The Librarians: The Next Chapter Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Merlin in a Muddle

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

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The titles for episodes of The Librarians: The Next Chapter (as well as the OG series and films) are usually quite on-the-nose, as evidenced by the previous offering, “And the Red Rock.”

The Librarians: The Next Chapter Season 2 Episode 6, “And Descartes’ Dilemma,” makes us work a bit.

The artifact they’re dealing with has nothing to do with Descartes; however, the effect addresses the philosopher’s central argument that the mind and body are completely separate substances.

The Librarians: The Next Chapter “And Descartes’ Dilemma”

Body swap Freaky Friday-esque scenarios are a fun sort of narrative trope that usually leads to two characters gaining insight into the other’s physical well-being and perspective.

With five individuals swapping consciousnesses, it’s a madcap shell game that is hard to keep track of, with no disrespect intended to the cast’s efforts in mimicking each other’s mannerisms and accents.

Using the clothing items to signal which personality was in each body helped a bit.

As ever, The Librarians: The Next Chapter imbues classic myth with novel elements. Their mission in “And Descartes’ Dilemma” is to reunite a pair of bracelets belonging to Castor and Pollux.

The twist on the tale of twins who so loved each other they couldn’t bear to be parted by death is that they used the bracelets to swap minds, so they could both experience Olympus.

I mean, technically, they’d still be separated physically and mentally, but it’s a sweet sentiment on the part of the divine twin, Pollux, that he was willing to time-share his immortal afterlife.

Also, and this is really just me being a nerdy logician stick-in-the-mud, once the Librarians realized the bracelet was causing them to switch bodies, shouldn’t they have gone through the magic door in pairs to control the swaps? 🤔

But they didn’t, and the unconscious Merlin they didn’t know was in the Annex got caught up in the magic door’s last glitchy zap.

Modern Merlin

Setting aside Mrs. Astolat’s slightly problematic abduction, confinement, and magical drugging of Merlin, leaving him alone in the Annex was pretty reckless.

Clearly, our staunch and capable caretaker is having a moment.

Meanwhile, Merlin proves himself the opportunist when suddenly conscious and freed, albeit in Lysa’s body.

We know Merlin’s history as a brilliant strategist and master manipulator. Mrs. Astolat has been adamant that he is solely to blame for the corruption of Camelot.

So far, he has been quite helpful. On The Librarians: The Next Chapter Season 2 Episode 1, “And the Burning Heart,” he used his charm and intelligence to assist the team.

When we see him in the cold open here, he’s minding his own business in a park when he performs a little magic trick to provide a crying child with a coin to buy an ice cream.

Like the title, we have to work a little to see Mrs. Astolat’s perspective on the situation. Her history with Merlin and her concern for the Library and the Librarians do not allow her the luxury of giving him the benefit of the doubt.

She sees him as every bit as dangerous as the genie from The Librarians: The Next Chapter Season 2 Episode 2, “And the Tethered Wish,” or Gunter and Hilda from The Librarians: The Next Chapter Season 2 Episode 4, “And the Recipe for Disaster.”

As such — and as has been established as policy by the Library’s incarceration of the badly behaved magical beings — she wants him locked up forever.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

Honestly, it doesn’t seem in keeping with the usual Librarians’ Code. Merlin is a human. Typically, humans get a chance to redeem themselves.

(Well, not Dulaque. But he passed a point of no return, didn’t her?)

In any case, Mrs. Astolat’s persistent distrust and violent suspicion of Merlin’s intentions could very well push him into old habits.

It kind of does already here. By leaving him, bound and unconscious, in the Annex, she inadvertently exposed him to the magic of Pollux’s bracelet.

She accuses him of being addicted to magic. If so, through her actions, she basically poured vodka down the throat of an alcoholic.

Making Amends

Despite his noble goal to be a magically-clean better person, Merlin doesn’t disclose his identity when he finds himself in Lysa’s body.

Instead, he masks and infiltrates, joining up with the team. At the museum, he takes the opportunity to get close to Vikram. And then he does exactly what Mrs. Astolat thought he’d do and plants the seed of ambition.

Connor’s reunion with Dr. Simone Newman is a parallel second-chance narrative. In his case, he is as remorseful as Merlin purports to be for Camelot’s downfall for the damage he caused to her career.

It’s a bit tricky to make amends while in Charlie’s body, of course, but Simone is more open to redemption than Mrs. Astolat.

The difference between Connor and Merlin is how they react to running into people from their past.

While Merlin protests his change to Mrs. Astolat but reverts to old tricks, Connor speaks to Dr. Newman with honesty and demonstrates real effort in preserving their new trust.

Deeper Understanding

Of course, Merlin escapes to return again. Based on the Season 2 trailer (below), he turns to the dark side with some enthusiasm.

Now, whether that was always his intent or it’s the result of Mrs. Astolat’s persecution, we’ll have to wait to discover.

There really should be a middle ground available to Merlin where he could prove his trustworthiness on a probationary basis.

The team’s experience in switching bodies leaves them with a lot to consider.

Connor and Lysa both experienced the physical pain Charlie lives with daily as a result of her training and life experiences.

Lysa learned that magic door travel makes Connor queasy. Connor learned that Lysa is allergic to most things in the Library.

Everyone’s suspicions were confirmed regarding Vikram wearing a waistcoat to hide his gut. LOL.

But seriously, Charlie’s observation that Vikram keeps his outfit as armor, keeping his old life close, is deeply astute.

A New Way in a New World

We learned that Merlin intends to orchestrate a new Camelot with Vikram as the figurehead and himself pulling the strings.

But Vikram keeps that from the team, remaining loyal to his fellow man-out-of-his-own-time. However, Lysa’s description of feeling Merlin’s need for magic does give him pause. Still, he stays silent on Merlin’s offer.

We remember how things played out when Vikram kept secrets last season, don’t we?

Over to you, Fanatics! Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments section. Let’s get talking!

And just for fun, vote on your favorite body swap of the episode in the poll below!

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