working on boats.

2. His best friend growing up (a girl his same age) was born and raised on the island.

3. When they were adolescents, a guy named Timothy Wakefield killed (chopped up, in fact) six people on the island, including best-girl-friend’s mom, and these were the first murders in the islands history.

4. Best-girl-friend is making her way back to the island (for the wedding) for the first time in years.

It appears that at least one person gets whacked in each episode, though in the first, two die. Someone named “Cousin Ben” gets tied to the rudder of a ship (with an oxygen mask on) and when the party decides to stop waiting for him, he is chopped into little bits as they head toward the island. Sad little cousin Ben, he didn’t even get any lines, just a few seconds of struggling under water.

Near the end of the episode another character gets the boot by having his legs chopped off. Since the dude had half fallen through a bridge, though, we don’t know who did it (of course). Personally, I thought this particular guy would make it longer in the show because…well, I don’t want to give too many spoilers.

Now then, do I recommend you spend your free time trying to figure out who the killer is? Well, the show is only 13 episodes long and will air in sequence until the end. So, it isn’t like a normal show that will break up the new episode over the course of several months, which is good. On the other hand, there has to be sufficient suspense built up early on to even care. I’d say that, right now, I’m willing to watch episode two but I won’t commit to more than that just yet. Here are the reasons I am skeptical:

1. The acting is mostly wooden. Which is maybe due to the first episode essentially being a pilot and often the pilot isn’t exactly indicative of how good/bad a show will be in its normal run, but since this show was envisioned differently than a normal show, who can say.

2. Some of the plot is too cliched. Look, I know that the dad of rich girl wouldn’t be happy his “little princess” is marrying “regular guy” but it’s way overblown in the first episode.

3. There are way too many characters. I know that people should be getting killed off left and right, but it seems (at this point) that needless information is being given out about characters (including the one who got his legs chopped) who won’t be around for a while. Unless said information is pertinent to the killer’s motive in some way, it’s just filler.

Reasons why I will keep watching (at least for one more episode):

1. The killings have been unique. Which isn’t something to overlook when there is a serial killer on the loose. This guy is putting time and effort into this shit.

2. There have been some intriguing plot points. Dad hates soon to be son in law, no big surprise. Soon to be wife might be cheating ho-bag (or, at least, unfaithful), didn’t see that coming.

3. Best-girl-friend. While most of the acting wasn’t very good, the best-girl-friend was actually very engaging on screen. She seems to be the emotional center (since her mom got axed years ago and she’s having “issues” with returning to the island) of the show, which is good. Plus, we get a nice little plot twist at the end of the first episode that concerns her and piqued my interest for further on down the line.

4. Bride to be’s niece is a sociopathic little 12 year old girl that (I’m throwing out a theory here, if you want me to expand, I can…) seems to be in contact with the killer and every time she’s on screen I get the willies…that’s a technical term.

So all in all, this could go either way. Like I said, you can watch the first episode yourself online and see what you think. One episode isn’t really enough to form a strong opinion one way or another for something like this and it’s very likely I won’t know how I feel about it until all is said and done, but if you like to watch PG-13 (it is network TV after all) murders, and have an extra hour each week you might as well check it out.

Razorlight — Pop Song 2006