Galavant, “Two Balls”/”Comedy Gold,” (1.3-4)

Galavant, Season 1, Episodes 3 and 4, “Two Balls”/”Comedy Gold”

January 11th, 2015, 8PM, ABC

In “Two Balls”, having ridden nonstop for days, our intrepid trio reaches Sid’s hometown, and there they discover that Gal’s faithful squire hasn’t been entirely honest with them about what he’s told his family about his adventures….in fact, he’s a hero to his hometown people. And the town is named after him. In fact, to his people he IS a Galavantian figure. Because he’s been lying about his deeds to the family, pretending that Gal’s achievements are his own and that HE’S a knight of the realm- which means Gal must stew while he does a squire’s tasks and Sid receives a hero’s welcome. While Gal pouts over being ignored, Isabella gamely pretends to be Sid’s fiancée, and she ultimately calls Gal out on his refusal to be a team player at a ball thrown by his family in Sid’s honor. Gal soon bonds with his fellow serfs, which wakes him up to his own pigheadedness. Meanwhile, Richard’s lording his victory over the Valencians, who don’t respond well to his knock knock joke-level jokes. Trying to figure out how to make his new people happy, he asks the deposed king and queen for advice. They suggest throwing an improvisational ball, but Richard’s idea of merriment involves entire dance routines choreographed by executioners – and one of those dances leads to an honesty session that soon reveals an unpleasant truth to Richard.

In “Comedy Gold”, Galavant, Isabella and Sid find their three-way harmony’s going sour thanks to the closeness of their quarters and the length of their trip; they pick on one another’s flaws - Gal hogs the raisins in their trail mix, Isabella snores and eats with her mouth open, and Sid feels like he’s being ignored in the push-pull between Gal and Isabella. They quickly realize that they must work together to achieve their aim when they’re ambushed by a group of marooned pirates, the leader of whom has a past with Gal and who offers him a spot on the crew. Meanwhile, Richard, who’s realized that his jester is canoodling with his queen, confronts the man – but instead of executing him he begs the jester to teach him how to be funny enough to win Madalena’s heart.

The third and fourth episodes of Galavant remains ribald and hilarious (even more so than the first installment in several instances; there are some truly jawdroping jokes in this week’s episodes guaranteed to shock laughs from people who expect the so-called ‘family hour’ to be tame), but the show mixes them with Disney-like moral lessons that both tease their origin and manages to be heartfelt. It’s funny how characters can grow on a person so easily, and it’s funny how a show with such screamingly broad characters (see: everything to do with Sid’s parents, who are such blatant Jewish stenotypes that it circles around from being almost offensive to mildly amusing) can make us feel for them and want to watch them grow and do better.

Galavant is still the strangest show tone-wise; one part Brooksian parody filled with dirty jokes, the other part Disneyish character study where morals are delivered and friendship conquers base instincts. Even the villain has a close friend, after all!

And as the sun sets over Valencia, our team’s hero’s journey seems to be drawing to a close. So, will Richard kill Gal in Madalena’s name? Will he figure out what happened to the jester? Will Gal find out about Isabella’s deception and figure out Madalena doesn’t love him? Will Isabella realize Gal has feelings for her? WILL ANYONE OUTSIDE OF HIS HOME VILLAGE PAY ATTENTION TO SID? Find out next week!
The Roundup

• The recap opening is creative and incredibly catchy. No, you will never get .
• “I wish you were my cousin, so I could marry you!” Show!
• Valencians are self-sufficient vegans. Or they were until Richard got involved.
• Gal hates cashews and thinks brazil nuts are gross, which is why he’s eating all the raisins out of their trail mix.
• Favorite number of the night is definitely the opener of Comedy Gold.
• So many pop culture references. A favorite: Gal met our pirate of the week at “Lilith Fair” on the “The Isle of Lesbos.”
• That’s Hugh Bonneville as our pirate this week.
• Next Week: Our intrepid threesome nears Valencia – and they take shelter with a group of monks who’ve taken a vow…of singing! (and one of them is Weird Al!) and Richard takes a pilgrimage of self-discovery in “Completely Mad…Alena” and “Dungeons and Dragon Lady.”