#i think post-whispers in the dark he starts hanging around cicero more and is like

[bethrnoora]

me and the bad bitch i pulled by being a silly goose

[atamascolily]

Episode Review - Adventures of Sinbad 1x09 - “Double Trouble”

In which there's an all-powerful MacGuffin that is really besides the point, and Rumina gets a pet cat, has excellent taste in decorating, and excels at identity left. Also, Sinbad discovers what it's like to be one of the "little people" for a change, Maeve gets a mentor, and all the latent sexual tension EXPLODES.

Suffice to say: Hijinks ensue.

(Photos from Far Far Away. )

This is one of my favorite episodes - and, broadly speaking, seems to be one of the all-time favorites of the fandom, so it's not just me talking here. In part, that's because it is well-written and truly funny(especially if you like "awful" puns; I love "awful" puns). The special effects hold up pretty well. We meet some interesting new characters. But really, the big draws of this episode are a) watching Zen Gessner, the actor playing Sinbad, have the time of his life being evil and b) all the shipping going on between Sinbad, Maeve and Rumina. Whatever your major het ship for the season is, there's plenty of fodder for it.

We open in a city scene at night, full of fascinating and interesting things - snake handlers, contortionists, levitating children that transform into old men and vice versa. Two veiled women are walking through the crowded streets, discussing rental lodgings. The one rocking the purple headgear and carrying a cat looks a little familiar...

Unfortunately, for Rumina, she gets recognized RIGHT AWAY by another woman, who calls her true identity out. At first the landlady tries to back out -- "I run a clean establishment," as if dark magic were along the same lines as drinking, smoking or prostitution - but when Rumina offers gold in advance, the landlady is all for it. So much for principles, right? We never see the landlady again, so whatever. 

The room is empty, so Rumina decorates it with magic. It actually looks pretty good. Certainly a lot homier than that skull-shaped rock cave she was living in with Turok. I'd live here in a heartbeat.

Rumina's looking in her magic mirror for our macguffin of the week - a stone obelisk that will give her ultimate power at last. She has time for a good laugh and to play with her cat while she waits. Meanwhile, the mirror switches back to the Sinbad channel, which I guess is what Rumina has playing in the background as a default. Seriously, Sinbad needs to have Maeve or someone put up some magical shields so he can get some privacy here.

Meanwhile, on the boat, Firouz has invented bowling - er, "Rolling Ball and Falling Dragons". If you're wondering how this relates to the larger plot, the answer is that it totally doesn't. But everyone's having fun and those little bronze dragons are cute!

Exposition time, everyone! Doubar wants to know why Omar of Basra confiscated a magical obelisk owned by the Caliph of Baghdad - and we do, too, actually. Sinbad explains that there was a terrible war when both rulers were impetuous young men, and that Omar has offered to return the obelisk as a peace offering. Firouz remarks that the obelisk is Egyptian, the most important magical object during the reign of Ramses II and supposed to give you ultimate power. But of course, that's only a legend, right? Right.

Meanwhile, Maeve is engrossed in her magic book:

Sinbad wants Maeve to play bowling, but it turns out she's reading the Lonely Planet Guide to Basra Dim-Dim's notes on the city. Turns out Basra is where all the magicians go to hang out (sure isn't Baghdad!) Dim-Dim writes of a woman "who far exceeds the boundaries of womanhood” “and reaches into the spheres of the masterful knowledge of the ways of magic," and Maeve thinks she could really help the crew out. Oh, and teach Maeve more magic.

Sinbad shrugs, and tells Maeve she can take the side quest while he deals with the political situation. What can possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, Omar "The Savage Sultan" of Basra is monologuing about the past, with occasional interjections from his two fawning advisors. Omar really can't remember what all the fuss was about the obelisk and looks forward to making peace once Sinbad shows up.

Rumina, spying on Omar with magic, (you'd think the all-powerful ruler in a town full of magicians would have his palace/person shielded from magical spying, but no), hears a mention of Sinbad and her ears perk up. This is going to be good, she tells her cat whose name is Cicero.I'm not 100% sure if Cicero is a real cat or a transformed human or a construct, but it doesn't really matter because he's awesome. Any pet named after classical figures and/or chickpeas (really!) is okay with me.

Another reason why this episode is awesome: so many different Rumina outfits. But I digress.

The crew is carrying gifts for Omar up the beach - because a big city like Basra doesn't have a port, but okay. Sinbad asks Maeve to be careful, and she turns it right back at him.

Omar is lounging in his palace when Sinbad and crew are announced. Sinbad shows up with a gift for him...  Apparently, no one's ever seen an umbrella before. (Thanks, Firouz!)

Turns out the Caliph contracted Firouz to make gifts, so we get a whole bunch of Firouz inventions this episode... some more useful than others. A most glorious montage ensues. 

Rongar has an excellent career as a model to fall back on if he ever decides to stop adventuring with the crew.

This is a fan, in case you were wondering:

Seriously, who does all the glass-blowing and lens crafting? Not to mention the metalwork? Firouz is good, but does he really have all the necessary equipment on the boat? I hypothesize the Caliph gave them the commission and they stopped in at Firouz's old workshop for some custom jobs. Either that or Firouz directed the Caliph's artisans. Nothing else really makes sense here.

Also, Firouz is so happy here explaining things and basking in Omar's wonder; it's adorable.

Suffice to say, Omar is super-impressed, and orders his staff to give the crew “every possible pleasure” during their visit. He gives Sinbad a medal to symbolize their friendship, which Sinbad correctly recognizes as a great honor.

He then takes Sinbad to see the macguffin they've come to collect - the obelisk. How phallic is that? asks Omar.

That's pretty damn phallic, Sinbad agrees with a smirk.

It's so phallic, in fact, that in the thirty years Omar's had it, everyone's tried to steal it, so he's just happy for Sinbad to take it back to the Caliph and get it off his hands. The medallion is Sinbad's safe passage so he can collect it without the guards slaughtering him for attempted theft.

Rumina, watching from the mirror (seriously, Omar, beef up your security here!) cackles, pleased that Sinbad's presence is going to  make the heist job even easier for her... so she can get ultimate power and finally date-rape Sinbad. I mean, probably she'll revive her evil dead father, too, but Sinbad first.

(NB: The whole issue of magic and consent and power in this series is a whole post in itself, so forgive me if I don't expound upon it too much right now.)

Meanwhile, Maeve finds the woman she was looking for.... who was expecting her.

Her name is Caipra, and she is awesome, just like Dim-Dim said. Oh, and Dim-Dim told her Maeve was coming, because Dim-Dim is so awesome like that, except for the whole being stuck in another dimension by a monster Sinbad was able to kill in one episode bit. Awkward, that. But Caipra is genuinely awesome, as we shall see.

Caipra turns out to be the mysterious woman who IDed Rumina at the beginning of this episode, too, so you can tell this is going to be good.

Back at the palace, Omar is throwing an awesome party for the rest of the crew. Sinbad keeps checking out the belly dancer, so Omar decides to provide Sinbad with "every possible pleasure" and has his assistant set them up for a tryst outside.

Sinbad pulls back her veil and reveals... Rumina!

Rumina propositions Sinbad, but he rejects her, so she throws magic in his face, yanks the medallion from around his neck, and shrinks him.

Then she picks him up in a handkerchief, tucks him into her shirt, and magics herself back to her apartment in town.

Okay, honestly, given that she can magic herself in and out of OMAR'S PALACE and the obelisk room has no protection against magical spying, I'm not really sure why Rumina needs all these shenanigans, except than she can and it's fun. Moving on... Rumina traps Sinbad in a vase so he can't escape. Cicero wants to eat whatever small moving creature is in the vase, but Rumina won't let him.

Then she transforms into evil!Sinbad, who looks just like Sinbad only with Rumina's taste in jewelry. Rumina gloats over the helpless Sinbad, reminding him that if she steals the obelisk using his image, Basra and Baghdad will go to war, and the Caliph of Baghdad is, in her eyes, at least partially responsible for Sinbad killing her father. Also, it will be a lot of fun. She vanishes, leaving a distraught Sinbad to contemplate his next move.

Which involves a lot of shouting.

Cicero is intrigued by the noise and starts to investigate. 

Meanwhile, Caipra and Maeve have a heart-to-heart. Caipra knows about Maeve's vow to destroy Rumina, and tells Maeve that it's Rumina's self-confidence and belief in herself, as much as any technical knowledge, that gives her powers.

We get confirmation that Dermott is indeed Maeve's brother and that Rumina transformed him into a hawk. Caipra agrees that Maeve is the only one who can restore him.

"What if I'm never good enough?" whispers Maeve. "What if my heart isn’t that strong?"I just want to give her a hug. 

Cut to the next morning. The crew finally notices that Sinbad's missing.

Rongar's having a great time, though!

Evil!Sinbad shows up and starts insulting everybody and everything.

The hell, thinks Rongar.

Omar is not amused by any of this.

Evil!Sinbad is condescending to Firouz.

Okay, now you're going too far, Rongar thinks.

Omar's really not amused by evil!Sinbad's insults and orders his guards to arrest them.

Everyone escapes out the window just in the nick of time. Doubar confronts evil!Sinbad, who continues to be a jerkass about everything. Omar's guards chase everyone, but evil!Sinbad escapes.

Back in the vase, Sinbad tied his sash to his sword, tossed it up over the top and is attempting to climb out.

... but is interrupted when evil!Sinbad abruptly returns.

Rumina transforms back into her own body and torments Sinbad for a while by telling him about her escapades. She then decides to take a bath, because, you know, she really worked up a sweat running away from the guards.

She leaves the medallion hanging, and gets undressed behind the screen, which the camera luxuriously focuses on.

Sinbad takes advantage of her distraction to escape! But what's that behind him...?

For some reason, I am reminded of Monopoly here. Was I the only one who enjoyed using the shoe token?

Fortunately, Dermott shows up for no obvious reason while Cicero is stalking Sinbad.

Tiny!Sinbad yells to Dermott to go get Maeve. Never mind that Dermott has excellent vision, can SEE Tiny!Sinbad perfectly and could pick him up and carry him away. Or Tiny!Sinbad could climb on his back. Anyway, Dermott shows up and Sinbad's first thought is "Maeve! Maeve!" Make of that what you will. Dermott vanishes, presumably having gotten the message. 

All the noise drags Rumina out of her bath. She is not pleased to discover her captive is missing. Cicero is the obvious suspect, but she checks his mouth (and talks to him?) and knows the cat didn't eat Sinbad. So where is he?

A manhunt ensues.

Meanwhile, in the dungeons, Omar demands that the crew give Sinbad up or be tortured. They refuse, so Omar orders them stretched in the noon-day sun, starting with Doubar.

Meanwhile, Rumina is continuing to search. I'm not sure why she doesn't use magic here...

There's a knock on the door. It's Maeve! Looking for her hawk, of all things, which is so transparently a ruse. But she seems genuinely surprised that Sinbad answers the door. It's evil!Sinbad, of course, but she doesn't know that. 

Evil!Sinbad hits on Maeve with some delightfully bad Irish-inflected innuendo.

When Maeve ignores the "subtle" attempts at seduction, evil!Sinbad gets more aggressive. "I know you want me! I’ve known it from the very beginning. You and me, on the open seas, making magic together!"

Tiny!Sinbad's watching the whole thing, and freaking out.

Evil!Sinbad tries to kiss Maeve...

... and she knocks him to the ground, because this is NOT OKAY and SHE KNOWS IT.

...  evil!Sinbad transforms into Rumina....

Poor Maeve is even more freaked out by this. Not only did her comrade attempt to sexually assault her, but it was actually her sworn enemy in disguise the whole time!

Hey, Maeve, over here! yells tiny!Sinbad from the windowsill.

Maeve finally hears his calls and comes over to investigate... but turning your back on your sworn enemy is a really bad idea...

Yeah, that went well.

Rumina is about to drain Maeve's life force, but Sinbad throws his tiny sword across the room in a desperate attempt to stop her...

Suddenly, Dermott appears in the windowsill again!

There's a blinding flash of light at the door, Rumina is pinned to the wall with magical bonds that appear out of nowhere....

Caipra sure knows how to make an entrance.

At first, I thought Dermott must have gone back to Caipra's to get Maeve, only to discover that Maeve was gone, and got Caipra to come instead. This means that Maeve didn't reach out to Dermott using their mental link, which is just stupid. So I think Caipra and Maeve went into this together, since Caipra knew where Rumina lived, and let Maeve go in first, only intervening when things went poorly. But that exact sequence of events is never made clear.

But alas, Rumina slips away again, because Caipra cannot, for some reason, stop her. We also learn that Dim-dim is Caipra's husband. Maeve is startled by this - clearly it's something Dim-Dim never mentioned to her, either in person or in his book. Either Maeve hasn't been training with him for very long, or he keeps his apparently long-distance relationship quiet. If Sinbad is surprised by this news - and keep in mind, Dim-dim RAISED him and Doubar - he doesn't say. 

Back in Caipra's rooms, Maeve tries to restore Sinbad back to his normal size but things don't go well. "Stop acting like an old married couple," chides Caipra, which does not end the snarking. Caipra attempts to motivate Maeve by remindin her that Omar is going to go to war with Baghdad and their friends are being tortured even as they speak...

... so Caipra surreptitiously give Maeve a boost.

Maeve can't believe she actually did it!

Spontaneous hug of joy! The grin on Caipra's face is the best part here. 

Of course, once the rush wears off, both of them are appalled by the thought of touching each other again. Right, right, where were we? Business. Oh, yeah. Right, right. 

When Maeve leaves the room, Sinbad thanks Caipra, but Caipra just smiles. "I did nothing. It was all Maeve." When Sinbad leaves, Caipra remarks to Dermott, "I can see why Dim-Dim was so fond of them both. The old softy," and laughs to herself.

(SEE, CAIPRA AND DIM-DIM TOTALLY SHIP THIS AND THEY TALKED TO EACH OTHER ABOUT IT BEFORE DIM-DIM VANISHED. How awesome is that?)

Noticeably, Maeve's magic does improve dramatically in later episodes, probably as a result of this confidence-boost, although it's never directly stated. What a sneaky - and clever - teaching move.

Meanwhile, Doubar's being tortured in Omar's dungeons so it's not all fun and games here.

Happily, Maeve and Sinbad to the rescue! Look at that teamwork!

"SCIENCE!" yell Doubar and Firouz together in one voice, in a moment that I hope to immortalize forever with GIFs someday.

Doubar is understandably pissed off, Sinbad tries to explain and fails, so he rushes off to deal with Omar and leaves the explanations to Maeve instead.

Omar's angsty about war, but doesn't really know what else to do when his honor's insulted. He doesn't believe Sinbad's explanations about identity theft until his advisors enter, surprised to see their boss in two places at once....

When Omar goes to investigate, and sees himself trying to enter the obelisk room, suddenly Sinbad's stories start to seem a lot more credible. The advisors, of course, are confused. Which sultan is real?

Sinbad knows how to solve this dilemma!

As we learned in "Little Miss Magic," Rumina can't do magic and kiss Sinbad at the same time. Clever Sinbad!

Also, while they're making out, Sinbad nicks the medallion from Rumina's neck. When she pulls away from the kiss and realizes all is lost, she vanishes, vowing revenge.

Please just take this phallic symbol and go, okay, says Omar. No hard feelings.

No hard feelings, agrees Sinbad.

Cairpra gives Maeve some parting advice: "Read, practice, meditate. But the most important thing you need to remember is that the magic comes from you. Believe in yourself." Which is excellent advice for everyone, actually!

Also, Caipra has a more personal request: "When you do find my husband, tell him his dinner’s grown quite cold."

I mean - CLEARLY there must be some reason why ONLY Maeve and Sinbad can rescue Dim-Dim, but it's never really explained, only hinted at. Dim-Dim seemed to know it was coming, and Caipra seems to expect it - since it seems to be Rumina/Turok's doing and for whatever reason, she's leaving that business up to Maeve and Sinbad to sort out. But still. It makes me grumpy that that the "Retrieve Dim-Dim" story arc is never adequately addressed, except as a continual macguffin plot.

But this moment between Maeve and Caipra is so sweet and I love Caipra a lot and I wish she had more of a role in this series because I love their relationship (and since she and Dim-Dim are married and Dim-Dim raised Sinbad and Doubar and Maeve and Sinbad are constantly shipped together, that would make them all one big happy FAMILY with only Firouz and Rongar not directly related through blood or marriage).

Maeve, quite rightly, doesn't believe him, and we end the episode with them arguing back and forth like an old married couple like bickering children as the ship sails off into the sunset... which is not the good ship Maeve/Sinbad, no sir, nothing to see here. 

So, as I've noted, there are some HUGE GAPING PLOT HOLES in this episode, but it's hard to really care because it has everything else I want in an episode of this show.

10/10. SO AWESOME. WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN.