Season Review: Disenchantment Part Four

Overview:

It’s out of the frying pan and into the fire, both figuratively and literally to various degrees with Bean, Luci, and Elfo in their latest Disenchantment misadventures. This trio is forced to really look at themselves as individuals once they’re all pushed into new worlds and viewed in different lights. Each of these characters experience dark nights of the soul as they travel to unprecedented territory, meet new friends, and stumble upon a gripping conspiracy that might bring Dreamland down in flames.

Our Take:

Disenchantment has faced the difficult task of falling in the shadows of Matt Groening’s other totemic animated series, but each season it’s managed to chisel out more of a corner for itself in the world. The end of Disenchantment “Part 3” finally started to do some creative and risky things with these characters, so this new batch of episodes feels like the most exciting and rejuvenated that Disenchantment has been in a while. It’s an encouraging note to begin the season on, even if it shouldn’t have necessarily taken this long for the series to really find its voice and establish a rhythm that works for it. Disenchantment still isn’t perfect and it continues to pale in comparison to Futurama or The Simpsons (although it’s really not fair to hold it up to the same benchmarks), but these latest episodes present a version of the show that works more than it doesn’t and finally feels like it’s out of the dark ages.

Disenchantment has now been around long enough that its characters have properly sunk in and it can move beyond its general premise to loftier ideas. The first thirty episodes of Disenchantment are far from thematically barren, but “Part 4” really puts to bed everyone’s lingering issues with family and how the family that you build is more important than being forced into any biological family. This season also wrestles with a general admonishment of magic in favor of “stience,” logic, and moving forward into an age of enlightenment that values individual thought and challenges the status quo instead of blindly following orders and tradition. It’s another exciting turn for the series that isn’t possible in the majority of shows because society has already advanced to its current peak. Disenchantment still makes comedy its priority, but these deep ideas that anchor these ten episodes really help elevate the material in a significant way.

It’s only appropriate then that “Part 4” of Disenchantment begins in brave new worlds with its plucky team of characters all separated and on their own, while they’re all also forced to navigate through unprecedented territory. These new environments, whether it’s Bean’s extended stay in Hell or Luci’s time in Heaven, push these characters to redefine themselves and figure out who they all really are. It’s honestly exciting material for the series to tread, albeit also something that’s long overdue. Disenchantment’s faster pacing also works to its advantage here as the episodes move between everyone’s disparate journeys, which builds a greater sense of momentum that was often lacking in the series’ past. 

Part of the novelty of the start of this season is that Bean isn’t just out of her comfort zone, but she spends a healthy amount of time with her mom, which allows her to gain a new appreciation for her lazy father in the process. It’s satisfying on some level to see Disenchantment get to the bottom of whether Bean is actually “her mother’s daughter,” or if she’s grown into more of an individual who’s a confident synthesis between both her father and mother’s ideals. On a character level this has a lot of weight for Bean, but it’s not exactly dissimilar from her previous lot in life, even if the environment that surrounds her is incredibly different. Finally, Elfo’s tenure as a prisoner of war in Ogreland is the least interesting of this season’s diversions even if it does exhibit some entertaining gratuitous violence. However, Elfo’s reunion with his estranged family is surprisingly fulfilling and a welcome counterpoint to how Bean refuses the intimacy that her mother tries to force upon her. 

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Disenchantment’s rush to return to its status quo, but these episodes would honestly benefit from these characters staying in these new worlds for longer and getting the most out of them before everyone is back together. As much as lengthier detours would be appreciated, there’s still a greater sense of urgency in general this season as Bean and company create more enemies wherever they go until it seems as if Dreamland is the target of attacks from Hell, Heaven, and every place in between.

This installment of Disenchantment features some compelling content when it comes to King Zog’s confinement to the Twinkletown Insane Asylum. This allows the series to dig into even more heightened genre exercises that are different from what’s previously been present. These episodes actually bring some nuance to the heavy burden Zog shoulders as Dreamland’s king and the subject of constant attacks and schemes. Disenchantment examines what that level of stress does to someone’s identity and wellbeing, which does add some appreciated depth to someone who’s been a fairly thin character in the past. Even Zog’s tiny helpers, Vip and Vap, get their moment in the spotlight and emerge more as characters rather than visual gags.

These new episodes of Disenchantment do a better job at fleshing out the series’ more recent worlds, like Steamland, to make them feel like permanent fixtures instead of fleeting episodic adventures that lack focus. Disenchantment started as a subversion of classical fairy tales and the fantasy genre, but the more individuality that it adds to its full world, including whenever it strays away from its initial premise and explores other unique environments, is when the series is at its strongest and most energized. It’s encouraging to see Disenchantment embrace these new areas and certain ideas like Bean’s attempts to “Out-Satan” Satan through mass negging are entertaining, but still feel a little unearned. Similarly, it’s appreciated that Disenchantment fills in the circumstances that surround Elfo’s origins and childhood, even if nobody was asking for these details. 

The weirder places that Disenchantment visits this season also result in some really morbid and gross scenes, which actually work in its favor and it wouldn’t be the worst idea if Disenchantment continues to follow these stranger impulses in the future. There’s a running element throughout the season that involves a living wooden puppet in the style of Pinocchio as well as Jasper, a talking bear-human hybrid. These are certainly some of the strangest characters to enter Disenchantment’s orbit, but they’re also some of the better additions to the series. They help balance out characters like Zog and they never reach the obnoxious point of overexposure where it becomes a pain whenever they show up. 

Some of these characters may seem derivative of each other and redundant at a certain point, but this doubling down on manic supporting figures, which reaches a fever pitch where they’re all on a team together, somehow works. This group of misfits find an effortless dynamic that’s just so fun. It’s a good example of some of the odder fairy tale elements that the series should indulge in as opposed to traditional material like elves, trolls, and mermaids that are also tackled in other fantasy and medieval-based series. More sea troggs in mainstream media is never a bad thing.

A lot of familiar faces and one-off characters from previous seasons reappear, whether it’s Bean’s mermaid liaison or Zog’s transforming bear beau, Ursula, but they all help contribute to the series’ sense of scope and the growing world that it’s slowly built across nearly fifty episodes. This season develops justified reasons to return to these old characters and it’s in these connected moments of storytelling where the pieces of Disenchantment really come together. It’s also surprisingly sweet to see Bean and Zog commiserate over unrequited and impossible love. These muted instances where the characters can be themselves and just earnestly talk are when Disenchantment is frequently at its best. This only underscores how the show needs to increasingly trust itself and not always jump through such broad, silly hoops in its fantasy worlds. The characters and setting are already exaggerated enough without going even further.

On that note, the return of Mora the mermaid seems to indicate that she’s Bean’s endgame love story. The two of them continue to have these earnest, romantic mixed connections, none of which are enough to satisfy either of them, or the audience. However, these fleeting moments create strong anticipation for whenever Bean and Mora will get together in a permanent capacity. Granted, this hopefully gets a chance to actually happen otherwise these sweet teases won’t feel like they’ve amounted to anything of substance.

An unexpected highlight throughout Disenchantment are all of its lush and detailed environments, which make exploration so satisfying. A simple jailbreak turns into a visual spectacle. There are M.C. Escher-esque physics in play as Bean hops through new dimensions, like Hell, which help distinctly define them all. The same is true with the surreal territory that’s contained within the Dreamscape realm, which presents an even looser version of this wild world as Disenchantment occasionally feels like it’s about to get invaded by Freddy Krueger. That being said, set dressing and subtle world building shouldn’t be the stand out aspects of a fantasy comedy series, even though they frequently are.

Some major revelations about the history of Dreamland and its surrounding nations, their lore, and the incestuous connections that exist between these seemingly separate worlds come to light as barriers break down between different fantasy creatures. These developments could still be stronger, but by the end of the season Disenchantment asks some reasonably deep questions about inherited power, stolen land, and if a monarchy can reverse its sins and create an optimistic future or if it’s forced to submit to generations of negligence. These are questions that remain relevant today and it’s comforting to see such astute contemplation going on in a series that’s more often than not satisfied to just be silly.

The stories in Disenchantment continue to grow bigger and cover an increasingly broad scope, which typically pushes the show and its characters to evolve. “Part 4” of Disenchantment feels as if it’s an important period of transition for the series where its clunky past is progressively behind it. Disenchantment has finally put in the proper work where the characters have evolved beyond stereotypes and the larger narrative seems to finally understand what it wants for this world. It remains to be seen if a potential “Part 5” of Disenchantment will build upon this good will or once again regress into banality, but the show’s future has never seemed so bright or full of possibilities.