The Librarians: And the Cost of Education Recap

Synopsis 02×04: Weird magic college, magic hunter, and a tentacle monster. What more could anyone really ask for?

Rating: ★★★★★

One of the beautiful things about The Librarians is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously most of the time. The other beautiful thing? The Librarians can be hilariously battling a tentacle monster at one point, then having a heartfelt conversation the next. It is a show of ups and down, and this episode was one wherein the writers really showed off their ability to balance the dramatic with the lighthearted. That’s the show’s specialty, after all.

The Librarian team took to Wexler University, a school with a magical past, after a team mascot disappeared. As they investigated, it was clear that it was not a single occurrence, but one of many strange things that were happening at the campus. Of course the Library had all sorts of information about Wexler, to the point that Jenkins had put together the “Wexler protocol” to deal with the campus, which involved things like not making eye contact with the gargoyles.

So, on the trail of the missing mascot, the team went back to school.

It became pretty clear after stepping foot on the campus that something really wasn’t right about it. They interviewed a cheerleader, who talked about disappearances and painful warts as if everyone experienced those things in college. Then, as she trotted back to her team, they all began a creepy chanting cheer that was definitely not helping their magical disappearance problem.

Cassandra, when snooping around to see if they could find some rhyme or reason to the campus, found there was another young woman by the name of Lucy investigating something very similar. She was a bit of a magic hunter herself, even had equipment built to track down the energy surges that seemed to be all around the campus. They were fast friends, though Baird didn’t seem particularly thrilled that they offered for her to come along.

Cassandra and Ezekiel managed to get into a secret, paper invite only party they found out the mascot had been invited to before his disappearance with her help. They crept down to the basement hoping to find some sort of ritual being performed only to find a bunch of frat boys playing beer pong. Cassandra did notice, however, that the room happened to be lined with a strange sort of black rock that seemed peculiar.

Meanwhile, Eve and Jake had gone to discuss the architecture with a professor on campus, as the campus seemed to have a unique build. Jake was apparently a fan of the professor, only to eventually end in them bickering about magic and architecture. As they were arguing with each other, a tear in the air appeared just as the professor was praising himself and a giant tentacle came and took him away. That’s right folks, being an arrogant jerk means you’ll get taken by a tentacle monster a la HP Lovecraft. Don’t forget it.

The team returned to the Library with the information they ‘d discovered and after looking at the campus (with the help of a class Jake ended up teaching) they realized that the entire campus formed a summoning circle. To top it all off, the tentacle was attached to a giant tentacle monster that would feed off of pride. It chose a college campus as a feeding ground, because whose more prideful than a bunch of young adults cheering on their team, thinking they could beat Michigan? (Answer: no one.)

Once back on campus, Cassandra reconnected with Lucy and the poor girl decided to show them her tiny particle accelerator that worked even though it shouldn’t. It turned out that it was the reason the tear in the fabric of the dimensions had occurred, and that magic was playing a part in making something that shouldn’t work, work. Lucy came up with an idea to overpower the accelerator and all the while, sung her own praises. Unfortunately for her, it drew in the tentacle monster which almost immediately snatched her up.

So the team decided they needed to rescue her, while also keeping the tentacle monster away from the pep rally that was about to begin. Cassandra offered to be the one to go into the other dimension to get Lucy back, and asked Eve to close the portal if things went wrong even if it meant Cassandra couldn’t come back. After a bit of hesitation, Eve agreed. While they played their part, Jake and Ezekiel went around campus in a golf cart to distract the monster by having Ezekiel toot his own horn. However, he ended up having a brush with the tentacle monster and was only saved by the heroic act of Stumpy, the gargoyle who’d been following him around. RIP Stumpy.

The plan worked, thanks to Stumpy’s sacrifice. Though it took a bit for Cassandra to find Lucy, and they had a hunting tentacle monster to deal with. They ran back to the clearing but right before they went through the portal, Cassandra was pulled into a weird space that appeared to be underwater. A mysterious being, flanked by two others like her, offered Cassandra a place in their group. They are lake women, and have found the perfect combination between magic and science. They wanted Cassandra to join them because of her own opinions about how the two mesh.

However, Cassandra made her choice. She liked her job. Though they did inform her that if she ever wished to return, their offer would stand. Finally, she made it back to the correct dimension and they closed up the portal by tossing the accelerator into it. The pep rally was saved.

Cassandra returned to the Library where Jenkins was waiting for her. They’d had an earlier debate about allowing Lucy to continue to track magic because it would be potentially dangerous for her. Cassandra had defended her, and still defended her stance about magic and science being something to embrace, not hide from the world. Jenkins hesitated, and had some words of wisdom regarding the women of the lake he somehow knew about.

In the end, Cassandra said she’d turned down their offer because she wanted to stay. She liked the work they do. “Whatever happens next, please remember that I chose to stay,” were her last words as she exited the scene and the episode came to a close.