Disenchantment - first episode

Most people know the name Matt Groening due to shows such as The Simpsons or Futurama. His new showpiece, Disenchantment, is another comedy animated show as we are used to. This one, however, takes place in a fantasy realm in the medieval ages. Here, kingdoms and magic coexist. Another difference about this show is that it is exclusive to Netflix, which enables a whole new way of storybuilding. This results in a more cohesive story, which means that individually watched episodes could be difficult to understand. The show premiered on the 17th of August and since then I've watched the first half-hour lasting episode. The drawing style is the same as the creator's other shows, which already creates a certain sense of familiarity. What about the story, though?

It all started off a bit bland and the fact that there are no individual episodes doesn't make the show any better.

Disenchantment revolves around Princess Tiabeanie 'Bean' (Abbi Jacobson, Broad City) who's about to be married off. She's not really the average princess and thus she doesn't really like the life of luxury she lives. On the morning of her wedding she's gambling and drinking in a local bar, before being ordered by her father to marry a prince from another kingdom. Just before the marriage she is visited by a demon named Luci (Eric Andre, Man Seeking Woman), who tells her to stand up for herself. Bean is willing to do pretty much anything to get out of this wedding and decides to follow his advice. And thus the adventure starts in a kingdom that is actually somewhat similar to King's Landing of Game of Thrones. With magic and fairy tales on his side, Matt Groening is able to show a whole new side of his creativity.



To start off I would like to state that I'm not a Simpsons fan.... and that I immediately change the channel once the show comes up. I have, however, seen a fair bit of Futurama and even though I personally have a different style of humour, I can appreciate the storylines. Whether or not I'll have the same feeling with Disenchantmant, I can't say for certain after only one episode. I didn't feel like a lot has happened as of yet, so I can't properly judge the show just yet. It all started off a bit bland and the fact that there are no individual episodes doesn't make the show any better. As a viewer you're not really explained as to what you can expect during the rest of the season and thus I didn't really feel interested. The characters are, however, interesting enough and do make me want to continue watching.

nonstop laughs? Definitely not the case.

In another part of the land, the elf Elfo (Nat Faxon, Friends from College) lives in a magical world where everyone is always happy. Elfo, however, isn't happy and his behaviour is noticed by the Elf leaders. He wants to be somewhere where people aren't happy and he sees his wish fulfilled once he escapes into the human world. Due to the way he was raised he doesn't know a lot about the 'real world' and thus he finds himself in various difficult situations. Elfo is, however, a survivor and eventually finds himself at the wedding of Bean. He decides to join her and Luci in trying to find a new life. The trio consists of three totally different characters , but for entertainment purposes it does work.

As I have already mentioned, I thought that the show started off a bit slow. As this first episode doesn't have an ending, all it has going is the expectations it can create for the remainder of the season. I'm not that positive. Honestly, Disenchantment may just not be suitable for me and that will affect my opinion, but it could work very well in front of a different crowd. I do think it's unfortunate that I don't feel the need to keep going. My opinion doesn't necessarily mean that it will not be an appealing show for others and certainly not that it's a bad show. As a result of all that, I have decided to give it a six. All the ten episodes can be seen on Netflix. Also, some good news for those who do like the show as 20 episodes have already been ordered, which means that at least ten more episodes will follow.