The Almighty Johnsons 2.06 "Folkmoot" REVIEW

The Almighty Johnsons 2.06 "Folkmoot" REVIEW

Episode 2.06
Writer: Tim Balme
Director: Charlie Haskel

THE ONE WHERE Loki tires to kill Ty, Axl calls a Folkmoot to resolve the Eva issue and Michelle plays matchmaker with amusing results.

VERDICT Another solidly entertaining episode from the New Zealand Gods, with the “death of Eva” storyline coming to a close of sorts and ending with a resolution we really weren’t expecting.

The opening scene of Loki/Colin actually trying to kill Ty was a bit of a shock especially after what Axl said to Loki last week. It’s not that Loki isn’t up to the effort, just that he’s better suited as the mischievous God rather than the vengeful father. He still comes across as if it’s all a bit of a laugh and that he isn’t taking it completely seriously, which detracts from the drama and emotion somewhat.

After the final shot of Dawn last week showed her spying on Ty and Agnetha, we were surprised when Agnetha said she’d gone on holiday, but then again who’d pass up a free holiday. Having it revealed later in the episode that she didn’t actually go on the holiday and was still suspicious of Ty’s involvement in Eva’s death was spot on.

Dawn and Ty’s scenes were very good, but did feel slightly like covering old ground again. Ty’s revelation and eventual betrayal of his mother, a fellow God, for a mortal was very true to the character’s feelings for Dawn and will hopefully move them along a bit. Seeing as Ty thinks they can’t be together, and events of season one seeming to confirm this, we wonder just what’s going to happen to their relationship now Eva’s out of the way and Dawn is starting to trust him again.

The Folkmoot of the episodes title was funny, if a little disappointing. The fact that it was just a meeting of the usual characters – we didn’t get appearances from other gods such as Thor or Kvasir – was a bit of a let-down. But seeing Axl flex his God muscles a little more was nice to see particularly his little sword fight with Loki.

Seeing Agnetha get her comeuppance was also a bit of an anti-climax; having her accept her fate with no fight wasn’t in character for the feisty, scheming Goddess. And making her final demise happen off screen was disappointing too. Well, that’s assuming she is dead and we have seen the last of her. Getting rid of such an important character seems like a bit of a wrong move, especially considering just how instrumental she’s been in the storylines so far this year. We wonder if Anders, and his secret quest, is somehow going to be her ace in the hole. However it turns out, we really hope we haven’t seen the last of Alison Bruce’s Agnetha.

Elsewhere in the episode there were shenanigans a-plenty with Mike and Michelle entering into a relationship/arrangement. Mike’s challenge to Michelle to prove her worth was both highly entertaining and a little gross. But you can’t deny the power of a goddess who can get someone to go to bed with Zeb. All the B-plots this week saw the cast having fun sexy times; with Stacy and Zeb jumping in the sack and Mike and Michelle playing strip the Goddess. That’s quite a few notches for Michelle’s bed post considering she bedded Axl’s girl form last week and has been with Loki for the majority of the this season (including this episode until a swift knee to Loki’s groin ended that). We wonder if there will be fall-out for Michelle when her suggestions to Stacy about Zeb wear off and whether her sudden interest in Mike has some hidden motive.

No signs of Anders this week. We assume he had a busy week on the set of The Hobbit . There wasn’t that much of Olaf either but Rachel Nash’s Ingrid was on suitably scatty form as Ty’s new houseguest.

All being said, this was another excellent episode featuring continuing storylines, comedy like only The Almighty Johnsons can do it and great performances from all involved, and although it wasn’t quite up to the standards of the last few episodes it wasn’t that far off. We wish other shows could be as consistently good as this one is.

FRIGGWATCH No mention of The Frigg at all this week. That’s got to be a first. We didn’t really miss her, but with the Eva storyline pretty much resolved we reckon the Goddess hunt will be back on next week.

BEST GOD Michelle uses her Goddess power to get Stacy to do the dirty with Zeb. Loki is setting all sorts of things on fire again. Agnetha turns into a tree.

BEST BOND VILLAIN IMPRESSION Loki is always the best dressed character with his natty red suit, but here he’s rocking the cigar, smoking jacket and glass of brandy to fine villainous effect.

OLAF GETS HIS KIT OFF Right from the opening shot Ty’s seen half naked. Zeb and Stacy show off far more flesh than Axl and Gaia needed to see in their various sexual acrobatics around the flat.

BEST LINE
Ingrid: "Was it the fridge? Fridges burst into flames more often than you think."
Ty: "No. It was my bed."
Ingrid: "Okay. Well, that’s less common."

Steven Ellis @Steven Ellis

The Almighty Johnsons airs Mondays at 10pm on SyFy

• Read our other The Almighty Johnsons season 2 reviews