After hearing Lord Vetinari’s desire to procure all the relics for herself, Vimes begins to question whether anyone should wield its power. He decides in the previous episode of The Watch to destroy Wayne in the same lake the Unseen University uses to dispose of all their failed experiments. Along the journey to the lake, he and his colleagues experience flashbacks that test their fortitude mentally. Carcer and his crew follow them with their new allies, the Thieves Guild, and retrieve the sought-after weapon.
[Slight Spoilers Ahead!]
They might have lost the sword, but at least the Watch have a lead to another relic. During Wayne’s interrogation, he mentioned “The Dark in the Dark”. Cheery knows exactly what it references but has reservations because it involves her returning to her the home she worked so hard to escape. Eventually she accompanies Carrot and Angua to the Mines of Tak but can they arrive there before Carcer and his group?
If Carcer’s threat and Vetinari’s ambitions weren’t enough to worry about, another big player enters the quest for the relics. Doctor Cruces, the head of the Assassin’s Guild, looks to take over the Thieves Guild after orchestrating the murder of their leader. In order to consolidate power, she must breakout all the pickpockets from the Watch’s cells. Only Ramkin and Vimes stand in their way.
It was nice to finally receive a Cheery centric episode and to dive deeper into her character. Compared to the other members of the Watch, she’s the one we know least about. As much as she wanted to avoid it, Cheery has the confidence and courage to face her past and her encounter with the threat of The Dark is surprising and gives her the affirmation she needed after leaving home. The experience not only gives her greater powers, it makes her even more fabulous as seen in her glam rock inspired, camp filled musical number.
Although there are some quibbles with the storyline. For instance, her reunion with her old flame borders the melodramatic. In addition, with all the talk about the Mines of Tak being such a labyrinth and The Dark being so menacing, we don’t really get that feeling. The setting and execution don’t quite match the expectations.
The stakes of the story are ramped up with another major participant in the hunt for the relics. Doctor Cruces serves as a worthy adversary to Lady Ramkin. Actresses, Ingrid Oliver and Lara Rossi, so effortlessly exchange sharp jabs and banter that it’s a real joy to see their interactions ever since “The What?”. But there’s also a mutual respect there with Ramkin commenting on Cruces great hair. The Watch will have their hands full dealing with all the different factions but it might be worth it if we receive more creepy Alice Band.
“The Dark in the Dark” also contains some significant reveals moving forward. With the source of Cheery’s powers along with Carcer’s unseen partners, there are more references to a multiverse making the world of Ankh-Morpork even more bizarre. Carcer and Wonse’s new task at the end of the episode raises more interesting possibilities but can also potentially cause the narrative to be convoluted and muddled. Hopefully, the remaining part of the season will be more the former than the latter.
This episode of The Watch gives us the Cheery centric episode we’ve been waiting for and reaffirms how Fab-U-lous she really is.
The Watch airs Sunday nights on BBC America.
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