Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire
Thursdays on Comedy Central at 10PM
Pilot episode (including “Wench Trouble” and “Golden Powers”)
Warning: this review contains some spoilers. If you’d rather not know what the episode is going to include, bookmark this page and read it after viewing.
Just as the Sci Fi Channel is changing its name and (possibly) moving away from the sf/fantasy content most of us expect, Comedy Central comes charging (or perhaps that’s bumbling) into the breach to sate our needs for original comic fantasy programming. Krod Mandoon the the Flaming Sword of Fire finds a young, attractive band of rebels on a mission, of sorts, to throw off the overbearing yolk of the evil Chancellor Dongalor. In a more fantasy, less comedy, environment, this band might be called “The Hypersexual Aneka and her half-talented sidekicks”, but of course, even stretching the boundaries of the genre as far as they have, Comedy Central (and creator Peter Knight) can’t go that far. Besides, it’s funnier to have the title character a little less than competent.
Krod Mandoon (Sean Maguire, Meet the Spartans) is the son of a blacksmith and a stay-at-home mom in a mythical middle ages land that is under the iron fist of the laughably evil Chancellor Donaglor (Matt Douglas, Shaun of the Dead) and his equally comic sidekick Barnabus (Alex McQueen, The Wrong Door), who looks like a cross between Severus Snape and Prince Valium. Krod and Dongalor were once classmates, but have gone their separate ways, and though Krod is cut of cloth intended to be a hero, he’s not quite there yet. In his first encounter with Dongalor’s soldiers, he’s able to sneak in under the radar, accost the leader, and steal the keys to the dungeon in which his mentor, General Arcadius (Roger Allam, Inkheart, Speed Racer) is rotting. He’s away clean, until the chief baddie mentions that worm-faced Mandoon, and then Krod can’t help but find out just how much they think of (as it turns out) him; darn that ego. Of course, the soldiers finally awaken to who he is, and the fight is on: a tavern-full of bad guys versus Krod.
But all is not lost: Krod’s little band of sidekicks is around, able to turn the tables and clench escape from the jaws of capture. Loquasto (Steve Speirs, Eragon, Inkheart) Krod’s slave (except he’s a freedom fighter, so he keeps begging Loquasto to not call him master) is a half-man, half-pig fellow who is great with a crossbow (except he keeps hitting Krod), and manages to kill the captain in the bar… by putting a crossbow bolt through Krod’s hand and into the man’s back. The young warlock Zezelryck (Kevin Hart, Superhero Movie) is more of what we’d call a stage magician than the real thing, but he can talk circles around his opponents. Indeed, only Aneka (India de Beaufort, Run Fatboy Run) is competent, as she can kill with throwing stars, fight with the best of them, pretty much win through every situation… except that she insists on defeating most opponents with her overhwelming sexuality (she’s Krod’s girlfriend, except that Krod is a much less adventurous, much more monogamous fellow than she would have).
They succeed in extracting Krod from a dangerous situation of his own making, and the series is set up. With the keys safely in hand, they make their way to Dongalor’s fortress, sneak into the dungeon, and manage to free the captives therein before finally finding General Arcadius (if he isn’t Mel Brooks’s Roger DeBris, he surely took lessons). Arcadius, Krod’s mentor, and titular head of the rebellion, has taken a lover, Bruce (Marques Ray, Leaving Barstow) to help him survive the horror of this incarceration. “But you’ve only been here two weeks,” Krod notes, “and it’s a co-ed dungeon.”
Arcadius dies in the escape, but not before he’s able to tell Krod that our hero is, indeed, the one spoken of in prophecy, who will lead the people to freedom… or something like that.
Meanwhile, Dongalor continues his nice-guy villainy:
“Did you kill one of the workers, to make the others work harder?” —Dongalor
“Yes, sir.” —Barnabus
“And did you give the survivors goodie bags, to show them we appreciate them?” —Dongalor
When one of the lords meeting Dongalor questions his plans to defeat the rebellion with the great, hidden weapon recently uncovered, Dongalor turns to the Round Table setting and slits the throat… of the man next to him. “No, sir,” says Barnabus, “it was that one.” “I thought we were going to have their names carved on the backs of the chairs,” whines Dongalor. This is villainy with—well, not a touch, but a heaping shovelfull—of humor (as in, if you don’t like your slapstick slathered all over your fantasy, you may not like the show much).
At the same time, the pagan Aneka has to return to her home village for the celebration of her 300th moon. In this tribe, such a celebration is marked by having sex with 300 men. Krod, being a far more puritanical hero than we’re used to seeing, simply can’t handle it. There’s a nice shot of the line-up outside her house, waiting to help Aneka with the celebration, when Krod breaks in to warn her of the assassins sent after them. He manages to unmask the villain, and Aneka finds her desire to complete the rite slaked (pon farr, anyone?), and skips out on the assembled horde. Bruce, feeling pity for those nice men, immediately sets himself up to finish her 300 for her.
Oh, and “the Flaming Sword of Fire” of the title? Krod’s got this sword, see, which he sometimes misplaces, and sometimes can’t get to, but sometimes (he’s not sure why) bursts into flame. It’s a good sword, and he’s pretty good with it, but it’s going to be important… if he can keep from hurting himself with it.
The show has nice little nods to fantasy and science fiction of the past, and seems to know what it’s doing with it’s present adult slapstick comedy. I only question if they can keep it up (so to speak) more than a few episodes. But for the premiere, it’s definitely worth watching, and I’ll be tuning in again next week.