THE LIBRARIANS: THE NEXT CHAPTER Recap: (S01E02) And the Dance of Doom!

Geek Girl Authority

6 days ago

Teams of highly intelligent, strong-willed members rarely gel quickly and without conflict. In The Librarians: The Next Chapter Season 1 Episode 2, 'And the Dance of Doom!' Vikram (Callum McGowan) must learn to lead when he's used to operating on his own. Not only that, but he must lead science-minded Lysa (Oliva Morris) and the occult-excitable Connor (Bluey Robinson), who are diametrically opposed in world views.
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Add to the mix Mrs. Astolat (Caroline Loncq), the castle's acerbic gift shop attendant, who is more than she appeared to be in the premiere episode of The Librarians: The Next Chapter. Oh, and Charlie (Jessica Green) has layers. Like a parfait. Watch for it. The Librarians: The Next Chapter, 'And the Dance of Doom!'
A troupe of ballerinas performs in a park. The central dancer loses control of her feet/shoes and dances out into traffic, where she's hit by a truck. Lying unconscious, her feet continue to try to dance.
In the Annex, Lysa and Connor disagree on how Atlas handles the weight of the world. Mrs. Astolat appears suddenly, just in time to save Lysa from being sucked into a Chinese Gourd Vessel. Connor's cell phone sparks when he tries to take a photo of a Library book. Mrs. Astolat hands his phone back to him and reminds him that modern tech won't record on Library grounds. Charlie is training on a wooden man dummy when Mrs. Astolat stops to give her some pointers. After demonstrating how to lock your wrists, she asks Charlie to bring her charges to the main room. Mrs. Astolat
When they gather, the three wonder who she is and how she knows about the Annex. Vikram (Callum McGowan) joins them and introduces Mrs. Astolat as the Annex's Caretaker. They knew each other before he got caught in the time bubble in 1847, making Mrs. Astolat an immortal being. The Library directed her to wait at Belgrade Castle in case Vikram or the Annex returned.
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Despite Vikram's protests, she insists on helping now that he is back. She unrolls a map of Belgrade that tracks the spread of the magic Vikram let loose when he reactivated the well. Using a pendulum suspended over the map, they track the occurrence of magical events. When it indicates something happened at Republic Square, Connor discovers the ballerina's story on social media.
Charlie, Connor, and Lysa insist on joining Vikram when he goes to see the dancer. Mrs. Astolat declines to join them. Irritated, Vikram leads the team on their mission. Dying to Dance
At the hospital, Lysa and Connor speak with the comatose dancer's mother (Danina Moguel). They learn the dancer had just gotten her first solo in the National Ballet Company. Lysa notes that the dancer's dark hair now has a streak of white.
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When they head back to meet Charlie and Vikram, they're squabbling. They share that the victim was a principal dancer at the National Ballet Company. At the National Theatre, they find the company in a frenzy preparing for a technical rehearsal. The choreographer, Yelena Tarkoff (Isidora Simionović), tells them to leave. Charlie tells her they're insurance investigators. Lysa backs her up, insinuating that exposure to a toxin caused the ballerina to dance into traffic.
On the stage, the conductor and director, Dame Anna (Arielle Dombasle), argue over the tempo of the finale. The conductor insists that allegro is too fast. Dame Anna states emphatically that allegro moderato renders the music unrecognizable. Charlie comments that Dame Anna is a well-known dancer in her own right. No one had an extension like hers. Charlie's Secret Love
Connor realizes that Charlie's knowledge of the people in the ballet world comes from a history with the discipline. She admits she's trained in ballet but dismisses it as just one of many forms of strength training she undertakes.
After Dame Anna makes a public announcement on the record with an art critic (Tanasije Ćakić) in the audience that the show will go on and the finale will be played allegro. Vikram and Charlie approach Dame Anna. Lysa goes to question Yelena. Connor takes on the conductor.
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Yelena tells Lysa that the show is only going forward because Dame Anna refuses to let go of her final production by cancelling it. In Dame Anna's office, Vikram and Charlie learn Dame Anna believes the show is cursed. Connor's conversation with the conductor, Gustav (Slobodan Beštić), reveals his deep frustration with Dame Anna and her micromanaging ways. As they are staging Giselle, he feels that everyone knows the music, so she should back off.
Dame Anna tells Vikram and Charlie that the problems the show has run into feel personal. She holds up a book and says that it contains her entire career of work and is filled with examples of people doubting her. Her retirement dance production, Giselle , a ballet she's danced herself many times in her youth, will be a triumph for the final page of the book. The Real Power in the Theatre
Gustav tells Connor that Dame Anna might think she has the power. However, he believes the real power lies in the conductor's baton. In controlling the music, the baton controls every aspect of the show.
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Lysa learns that although Yelena wants the artistic director position, she doesn't believe she'll get it. As Yelena is packing her shoulder bag, Lysa notes several bottles of pills inside. Yelena insists that dancers get hurt all the time.
Backstage, Lysa and Connor argue over whether the prima ballerina's situation was caused by Gustav's baton or Yelena's drugs. On the stage, Yelena calls for Natalia (Mina Nenadović), the understudy. Lysa and Connor continue to debate. Charlie proposes that the understudy had the most to gain from the prima ballerina being sidelined. They all turn to observe Natalia. Lysa admits she's good. Charlie judges that she's better than good. Natalia's extension is exceptional. As Natalia begins to spin, her shoes start to smoke. Charlie grabs her and strips off the shoes, throwing them to the side. Vikram covers them with his coat. When he lifts it, the shoes begin to dance on their own. It Was Never Going to Be Fair
At the Annex, the team discovers the rosin on Natalia's shoes has magical traces in it. Charlie realizes the rosin box must be the source of the magic affecting the show. She heads out to get the rosin box. Mrs. Astolat helps them narrow their search for the rosin's source. By transferring some of the rosin to the pendulum, they track its source to the Old Forest. Lysa and Connor continue to argue over whether it's science or magic. Mrs. Astolat wants a word with Vikram and sends the other two on ahead together. Neither Lysa nor Connor is enthused about the plan.
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At the theatre, Charlie finds and obtains the rosin box. She hides when she hears Yelena's voice. Yelena and Gustav come in, looking for Natalia. Yelena tells Gustav she can't let the show happen.
Back at the Annex, Mrs. Astolat reminds Vikram that he can't go back in time. She warns him that his reputation as a rogue Librarian is well-earned, but he cannot travel back to 1847. He points out that he could, that he left people behind. She argues that Anya had a good life even without him. He says that it isn't fair and leaves. She mutters that it was never going to be fair.
Charlie finds Natalia crying on the interior steps of the theater. They share their personal insecurities about failure. Charlie tells Natalia she used to love dancing as a child, but once she started training for her job, she had to let it go. She gives Natalia a pep talk and then asks about Yelena. She shares that she heard Yelena say she wouldn't let the show go on. The Dance Tree
As they walk through the Old Forest, Lysa and Connor bicker about his acceptance of magic's existence. Vikram pops up, startling them both. He notices a nearby tree and says that's what they're looking for.
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He tells them it's a Dance Tree. Connor explains that in ancient times, people would gather around and dance in homage, pouring their vitality into the tree. Walking around it, Lysa discovers the tree has been tapped dry. She realizes that the tree's sap was used as the dance company's rosin — rosin being a solid form of tree resin. (LOL to Connor and Vikram's exchange about 'the reason for the resin in the rosin' here.)
Vikram talks through the use of the Dance Tree's power to drain away the vitality of the dancers. This explains the white in the prima ballerina's hair. He comes to the conclusion they're dealing with a witch. This terrifies him. Fractious
Back at the Annex, Vikram insists on confronting the witch on his own because Lysa and Connor's constant conflicts will fuel the witch's power. He directs them to research and figure out what kind of witch it is.
At the theater, Charlie's looking for Yelena. When she asks a group of dancers, they stare at her in silence. She moves on, and they follow, eyes whitened over.
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Vikram tells Dame Anna about the witch. He asks who in the company has been with her for over a decade. She mentions Yelena and Gustav, then goes to find her records. While she's gone, Vikram picks up her journal and comments that it's a good thing the performance is midday, when most witches are less powerful.
Charlie finds Yelena in the studio, drained to a husk of a body. The dancers who followed Charlie attack her and carry her out of the building.
In the Annex, under the time crunch of the performance at noon, Connor recalls a mention of Lady Midday, aka The Noon Witch. She would drain her victim's life force by forcing them to dance. Every 70 years, on the Summer Solstice, she would dance, and the adulation would restore her youth. Lysa discovers the solstice is that day and realizes the witch will be the dancer. The Noon Witch
Looking through her journal, Vikram discovers that Dame Anna, in her youth, looked exactly like Natalia. He confronts Dame Anna, and she laughs, wondering how it took him so long to figure it out. Revealing several magical artifacts, he claims that she won't be able to pierce his defenses with her spells. She whips out a taser and zaps him unconscious.
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Mrs. Astolat activates the magic door to send Lysa and Connor to the theater. Unfortunately, it's so close to the start of the show, the witch's magic is causing blowback, and it blocks them from traveling through the door. Mrs. Astolat also says the extra magic in the air due to the well's leak will allow the witch to drain all her audience's vitality, killing them. Connor grabs Mrs. Astolat's BMX bike and heads out. Lysa follows, asking where she's going to sit. The Show Goes On. Sort Of.
The show begins. Natalia/Dame Anna/Lady Midday makes her entrance. All the other dancers' eyes white over as they prepare to dance. Charlie gets thrown out the back door just as Lysa and Connor arrive riding the BMX. They fill her in on the Noon Witch's plan. Charlie tells them about Yelena and figures out the witch is Natalia.
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Somehow, they get inside. Charlie takes the place of a company dancer and blends in. Connor and Lysa sneak backstage and decide to stop the show using the set controls. Upstairs, Vikram wakes up.
On stage, set pieces and sandbags start falling. Charlie tries to get to Natalia, but the zombified dancers get in her way. As the finale approaches its climax, Connor cuts the lights, but the dancers continue, their shoes glowing with magical rosin. The audience sits, transfixed. Charlie barges through, knocking down the ensemble dancers and spinning Natalia to the ground. The audience, led by the Art Critic, rises to their feet to applaud. Too Late
Natalia tells Charlie she's too late. She takes her bows, gloating that she'll live forever on the vitality she gathers here. Down in the orchestra pit, Gustav sits, tied up and gagged. Vikram taps the baton on the conductor's music stand. He reminds Natalia that the baton is the most powerful thing in the theater. By slowing the finale to allegro moderato , the applause began too late to complete her spell.
Natalia sinks to her knees, transforms into Dame Anna, and dissolves into ancient dust. The audience applauds again. The team takes a bow.
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At the Annex, Charlie lets Vikram know the prima ballerina woke up and should make a full recovery. Unfortunately, Yelena couldn't be saved. The other dancers can't remember anything that happened. Vikram says that's the human mind protecting itself. Walking into the main room, they find Lysa and Connor arguing. They tell him they regret not being more effective at the theater. Vikram says they distracted Natalia so well, she never noticed him slowing the tempo. Therefore, they were extremely effective. He congratulates them on their teamwork.
Mrs. Astolat arrives in a beekeeper's suit. She tells the team that she's accumulated a lot of vacation time and plans on taking it now.
Starting June 2, new episodes of The Librarians: The Next Chapter drop on Mondays at 9 pm ET on TNT.
Everything Coming to Netflix in June 2025 Diana lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where she invests her time and energy in teaching, writing, parenting, and indulging her love of all Trek and a myriad of other fandoms. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. You can also find her writing at The Televixen, Women at Warp, TV Fanatic, and TV Goodness.