Creature from the Woods
Episode 2 of Elves begins with Josefine taking the strange creature to the abandoned barn. Dropping it gently in the tractor, the creature lets out a piercing shriek as Jose notices that same black goo on her hands. Meanwhile, birds begin leaving the forest in their numbers. Karen notices this and immediately expresses concerns. “Sacrifice another one,” She says ominously to Moller. Could she be referring to the cow from the start of last episode? All off this is unbeknownst to our family of course, as they all gather around and eat breakfast. Mads, Kasper and Charlotte are going to go hunting for a Christmas tree, leaving Josefine all alone with this creature, which is (let’s face it) an elf. The title of the show sort of gives it away! Anyway, Jose heads into the barn and convinces the little creature to come over so she can bandage it up. After some convincing, Kasper joins Jose and they agree to keep this a big secret. He even helps her patch up the creature. While they’re tending to the young elf, Moller (the guy from the road earlier on in the show) notices them together. He realizes this is bad news and contacts his friend, Anders. “They’ve got one of the young,” He panics. Unfortunately it’s too late for Anders, who’s dragged into the woods by something big. But at least they leave a parting gift for Moller when he shows… his friend’s severed head
The Episode Review
Elves starts to ramp up its story now, with a first glimpse of these cute little elves. Of course, they do pack quite the bite and it seems like we’ll be seeing the bigger ones later in the series. For now though, Elves has done a pretty good job keeping things mysterious. The tone feels a little tepid though; a quaint balance between outright horror and teen fantasy. It won’t be for everyone, there’s a specific target audience in mind for this, but it’s an enjoyable watch all the same. The problem though comes from the run-time. With episodes that are 25 minutes tops, there’s not enough time to get to know these characters. Like Kasper on his morning stroll with Liv for example, what purpose does that have for the show? With a longer run-time it would be great, exploring all these different characters and understanding what drives them. Here though, it feels like it’s eating away at precious little run-time. However, the ending here certainly hints that things are about to get a whole lot more dramatic now!
