Galavant Season Finale Review: “My Cousin Izzy/It’s All In The Executions” (Season 1, Episode 7&8)

I’ve been very partial to Galavant since it premiered just four short weeks ago. Its comedic and musical ambitions aim high, and repeatedly hit their mark in satisfying crescendos of zippy one-liners and catchy musical sequences. But when they don’t, the show, with all of its farce and heightened reality, has far more to lose. Last week, I pondered whether the show would end on its highest note yet, or its lowest. While the season’s final two episodes have their moments of classic Galavant-isms (can a show four hours old be called “classic,” yet? Ah, who cares), it’s an unfortunate truth that they also feel like the most rudimentary chapters of the short saga, as well.

Opening with a flashback to Gal’s childhood, and a lesson from his dad, “My Cousin Izzy” sees most of the main cast still locked in the King’s dungeons. Actually, as the episode moves along, even more join. After being interrupted in a fight to the death between Galavant and Gareth (representing King Richard and Kingsley, respectively) by Isabella’s adolescent cousin and future husband, a gigantic feast is planned to formally welcome Isabella’s family into the kingdom. The chef’s crush finds him slaving away in the kitchen – “Where else would I be? I’m preparing an impromptu feast for 75 uppity royals because f*ck me, right?” – and the two sing a song about scheming to poison everyone at the feast and live happily ever after.

Chef can’t follow through, and ends up just playing up everyone’s allergies during the feast. The main thrust of the episode sees Galavant attempting to live up to the idea of a hero that his dad placed in his mind, and though his repeated attempts to sing about his “moment in the sun” keep getting humorously interrupted, the entire thing feels the most like filler so far this season. There’s some fun moments thanks to the precocious Prince Harry and Isabella’s concern of their age difference over their familial relations, but it mostly feels like a middle-of-the-road waypoint bridging the earlier episodes to the finale.

And though “It’s All In The Executions” serves up a more all-around successful episode than its predecessor, it never quite reaches the height of those earlier in the season. There’s some early promise, especially when the Jester gets right in to a “previously on” montage like the good ol’ days (like, you know, two weeks ago) and everyone in the cell interrupts him with guffawed expressions. “Tensions are high, can we take five?” Sid asks him. “Sorry, I was just catching people up.”