Spoilers

Willow and company (or should that be, Elora Dannen and company?) continue their mission to rescue Airk. The abundance of sidequests continues.

Full disclosure: I heartily dislike, even loathe and despise, slapstick. Someone who loves it might find this the most delightful episode ever.

The episode opens not where the last left off, but with our intrepid heroes running for their lives in the midst of some castle ruins. Jaunty modern-day rock music plays. At various points in their flight, our heroes drop their weapons and continue to run. The music jars, the staging is even worse, especially when Willow uses magic one time to save them, then not again. Surely after decades, the Grand Aldwin has mastered enough sorcery to actually be able to wield it as more than a one-off.

Evidently not.

They play the scene for humor. Naturally it’s eminently amusing to run for your lives from a raging horde (of two?) trying to kill you. They flee into the eponymous (and ominous?) Wildwood to evade their pursuers. Naturally the Bone Reavers capture them almost immediately. Our heroes grow more and more inept in tandem with the fight choreography growing worse and worse. Plus Jade is the Bone Reavers’ leader’s long-lost sister. Because of course she is. It could have been an interesting grace note that the person who agreed to lie to her beloved for years was lied to herself for even longer, but the show addresses this not at all. Or at least not yet.

Rool returns and basically announces that no, he’s not returning. He’ll give advice and send them on their way but will not go with them. His snarky adolescent daughter evidently wishes he’d reconsider that last.

Graydon continues, painfully for him and for viewers, to pine for Elora. Kit and Jade continue (less painfully; one scene is actually quite sweet and gives hope the actor playing Kit can do far better given good material) to pine for each other. Madmartigen’s fate and the artifact remain mired in mystery.

The series focuses on rescuing Airk and defeating the Crone. Episodes thus far have focused on saving Elora twice and Graydon once. Next up, time to save Kit.

The modern music jars with the rest of the more traditional score. It can and has been done well in the past. This is not one such example. The hors d’oeuvres de vérité (appetizers of truth) provided some genuine humor and good characterization to the episode.

Verdict: Willow continues to disappoint with misplaced ‘humor’, clumsy staging, and awkward dialog. The cast – and viewership – deserve better. 4/10

Rigel Ailur