SOUND OFF: GALAVANT Gets His Big Moment, But No Happily Ever After (Yet)

By: Pat Cerasaro Jan. 25, 2015

Tonight we are savoring the best moments from the final hour of ABC's musical comedy series GALAVANT.

Happily Ever After...?
Beginning with a charming and touching flashback sequence to GALAVANT (Joshua Sasse)'s own picaresque medieval youth, the penultimate episode of ABC's new musical comedy series GALAVANT matched the frothy, fun and winsome tone of the previous three hours effortlessly while also seamlessly ushered us into the final entry of the series with welcome wit and jovial warmth to go with all the rest of the Monty Python-esque, Mel Brooks-aping goings-on. "A hero doesn't have feelings," Galavant's father informed him before breaking into a chummy Alan Menken/Glenn Slater earworm, only to be thwarted in his musical efforts shortly thereafter by Galavant's screechy mother, heard off-screen - yet, the intention was established: a hero must retain a clear head at all times. Or else. "Hero mode," as GALAVANT himself referred to it, is an essential element for every valiant knight worth his weight in armor to possess if he has any intention of succeeding in his pursuits - and, as we have copiously witnessed over the last several weeks, if anybody can act like a hero, it's Galavant. And, in addition to talking the talk, he can walk the walk, too, as guest star John Stamos discovered as joust victim Jean Hamm in the opening hour of the series.

"I've been waiting all my lifetime for one moment to arrive / The moment I was destined for at birth," GALAVANT passionately sang to his fellow imprisoned cohorts - Princess Isabella (Karen David), Sid (Luke Youngblood) and Isabella's royal parents, the King of Valencia (Stanley Townshend) and his Queen (Genevieve Allenbury) - for the anthemic "This Is My Moment", which turned out to be the second song cut unceremoniously short in the first few moments of the ep, intriguingly and wisely aligning GALAVANT himself with his own father in the flashback sequence that kicked off the show. Then, as quickly as they were banished to the dungeon, GALAVANT emerged triumphantly to successfully throw his hat in the ring and engage in a duel with the most powerful man in the land - no less than the king himself. A duel to the death, no less (is there really any other kind?)! As we saw, King Richard (Timothy Omundson) initially challenged his older brother, Kingsley (Rutger Hauer) to a duel, only to be replaced by Galavant, who himself volunteered to participate in the potentially brutal, violent and bloody match-up.

Among the highpoints, returning guest star Sophie McShera as the maid of Madalena (Mallory Jansen), Gwynne, displayed some surprisingly song singing in her spunky musical moment depicting her efforts to poison the royal feast in order to bring down the king - along with her dim-witted if well-intentioned paramour, of course, Chef (Darren Evans). "Choose any toxin, then throw the whole box in," went one of the many witty and off-color lyrical highlights of the plucky performance showpiece. Another thrifty turn of events also came from an unsuspecting source down below, with Galavant's right-hand man, Sid, leading the prisoners out of the dungeon and into the castle itself in order to attempt to come to Galavant's aid before time runs out and he is hung, beheaded or worse. And, as fate would have it, the timing was right on - Sid arrived just in THE KNICK of time and supplied GALAVANT with his trusty sword just prior to Princess Isabella being on the verge of biting into a poisonous crustacean, of which she is highly allergic. Whew.

"Well, would you look at that, you didn't have to kill a soul but you finally got your moment," Princess Isabella informed GALAVANT shortly after he saved her health - and her life. Yet, at the precise time when we thought GALAVANT would get the chance to relish his shining self-professed "moment in the sun," King Richard announced his intention to duel after all - and duel himself, since GALAVANT was prepared and planning to fight in his place against Kingsley. Sounds dicey - and slice-y; and, it certainly would have been, no doubt. In any event, the Scott Weinger-penned, Chris Koch-directed episode (titled "My Cousin Izzy") similarly hit all the right spots heading into the final half-hour of the series, ratcheting up the drama, music and comedy in equal and agreeable portions.
The second episode of the final hour of GALAVANT, written by Kristin Newman and directed by Chris Koch (titled "It's All In The Executions"), was overflowing with meta references, including an obvious homage to Menken's own Disney mega-hit THE LITTLE MERMAID via a Calypso-accented throwaway line from Sid suggesting that GALAVANT "Kiss the girl." Another delectable meta moment occurred just as the king was about to launch into a lilting lullaby melody only to be left with no audience to croon to - to his own hilarious dissatisfaction and frustration, vowing to forget the song as a result. The list goes on and on. As for memorable dramatic and musical moments in the final minutes of the series, the king and GALAVANT finally shared a proper duet - a raucous and jaunty drinking song, "A Secret Mission" - along with commiserating over their plights and hatching a plan to take down Kingsley. Alas, a good heroic story would surely not end with such a whimper as to merely behead the villain - oh, no; that is far too simple and much too pat, especially for an epic adventure such as this one. So, as fate would have it, just prior to enacting their plan, Kinsley arrived on the scene - and promptly sent his brother off to the dungeon along with Galavant. The knight and the king, together at last - in jail. As a result, "Goodnight My Friend" proved to be a surprisingly moving musical surprise depicting the king drifting off to sleep in his dank and dark cell - and subsequently acted as one of the strongest and most durable melodies of the 30-plus tunes heard on the series as a whole, which is certainly saying something significant given the wealth of mellifluous melody and riotous lyrical wordplay we have seen thus far. A melody fit for a king, as it were - and it was (even though at the time he was singing it, he actually was not one any longer).

The king's right-hand knight, Gareth (Vinnie Jones), was provided with a beefed-up storyline on this episode coming after his prominent if low-key presence on the series up until tonight - and, given the final twist, it was crystal clear to see why. As we eventually witnessed, it was his attempt to rescue the king that also provided GALAVANT with an avenue in which to escape from harm's way, and the juxtaposition between Gareth and GALAVANT in making the other promise "not to hurt a hair on the head" of their respective parties in peril was appropriately effective as the king and GALAVANT prepared to set sail and flee Valencia. Furthermore, Gareth's inclusion of Sid, Princess Isabella, the King and Queen of Valencia, the Jester (Ben Presley) and Gwynne in the plot to save the KINGDOM from Kingsley integrated the secondary characters well into the central plot of the final minutes, as well - as did the shocking twist of Madalena slaying Kingsley in cold blood. While never a likeable or relatable character, Madalena could always be relied upon to put herself - and only herself - first. And, as we saw, she certainly did it big - and at just the right moment in time for our hero, too.

Then: a gigantic cliffhanger. What?! Oh, yes - a great big jaw-dropping and incredibly unexpected cliffhanger closed the final ep of the series, maybe ever. Will the king and GALAVANT return to Valencia? Will Madalena now rule as the queen alongside Gareth in a promoted royal position? Will Princess Isabella and GALAVANT end up together after all or will she be forced to reside with the child king and live in his elaborate and creepy life-sized dollhouse for all of eternity? Unless ABC announces a renewal of GALAVANT - or at least another mini-season like this one sometime in the future - these questions may never be answered. Say it isn't so! If you want to see how the story ends - and also how a new one begins - make your case known to the powers that be at ABC. Every voice counts! "If there are more shows, then off our hero goes," sang the Jester in the voiceover as the episode and first season came to their close - and let's hope ABC does the gallant thing and greenlights another season immediately. We're holding out for a hero until then... let your voice be heard by tweeting to @GalavantABC here.

Photo Credits: ABC

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