Accidentally, I couldn’t get my speakers to work, so I watched the opening credits in mute mode. Oh, I missed that quirky theme and all cartoon bells and whistles they add to the intro. I guess I’ll be watching the intro in mute more often.
Are we honestly supposed to believe Mr. Bennet didn’t see the huge tortoise on Carrot’s lap, and that Carrot didn’t count on the possibility his father would remove the bag from the table and see his pet? I found that scene a bit ridiculous because when I eat with my parents and I try to feed the dog with food scraps from my plate my mother always sees it and complains, no matter how discreet I try to be. It felt like a forced way to introduce the idea Carrot has a familiar.
So, there’s still hope for Carrot. He’s beginning to realize magic is real and is facing the subject quite naturally, which just proves that magic is not a strange concept in this alternate reality.
Another clunky television moment of yesteryear’s shows: a character’s inner monologue is actually quite an outer monologue. Carrot, when researching about curses, enunciates each thought he has and when asks his tortoise what it thinks, he asks the question loud and clear to make sure the audience hears. It’s interesting to observe quality TV shows don’t use this artificial gimmick anymore.
Then the scene shifts to Catweazle and he’s also making a long speech to himself. OK, I guess I should just ignore that because it’s much likely be pretty much like this until the last episode, with characters loudly talking to themselves.
Catweazle has a magic book, which shows he’s no novice in terms of magic. But then shouldn’t Catweazle have been able to light up the kerosene lamp by flipping a latch? After all, magic should be able to accomplish something that simple. I mean, that should be easier to do than, say vanquish an ancient curse.
Catweazle and carrot visit a museum and the wizard goes because he wants to see old books. But in his case, these are books from the future, and pretty much everything in the museum is in his future. It’s the same as if we went to the year 3000 and got a hold of “ancient” books from 2300, 2561, 2829, etc… These would be far advanced books beyond our comprehension.
Do all libraries in England have centuries’ old books lying around on their bookshelves? I’m guessing in Britain news about the Industrial Revolution are classified as “current events.”
The interesting thing is that Catweazle even knows how to read. Considering the Guttenberg Bible, the first major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe, was printed in the 1450s, it’s extremely unlikely a peasant like Catweazle who only had shabby filthy rags to wear would not be illiterate like most of the population at the time.
Stupid Catweazle moments which show Catweazle has serious mental problems:
- Catweazle thinks a road sign painted SLOW is some sort of magic command and cars are some sort of wild boars. Ha, ha. That’s stupid.
- Catweazle and a kid stick out their tongue at each other, so we don’t forget this is a kids’ show. I bet kids had a good laugh at this scene back in 1950, I mean, 1970.
- Catweazle sees a deer head on the wall and hisses at it. Then, bewildered, tries to look around the wall to see where the rest of the animal is. OK, really? They didn’t hunt back in 1066? Hunters didn’t display animal heads back then? What could possibly explain Catweazle find that thing so strange. This is another example of the writers implying Catweazle has the intelligence of a cat. When my cat sees something interesting, like another cat, on my monitor, he looks behind it to find the rest of the cat.
- Catweazle can’t tell the difference between a mannequin and a human being. Probably in 1066 he thought statues were people as well, and people called him stupid even then.
- Catweazle has the habit of walking on four legs like an animal because yes, if you walk on four legs that will fool a frog… Sure…
- Catweazle is afraid of a statue.
- All in all, Catweazle looks and smells like a hobo and, well, he is one. He also looks like a person with mental problems and, considering his odd behavior, that’s more than just looks.
- Catweazle’s notions of hygiene haven’t changed. Castle Saburac is still filthy.
- Catweazle thinks a clock cuckoo is a real bird. Well, considering this ancient relic is from 1820, that’s the same if we came across a gadget from 2880! Still, he looks stupid by thinking a mechanical bird is real.
- Catweazle thinks there may be demons in the chimney. Are you going to tell me there weren’t chimneys back in 1066? Oh, well, I give up really!
- Hey, look, Catweazle found a way to get even filthier.
- Catweazle is afraid of going up, then he’s afraid of going down and yet he does all these things. His pretend cowardice is getting annoying.
Smart Catweazle moments:
- Catweazle learns all people are magicians, which they are, even if they don’t understand the magic they are using. But then you and I don’t really understand computers and we use them all the same.
- Catweazle knows the difference between a frog and a toad (even if he has difficulty telling mannequins from people).
- Catweazle shows incredible intuition and keep observation powers, which enable him to solve the family’s 800 quid problem. Whether it was a curse or not we don’t know, but when it comes to relics and lore, Catweazle is an expert and a genius.
Stupid Carrot moments:
- Carrot lets go of the lever while is moving towards the bottom of the well. This stupid moment wins the stupid trophy of the week.
- Then he does it again and doesn’t even realize he could’ve sent that old man to the hospital or the morgue. The Three Stooges did it better.
One thing I learned with Catweazle:
- The word ‘slow” has been written the same way for a thousand years and even a man from that era would be able to recognize it even today.
Grade:
After watching this episode, I don’t know if Catweazle is an idiot or a sage. And I feel, the writers had no idea either showing him, at times, like a superstitious fool with no ability to perceive the most elementary things in real life and, at other times, a wise old man in possession of countless secrets. This doubt could make a good story if both directions didn’t contradict one another so often. Due to the episode’s several inconsistencies, it gets 4 dusty old books.
