Time Bandits – Episode 9 “Pell-Mell” Recap & Review

Pell-Mell

Episode 9 of Time Bandits begins with us up at the Supreme Being’s HQ. A whole bunch of dwarves are here (shame they’re not the actual bandits though like the original movie!) and they discuss the investigation. They intend to get the map back, organizing a coup to change things for the better.

Meanwhile, the Bandits leave the Ice Age and head back to Troy again. Kevin’s idea here is to find the prophet, Cassandra, from earlier in the show. The group are, predictably, thrown behind bars but thankfully our prophet is here too. The only thing she has to say is to “think back to the last place they had it”.

The group break out their prison by easily smashing up the wooden doors and as they head down to the shore, they find Poseidon appear. Only, Poseidon  is actually Taika Waititi. Kevin asks for help, but as the hand slams down, Supreme Being shows before Kevin in a white space.

Supreme Being suggests Kevin work as a spy for him and get him the map. In exchange, he’ll get his parents back. And in fact, even better versions of his parents if he wants and a changed reality where everybody loves him.

With a lot to mull over, Kevin returns to reality where he finds himself in the midst of the Bandits having a big argument. Kevin scrambles to catch up, as they catch a glimpse of their old Time Bandit buddy, Susan. They initially believe she’s crushed under a boulder but when that’s cleared up, we do see that she has the missing piece of the map. The rest of the Bandits follow after her as they arrive in the Qin Dynasty after jumping through another portal.

Unfortunately, the Bandits are mistaken for assassins by Qin Shi Huang. Kevin is enamoured by him and points out his amazing wall… which is just a couple of stones at this point. Kevin tries to persuade him to play ball, deciding that he’s a soothsayer and explaining how the wall is going to be a thing of beauty when it’s finally finished in the future. The far, far future. Four million bricks will be used, to be precise, but there’s no time to waste.

The group head into another portal, this time heading into Caffa, 1343. This is the first place where biological warfare is recorded as having taken place. After an encounter with a vendor, the pair eventually follow Susan… who decides she’s not going to be a bandit anymore. She just wants to be left alone. Penelope is shocked, given they thought she was initially dead.

In a nice little twist, it turns out Susan and Gavin are living together and in a happy relationship. Penelope is shocked, and surprised when she finds them together. Penelope believes that Susan has stolen his one true love, but it’s a rather uncomfortable encounter, all things considered. This is especially true when Gavin explains that the part of the tapestry wasn’t actually him either, this is just what Penelope wanted to see.

As they continue, Gavin explains he just wanted Penelope’s time but she was too busy doing other things. As for Susan, she faked her death and stole the piece of the map to get away from them. Eventually they all agree to travel with Penelope to find the Time of Legends. Only, it turns out they’re already in it and they live atop a giant’s head!

The Episode Review

So we finally get some closure for both Gavin and Susan’s subplots that have been drip-fed across this season, and come to understand they didn’t want to be bandits in the first place. If that’s not enough, we also get a few more jumps through time, along with some jokes at the expense of plagues.

With everything hanging in the balance, it all comes down to this final chapter to see if Kevin and co. will be able to get the map and save the future. We’ll have to wait and see.