Bean, Luci, and company return in one of Netflix's most beloved animated series to turn kingdoms even more upside down than before. Disenchantment has returned.
With an innumerable catalog of series, Netflix rarely shakes its pulse when it comes to canceling projects. As a result, if a series like (Dis)enchantment has made it to season 4, it will be because... well, it has a special charm.
Season 4 of Disenchantment picks up where Season 3 left off, with Bean facing a "inevitable commitment" in Hell itself. But, as is customary in Matt Groening's series, things quickly take a turn for the worse for her... and the others.
Since the beginning of this season, we've seen very funny new characters, which is usually a common concept in Groening's series (turning satanic figures comical is something we've seen in The Simpsons and Futurama), but we'd like to learn more about them because they have potential.
This is yet another issue with the Netflix series: there is so much interesting material to discover that it ends up jumping from one to another very quickly, without giving us enough time to delve into the new "veins." It gives the impression that they are dormant in anticipation of future opportunities.
In any case, some new characters, such as the Freckles puppet or certain "discoveries" in Elfo's past that lead to a very funny episode, are being put to good use.
Interestingly, it appears that the first three episodes (of a total of ten in the season) are better measured in their mix of humor and adventure, and then the rest bring everything together and leave us with the corresponding cliffhanger at the end.
It has already been stated that (Dis)enchantment requires and deserves more episodes per season to adequately develop everything it raises, though in general terms they appear to have a better grasp of the pulse of the story than in season 3, from the season's overall plot to the season's shorter subplots.
It's also clear that the writers let their hair down with black humor and amusing references. The army of bloodthirsty gnomes or the visit to King Zog's sanatorium provide hilarious moments, reminiscent of Groening's long history of brilliant absurdity.
We must also mention the visual section, which is undoubtedly the most spectacular of the entire series. The series' mix of traditional animation and CGI is more unified than ever, and it offers some very, very appealing zoom-compensated tricks or finds without losing the series' "simple" style.
Also, there is more action and less drama, which is welcome because the "tone" was becoming too serious. Yes, there are still sad moments, but they are usually better covered by the overall story and the constant jump between character plots, making it impossible to become bored.
It has already been stated that (Dis)enchantment requires and deserves more episodes per season to adequately develop everything it raises, though in general terms they appear to have a better grasp of the pulse of the story than in season 3, from the season's overall plot to the season's shorter subplots.
It's also clear that the writers let their hair down with black humor and amusing references. The army of bloodthirsty gnomes or the visit to King Zog's sanatorium provide hilarious moments, reminiscent of Groening's long history of brilliant absurdity.
ASSESSMENT: The series regains its good rhythm with more "rogue" and irreverent episodes, though it sometimes seems to have too much on the table and doesn't know what to do with it.
THE BEST: Some of the new additions are very funny, and the black humor hits home. Visually, it could be the best season yet.
WORST: Not everything we want for certain characters is exploited. There are far too many subplots that fall flat.
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