Disenchantment - Part 5 (Netflix)

The end is nigh for drunkard Bean and her companions Luci and Elfo; her evil (and smoking hot) mother Queen Dagmar has conquered Dreamland with Satan himself, and she must find allies to defeat Dagmar once and for all, so everyone can get the snip-snap ending they all deserve.

Oh, Disenchantment... looking you up in the dictionary gives you the very definition of "forever lost potential". What could have been another masterful Matt Groening comedy with a twisted fantasy twist instead became one of the dullest animated shows in memory. In the first season, there were several glimmers of hope that the show could compete with the Futurama siblings or even the Simpsons. However, the series creators decided to do something different, something more episodic and using a more overarching story between episodes.

Of course, I respect the decision to let the show find its own identity, because it's hard to match the standards of Futurama and Simpsons (at their best) in the joke department. Even after season two, however, it became clear that the writers had a lot of trouble balancing the classic gag piece with the episodic structure, resulting in a show that never found its direction. Part 5, which is the final season, has now sealed Disenchantment as a comedy to be forgotten the moment it ends.

Part 5 picks up where the last one left off, with Princess Bean beheading her evil twin and falling into the arms of her love interest, the mermaid Mora. However, you are never keen to see how Bean defeats her evil and smoking hot mum; you mostly watch passively as the characters try in vain to drive a non-existent plot forward. The viewer is never carried away, but rather waits for something exciting to happen.

The humour is equally desperate, with characters chattering and babbling until someone says something that is supposed to be a joke. It's hard to describe how flat the humour is as most of it feels like an afterthought and although there are a few funny moments, these feel more like lucky accidents. The best bit is probably God with the lightbulb head. Part 5, like the previous seasons, lacks a proper driving force among the various factions that want to eliminate Bean's mum, leaving the season to end just as it began: directionless.

As a finale, however, it serves as a sweet little epilogue, where the show's creators manage to tie up all sorts of loose ends left behind by the scriptwriters' lax approach, where characters forgotten years ago get a happy ending. Many characters and storylines are neglected, but that tacky "they lived happily ever after" fits the fairy tale premise well and may be the only time the show manages to evoke something genuinely emotional. However, it took 50 indecisive and weak episodes for anything to finally click, which ultimately makes Disenchantment a disappointment from start to finish.