After creating top hits like The Simpsons and Futurama, Matt Groening returns once again with a new, and final, season of his fantasy sitcom, Disenchantment, on Netflix. Unlike Groening’s other works, Disenchantment was based on a continuous storyline that was fun and entertaining, yet still had its touching moments.
Disenchantment revolves around the life of Princess Tiabeanie, often referred to as “Bean,” as she faces battles with her friends Elfo, an elf who is madly in love with her, and Luci, her demon who was sent to make her life a living hell.
Bean is a free-spirited character who would rather be drinking at the pub than performing her royal duties which throughout the seasons has proven to cause her lots of trouble. In just the first four seasons alone, she was almost burned at the stake, trapped in hell with her mother, had romantic relationships with a mermaid, and became queen of Dreamland.
The quirky and unrestrained nature of Disenchantment was what drew me into the series in the first place. I enjoyed how each episode had something odd and adventurous happening. Personally, the main reason I began to watch this series was because of the weird and wacky characters; where else would you find a princess, an elf, and a demon being the best of friends?
By far this has been one of the most action-packed, intense, and captivating seasons of all. Each episode left me fascinated and engaged with everything that was going on. While the previous seasons were already hard enough to keep up with, Season 5 introduces another whole new set of conflicts, as well as a few new characters.
In this season we get an official introduction to Mora, the mermaid who saved Bean in Season 3, Episode 6 “Last Splash.” We are also introduced to Mop Girl who ends up serving quite an important role. Mop Girl has been a quite frequent background character with four appearances in Season 1, and two appearances in Season 2. She did not become a main character until this season. My only issue with this character is that I felt like her storyline was a bit underdeveloped.
The final season finally resolves the two biggest questions from the previous seasons – why is there magic in Dreamland and where does it come from? Viewers are finally given an answer to these questions, and to everyone’s surprise, it is quite a simple one – like mother, like daughter. Bean got her magic lightning powers from her mother, Dagmar.
The final battle between Bean and Dagmar was quite shocking, to say the least. It leaves viewers with quite a mix of emotions ranging from anguish to fear to satisfaction. While it incorporated storylines from the season that made it more interesting and fun to watch, it still felt too short in the end. It was almost as if they put more focus into ending the show rather than giving everyone a satisfying conclusion.
In the end, Dagmar achieved her big goals, but did she really win? I feel like her ending was quite disappointing in some aspects. For the great villain, they portrayed her to be they didn’t give her a harsh punishment.
When the battle is over, the bittersweet ending proves how much the friends cared for each other and how despite their idiotic demeanors they truly did love and cherish each other. I enjoyed how they were able to bring back the connection the characters had with one another. The ending was a great way to showcase their alliance with each other.
So was this really worth the watch? Absolutely. In the end, Bean was able to live up to her responsibilities in order to protect the kingdom she so deeply cared about. Although she did have to make multiple sacrifices it was worth it in the end as she got to pursue her own life without worrying about the ones she had to rule. This series was able to provide each character with their own “Happily Ever After” with the exception of some, finally giving them a sense of peace and belonging which was something I really liked.
Personally, I wish this show wouldn’t have had to come to an end, while the last season was definitely a bit more rushed than I would have liked.
Season 5 was still a great season overall. This show has become a personal favorite as it is just so fun and engrossing. I rate this season an 8/10, since there were still some plots and questions that still needed to be answered.
However, I would rate the series overall a 9.5/10. I highly recommend everyone to give Disenchantment a try because although the ending wasn’t as amazing as everyone expected the show overall is so fun and fascinating it will never leave you bored.
