Once Upon a Time
Season 4 Episode 18: “Heart Of Gold”
Directed by Billy Gierhart
Written by Tze Chun & Scott Nimerfro
Created by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla, Josh Dallas, Emilie de Ravin, Colin O’Donoghue, Jared Gilmore, Robert Carlyle, Sean Maguire, Rebecca Mader
ABC
Air Date: Sunday, April 12th, 2015, 8:00pm

Let’s recap the “Best Laid Plans” from two weeks ago, before we get to Once Upon a Time 4.18 “Heart Of Gold”

The villains are all a twitter trying to find the author so he can rewrite “history” so they can have their happy ending instead of the heroes. In order to do that, they must darken savior Emma’s heart. After much too much effort trying to cover their tracks, Charming and Snow (Josh Dallas and Ginnifer Goodwin) finally tell Emma (Jennifer Morrison) what they did in order to ensure her goodness. They took Maleficent’s (Kristin Bauer van Straten) baby and allowed it to be sucked into a portal to another world. I know that means we will eventually run into Maleficent’s spawn, but I’m glad they didn’t outright kill a baby, even though they thought it was just a baby dragon (Khaleesi!). They did release the author who promptly fled.

This year’s New York Comic-Con was filled to bursting with our favorite actors, writers, artists, and even wrestlers. Sean Maguire, who plays Robin Hood on ABC’s Once Upon a Time, took a minute from his autograph table to comment to me on his character’s relationship with Regina (Lana Parrilla) on the show.

Krod Mandoon & The Flaming Sword of Fire
DVD
Created by Peter A. Knight
Sean Maguire, Matt Lucas, John Rhys-Davies, Kevin Hart
Comedy Central
Release date: March 23, 2010

In a time when all you had to go on were your brains and your brawn, and warlocks and mythical creatures were around, we find the hero of our story Krod Mandoon. This somewhat insecure but courageous hero is thrown into many situations that would normally take great skill to escape. Fortunately for him and his band of somewhat bumbling misfits, pure dumb luck is on their side as well. Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire is a six-episode miniseries created by Peter A. Knight for BBC Two and Comedy Central.

I was not sure what to make of this show when I first saw the advertisement playing on Comedy Central last summer, but I knew one thing for sure, that it looked hilarious. To my surprise it did not disappoint. While having a bit of a slow start (which is to be expected of new shows sometimes) it gradually gets better as it goes. If you love corny and raunchy humor, then you will love this series.

Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire
Starring Sean Maguire, Roger Allam, Matt Lucas, India de Beaufort
Comedy Central

If only Comedy Central knew how to spend their money a little better. Every time the network I so dearly love scores a hit and is suddenly flush with revenue, they race out and greenlight a few more new series that often prove to look better on paper than on the high-definition television screen (remember The Naked Trucker and T-Bone?). Their newest effort, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, is no ill-advised exception. A vain attempt to satirize the beloved sword-and-sorcery genre much like Monty Python and the Holy Grail took on the legend of King Arthur and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (the books and the BBC radio and television adaptations I mean of course; the 2005 movie blew chunks that not even Amy Winehouse could top) turned a jaundiced eye on science fiction, Krod is a noble effort that misses a great deal more than it hits. For a fan of great epics such as Conan the Barbarian, Excalibur, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy that celebrate the awesome beauty of worlds where magic and clashing steel are as commonplace as traffic and acid reflux are here, watching this show is like watching a mediocre stand-up comedian: you may chuckle occasionally, and you may be shocked when you do, but don’t expect any big laughs.