Recap: THE LIBRARIANS Give the Devil His Due

Season 2, Episode 6: “And the Infernal Contract”

Hawthorne, NH: Sam Denning’s Mayoral race against Jefferson Keating has gotten some bad press, as Denning’s young and pretty campaign staffer, Brandy, has gone missing.  Keating (Matt Nolan) doesn’t miss an opportunity to point it out during Denning’s press conference, slyly implicating Denning’s involvement without actually pointing any of his slippery fingers straight at him.

As Denning (Michael Trucco) gets more heat about Brandy’s disappearance, he’s called upon his old friend and colleague, none other than Guardian Eve Baird, to help find her.  Little do they know that Brandy was abducted by a fiery portal in the ceiling of an old motel room.  When Eve learns that the Librarians have been sent to investigate the girl’s disappearance, it becomes an official Library matter.

They eventually find Brandy, as such.  Her dead body is dropped through the motel room ceiling (which seals itself afterward) while they are at the motel looking for clues.  They decide to look into the Keating campaign when they learn that Brandy was digging up some dirt on Denning’s opponent.

Gives a whole new meaning to drop dead #TheLibrarians

— Jena Raschka (@ChapmanJena) November 30, 2015

Sam confronts Eve about the mysterious portal and demands the truth.  Unfortunately, he’s not prepared to accept her answer as anything more than a ruse.

Eve: “Magic. Is. Real.”

 

As Eve is left to convince Sam about the Library and magic, the team begins to look for clues.  As luck would have it, Ezekiel had helped himself to Brandy’s phone, so he and Cassandra try to hack into it for more information.  It’s a shocking experience, and Ezekiel suggests that lightening fried the codes.  But Cassandra knows better—it looks more like magic.

C: “No, it’s a Druid magic blocking spell! Oh, we got this”

E: “We do?”

Cassandra pulls out the special anti-Druid magic blocking spell spray (also known as “handwavium” here at SciFi4Me.com) and sprays the phone to block the spell and reveal its secrets, including some pictures of a mysterious man seen about town with Keating.

While Cassandra and Ezekiel investigate the phone’s contents, Stone and Jenkins trace the highly successful Keating family back to the same period as the glyph found in the motel, noting that historical pictures of the family’s successes seem to include the same mysterious man throughout the ages.  They surmise that every 44 years, some tragedy occurs that results in loss of life, and a Keating (accompanied by the man named Sesselmann) is there to save the day.  That’s how this Faustian contract works — it reaps the souls from these disasters as each of the Keatings redeem their own brand of success.  As fate would have it, the next contract is due right about now.

Queue the Devil… or rather: Q, the Devil!  Fans were delighted to see John de Lancie as this week’s villain, fondly dubbed as “the soul man,” or as Jenkins more aptly put it, a “soul contractor,” whose very contract is his most destructive weapon.  Anyone who gets in the way of the contract’s fulfillment will be taken out by its magical protection.

Ever the strategist, Eve knows that they can’t beat the Devil, so they must beat the contract.  But first: they must find it. Something that valuable to the Keatings will be kept very safe, so they turn to Ezekiel, the sleuth of the team, for ideas on how to locate this valuable item that belongs to the successful family.

The team attends the gala for Keating’s campaign, which is being held in the same building where the contract is kept.  Their plan is to distract the guests while locating and stealing the contract.  Eve and Sam station themselves in the basement by the mail chute to wait for the drop.  Jenkins and Cassandra, posing as a wealthy winter/spring couple named “Big Daddy” and “Sugar Rose,” arrive in a limo, driven by Jacob.  They proceed to mingle with the guests so that Ezekiel, disguised as a waiter, can get a better look at the building and find the contract.  Stone is very put out that he must play the role of chauffeur.

https://twitter.com/LynRasa/status/671138184915480576

“Sugar Rose” Cassandra excuses herself from conversations with the upper crust (complete with a sharp swat to Jenkins’ bum) and joins Jacob and Ezekiel in the search, but as they get closer to finding the contract, the plan goes further and further south.

Our Devil, Mr. Sesselmann, and Jenkins share some cryptic dialogue at the party, dancing around their real identities until Sesselmann finally gets to the point.  He knows exactly who Jenkins is, and what the Librarians are up to.  He warns Jenkins that the closer they get to the contract, the harder it will fight them off.

So fun seeing @johnlarroquette and @johndelancie go head to head. Legends! #TheLibrarians

— Jerry O'Connell (@MrJerryOC) November 30, 2015

@johndelancie and @johnlarroquette are crushing it in this scene. Such a great pair of actors. #TheLibrarians

— Podcasting’s Michael Bailey (@BaileysPodcasts) November 30, 2015

And fight, it does, by any means at hand:  A wealthy woman recognizes Jacob as a chauffeur and not a party guest and calls Security.  Every time Ezekiel tries to find a secret passage, he breaks something.  Cassandra tells the guys that she tried to perform a magic spell to locate the contract, but all she found was the security guards. (Just how many security guards does a party need?)

https://twitter.com/_bookreader/status/671139283818913792

Finally, Jacob locates the secret passageway just before the security detail catches up with them.  They find the contract, and with security pounding on the door, Cassandra drops the contract down the mail chute where Eve and Sam await below.

Eve hands Sam the contract and she fights off even more security guards, only to be decked by Sam, who has decided that the contract now in his possession is his opportunity to change the corruption of the present office.  Immediately, Mr. Sesselmann appears with a quill in hand, encouraging him to sign and become the town’s hero.

Mr. Sesselmann: “The Keatings were good clients, but… possession is 9/10ths of the law.  You’re a good man Sam Denning; always the best kind.”

Sam signs as Eve protests from behind a locked gate, and his good fortune is assured…for now.  He literally disappears in a limo and is swept away to become the hero he wished to be.

Oh no you didn't! !!! @MichaelTrucco!!!! #TheLibrarians @LibrariansTNT

— Tanya (@tlselle72) November 30, 2015

Oh, you stupid fool! #TheLibrarians

— Jenn Prefers Wine To Water (@JennPrefersWine) November 30, 2015

There’s just one problem with that wish: Sam hasn’t considered that in order to become a hero, there must be a disaster.  Eve knows where to look: the city square where the town is gathering for the campaign debate.

Stone notices the pavement markings for the utility work and realizes that the gas line runs directly under town square, where the town is gathering.  The team is sure that the contract will use whatever is at hand to stop them, including a gas explosion.  They go below to shut off the gas main, and while trying to un-stick the valve, they pull together… and break it.

Could one say this episode is a gas? #TheLibrarians #BecauseMagic https://t.co/zdQdcu9BsL

— DebinPA (@DebfromPA) November 30, 2015

Now stuck in the gas-filled chamber with no way out, Sesselmann appears to the team.   He explains that although they stopped the gas explosion, there will just be another disaster in its place to make Sam a hero.  Our villain of the week suggests a deal, since he’s “always wanted a Librarian.”  Any of the team can sign the contract and they can all walk free.  He appeals to each of their dreams:  to Ezekiel, he actually used the show’s tagline: “save the world: twice before Friday;” he offered a full bill of health to Cassandra; and to Stone: the promise to defeat Prospero and save his friends.

Signed a deal with the devil? Here's some books on contract law. Also good for curing insomnia. https://t.co/PsaFcajzZW #TheLibrarians

— Cincy Library (@cincylibrary) November 30, 2015

Above ground, Eve strikes back with her own plan.  She takes Sam down with a nicely placed left hook and signs her own name over Sam’s on the contract.  Sesselmann appears and informs her that he cannot bind the contract without a wish from her, so Sam’s wish is still in motion.  My advice: never underestimate the plan of a planner with an immortal friend.  Jenkins has gone to rescue the doomed team from the booby-trapped gas chamber, while Eve banters with Sesselmann, who is taunting her about why her tricks won’t be successful.

Eve: “I don’t do tricks”

The Librarians are saved, and Sesselmann is surprised to see that Jenkins wasn’t killed by the contract’s protection. He finally realizes that the contract cannot kill that which cannot be killed, and since Jenkins is immortal, they found a loophole to that particular obstacle.  Eve then strikes the final blow to Sesselmann by casting her wish, binding the contract to her instead of Sam, and effectively terminating Sesselmann’s line of work.

Eve (to Sesselmann): “I wish you were a human being.”

In one of the best double-takes in TV-dom, Sesselmann is aghast as he becomes a mere mortal; if he tries to reap any more souls, he’ll be in breach of contract (and we’ve all seen what becomes of those who thwart the infernal contract).  Eve and Sam leave Sesselmann, who is bemoaning all of the aches and pains that come with being a human.  Welcome to the “rust years,” Mr. Sesselmann.

Eve assures Sam of his own ability to affect change without magic, which she likens to “a monkey with a loaded AK-47.” Of course, cleaning up the corruption will be a lot easier now that the contract is out of the picture.

The Librarians go back to the sanctuary of the Library, where Jenkins is playing nurse maid to the recovering team.  As they drift off to sleep on their cots, he and Eve have a heart-to-heart, and he commends her on a job well done.  She seems a little perplexed by this comment, since her team was almost killed on her watch; however, Jenkins explains further:  a Guardian isn’t there to save the Librarians from death, but rather, to save them from the temptations of the magic surrounding them.  She is, in effect, their moral compass, selected by the Library as the one who could protect their souls.  An appropriate end to their adventure with the Devil himself.

John de Lancie was tremendous in this role, and even though he is often cast in these mischievous, chaos-thriving roles, he does it so well.  It was a real treat to see him and John Larroquette square off in their strategic battle of wits.

I am amazed at just how much fun and story the writers cram into each episode when you consider the guest stars, the backstories, the character quirks and the Library’s wondrous mysteries that they introduce each week.

Some of the fun stuff between the story scenes this week:  Jacob getting excited over Chupacabra Jerky; Cassandra swatting down Ezekiel’s air quotes, only to catch herself using them shortly afterward, Ezekiel protecting his “bad boy” image by practicing his pickpocket skills on Jacob, and Eve’s straightforward, no-nonsense approach to getting to the bottom of things.

I’ve mentioned before that Eve seemed to previously be waffling between body guard and Librarian, and didn’t seem to have a well-defined role throughout the season.  This episode finally gave her a spot within the team that feels like a perfect fit.