WiC Binges: Disenchantment (Netflix)

Disenchantment, an all-new animated series from the mind of animator  Matt Groening, the guy behind The Simpsons and Futurama, hit Netflix today. The series is set in the magical kingdom of Dreamland and follows the adventures of a rebellious, alcoholic princess named Bean (Abbi Jacobson) and her pals, Elfo the elf (Nat Faxon) and Luci the demon (Eric Andre).

Watch the trailer, then join us as we binge each episode and review them as we go!

Episode 1: “A Princess, and Elf, and a Demon Walk Into a Bar”

The series premiere opens with Princess Bean gambling in a seedy bar on her last night as a free woman. On the morrow, she’s to marry Prince Guysbert to solidify an alliance between her father King Zøg and the king of the neighboring kingdom of Bentwood. It’s clear from the jump that Bean isn’t exactly a Disney Princess, and that’s before she starts a fight with the dude across the card table.

Bean doesn’t want to get married, you see, because she wants to live a life filled with adventure on her own terms. She escapes the bar only to run into her father’s henchman and is carried back to the castle to prepare for her forced nuptials. At the castle, we see King Zøg overseeing the preparations for his daughter’s wedding. He’s your typical self-absorbed monarch and a bit of a hardass, but he’s got a soft spot for his daughter Bean.

Zøg is married to Bean’s stepmother Queen Oona, a kind of weird amphibian person. Her son with Zøg looks about as weird as you’d expect a cross between a human and a squid person to look.

Next, we’re taken to the hidden land of Elfwood, where we meet Elfo. Elfo and his kind are wee little elves who work all day making candy in the trees of Elfwood, Keebler Elves by another name. Elfo isn’t happy with this work, and that’s a problem. In Elfwood, everyone is happy no matter what, and acting otherwise is punished by the king.

Speaking of the king, Elfo is in love with his royal daughter, Kissy. One day, the king finds Kissy and Elfo in bed, and he decides to hang Elfo for his crimes. But elves are too light to hand, so it doesn’t work out. Kissy frees Elfo and he escapes Elfwood through a magical secret door.

Here’s the thing about Elfo: he’s completely naive about the outside world. He literally has no idea how anything works. In fact, he happens across a war between ogres and gnomes and decides he likes war, but it’s not really for him.

Back at the castle, it’s the night before Bean’s wedding. She’s walking past all the gifts and finds one that tells her to open it. Ignoring all logic, she does, and inside is Luci the demon. Luci was sent to Bean by a mysterious couple who’ve been watching her in their fire, not unlike Melisandre on a boring evening.

Luci is probably my favorite character because he’s unlikable; he’s all for doing the wrong thing all the time, and brings a biting sarcasm to the group dynamic.

The next day, as Bean and Luci are busy getting drunk, Elfo arrives outside the city. King Zøg forces his daughter to meet Prince Guysbert at the altar, and when he hands her the ring, she refuses and slaps it out of his hands. The ring goes rolling around the base of an Iron Throne-like throne, and when the goober bends over to pick it up, he impales his head on one of the swords.

Zøg and Guysbert’s dad quickly come up with a Plan B, and Guysbert’s brother Prince Merkimer steps up to marry Bean. At this point, Elfo walks into the chapel and introduces himself. The king wants him captured and offers gold for anyone who can catch him, and during the excitement Bean escapes and jumps out a window, Elfo following. Luci is outside, smoking a cigarette. Bean grabs her new companions and escapes the city.

Zøg commands his knights and Prince Merkimer to track her down. In the forest outside of the city, Bean and company come across a fairy who seems like some kind of hooker. She gives them directions to a man named the Wishmaster. Bean, eager to wish her wedding away, sets off to find him far away in his mountaintop home, but it ends up he’s actually the Washmaster, and they’ve made the trip for nothing. Meanwhile, Prince Merkimer and the knights track Bean down to the Washmaster’s palace, but she jumps off a cliff rather than return and marry the prince.

End of episode.

All in all, this was a fun premiere, but I couldn’t help but feel I’d seen the gags in The Simpsons and Futurama. There were some fun bits, but it didn’t strike me as anything fresh and new. Still, Matt Groening is great at what he does, so let’s see where this goes.

Also, if you pay close attention to the opening sequence, the windows in King Zøg’s palace look an awful lot like the sigils of Nobel Houses from Game of Thrones…but maybe I’m just reaching here.

Next episode on the way!