Adventures, misunderstandings, and adventurous misunderstandings continue for Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) and the Time Bandits in Episode 4 “Prohibition,” while Saffron (Kiera Thompson) manages to survive several leaps in time and geography on her own. The kid’s got survivor skills, I’ll give her that.
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We start out in 1200 CE Japan with Saffron, an era we never saw Kevin and the bandits travel through. It’s unclear whether the woman archer Saffron encounters ever saw him, only that she’s concerned that he’s wronged Saff.
Time Bandits’s “Prohibition”
Kevin and the Time Bandits are hanging out in a 700 CE English monastery in what is quite likely Lindisfarne but probably not named specifically for reasons. In a voiceover address to his coal-ed parents, Kevin humble-brags that he’s finally in a gang despite his father never believing it could happen.
As the bandits hide their presence from the monks, Penelope (Lisa Kudrow) bemoans the fact there’s nothing to steal. The monks only have books and the mead they make from honey. They pass through the next portal into a large warehouse space. Widgit (Roger Jean Nsengiyumva) notices that the portal is glitching. He tells Penelope that while it’s doing that, they won’t be able to go anywhere else. On the warehouse side of the portal, Penelope directs them to cover the portal with a cloth until it stops glitching.
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Hearing someone coming into the warehouse, the bandits hide behind crates. Penelope sends Kevin to find out if it’s a dangerous situation. Kevin overhears the two men who come in talking about meeting up with another gang. He fills in the others but the gangsters hear them talking. Penelope directs them to act like they’re not there so when one of the gangsters shines a flashlight on them, they all freeze in place.
Gangsters
Bumpy Johnson (Kountry Wayne) invites them out to talk. When asked if they’re the gang, Penelope doesn’t confirm or deny until Larry Always Late (Ira Munn) holds up a bag of loot. Bumpy asks for the booze in exchange for the loot. Bittelig (Rune Temte) hands over his flask of mead. Bumpy hands it to Ernie Fingers (Justin Amankwah). Neither of them has ever heard of mead.
When Bumpy tastes it and likes it, Penelope sends the bandits through the portal to the monastery to steal their mead to sell it to the gangsters. As they make the exchange, Penelope and Bumpy commiserate on the challenges of leading a gang. Penelope explains that her gang doesn’t have a leader per se, that they’re more of an egalitarian collective. Bumpy is intrigued by the idea.
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As the gangsters leave with the mead, Bumpy gives Penelope the address for a party that evening. Outside, they load the booze onto the truck and discuss Penelope, believing her to be a gang leader named Madame Queenie (Andrea Solonge) and Kevin her muscle known as Babyface (James Gaylyn).
Tiny Old Man Paintings
Inside the warehouse, the bandits discover the loot bag is full of cash currency which they don’t believe has any worth. Kevin has to explain that the cash can be exchanged for goods. The bandits are skeptical but willing to see if the system he describes works.
Stepping out of the warehouse, Kevin realizes they’re in 1929 New York City during the height of the Harlem Renaissance. As they walk, Penelope reads the invitation to the party. Kevin warns them parties can be dangerous, giving an anecdotal example he’d heard second-hand because he’d never been invited to one. He’s hesitant about attending Bumpy’s party but Alto (Tadhg Murphy) encourages him to “live a little.”
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Back at the warehouse, two gangsters approach the door with a crate of booze. They find the warehouse empty except for a puddle of mead from a broken bottle Fingers dropped. Tasting it and realizing it’s alcohol, they wonder if someone’s encroaching on Madame Queenie’s turf. They agree that’s a dangerous thing to do.
Getting Kitted Out
Kevin and the Time Bandits go on a shopping spree for clothes and accessories to blend in at the party. They arrive at The Corner Store Star, a speakeasy, where Bumpy welcomes them warmly. They settle in, taking in the environment. Alto is delighted and Penelope loves the luxury of the club. Widgit, Judy, and Bittelig are less comfortable. At the bar, gangsters are discussing Penelope and her gang. Queenie’s goons overhear the talk and head out to report to their boss.
While Alto is lured away by the jazz singer’s enchanting scat singing, Bumpy tells Penelope he plans to try a leaderless approach in his organization. The music picks up the tempo and Bittelig asks Judy (Charlyne Yi) to dance with him. Kevin orders a ginger beer at the bar, inadvertently intimidating the gangsters who had been discussing his reputation as Babyface.
Bumpy continues to talk with Penelope about the changes to his crew she’s inspired. He takes his leave, addressing her as Madame Queen. She tells him either name is enough, he doesn’t have to call her both. Looking at Widgit, she realizes he’s drunk.
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At a nearby table, Kevin regales listeners with a story of a girl he liked at school and the boy who kissed him. They assume Kevin had him whacked. Kevin thinks they’re judging him for a copyright infringement he’d secretly committed.
At the couches, Widgit’s in tears talking to Penelope about their lost bandit, Susan. Meanwhile, Alto approaches the singer Emmie (Jen Van Epps) to ask about her performance. He tells her that he’s an actor. She’s impressed.
Madame Queenie
Elsewhere in the city, the real Madame Queenie is on the phone to a newspaper, directing them to run ads on voting rights because it’s important to educate people about suffrage. Once that’s clear, she orders Charlie to smash the windows in on a rival businessman’s establishment. As a final instruction, she tells him to donate to the childhood reading program.
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Her two goons arrive and tell her about the bandits encroaching on her territory. They plan to pay them a “nice little visit.” Queenie clarifies that she wants them to go and scare the encroachers off. She’s all about clarity.
Kevin’s Wrong About Saff
Chatting with his coal parents, Kevin recalls they always wanted him to watch out for Saffron. He admits he’s forgotten about her until now. However, he assures them that she’s at home and safe. Of course, she’s in Japan being hunted by Fianna (Rachel House) so wrong on both points, Kevin.
Back at the Haddocks’ house, Sky Citadel investigators are going over the scene. A female investigator (Francesca Mills) declares it a coal-ing. She walks through the events of Fianna’s attack with the other investigator (Imaan Hadchiti) who takes notes. He asks her if she enjoys working for the Supreme Being (Taika Waititi) even though he can be demanding and unreasonable. She says her work is a calling, not a job.
Branching Out
In Harlem, Kevin reports to his parents that the bandits have decided to branch out into counterfeiting, drawing their new bills by hand with considerable creative license. Alto and Emmie are spending a lot of leisure time together, with Alto picking up scat as a new dialect.
The gang continues to steal mead from the monks to sell to Bumps’s crew, but just as the monks catch Judy and Bittelig in the act, the portal glitches out, trapping them in the monastery. As Penelope and Widgit debrief this latest development, Queenie’s men arrive.
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Outside the warehouse, Emmie drives Alto back after spending the day together. She tells him that Madame Queenie’s put a hit out on him and his friends. He runs inside to tell Penelope, interrupting Queenie’s mens’ invitation for a ride on the water. Alto sees the violin case Babyface carries and asks if he plays “the jazz.” Babyface opens the case to show them his tommy gun. Penelope, Alto, and Kevin take off running.
Some Sort of Low-Speed Chase
They all jump into Emmie’s car. When she asks where their hideout is, Penelope directs her to take four right turns, driving them around the block back to the warehouse entrance. Inside, Widgit is trying to reopen the portal to rescue Judy and Bittelig but only manages to see an echoing series of portals to himself.
Bumpy and Fingers notice the goons chasing Penelope et al at low speed and discuss whether they should get involved.
In the monastery, the portal reopens, albeit in an unstable way. Judy and Bittelig run for it. They leap through just in time. Widgit tells them there’s another portal but as they cross the street, they’re spotted by Queenie’s goons who decide to take them since they’ve somehow lost Penelope’s car.
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As the others get into the goons’ car, Emmie drives the car in behind them (because they’re still going in circles) and Penelope tells her to follow them. Emmie refuses to follow the gangsters they’re trying to get away from so they dump her and Alto takes over in the driver’s seat.
Clarity
They find Widgit, Judy, and Bittelig tied to chairs on the docks. They introduce Penelope, Alto, and Kevin to their “new friends.” The goons explain they aren’t friends despite taking them to “sleep with the fishes” and giving Bittelig new (cement) shoes. Penelope suggests they be more clear with their threats.
Bumpy arrives and tells the goons to let the bandits they’ve captured go because they don’t know who they’re messing with. Bumpy says Penelope is Madame Queenie. The goons tell him their boss is Madame Queenie. Babyface gets ready to shoot them all.
Madame Queenie arrives. Penelope and Queenie meet and ask Bumpy how he got them mixed up. Once everything is explained, Penelope offers to clear out of New York City. Widgit says their next portal is in an empty field near the Jersey Shore. Bumpy knows the field. He and his guys take the Time Bandits to the field and bid them a fond farewell. Alto asks Emmie to go away with him. She replies that they’ve only spoken four times and she doesn’t really know him so no.
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A Blabbity Lead
In Japan, Saffron’s guide identifies Kevin as someone she’s met. She offers to take Saffron to where he disappeared into the mists. Just then, she spots Fianna. They run but Saffron stumbles and Fianna picks her up. Realizing Saffron’s not Kevin, she drops her and leaves. The guide helps Saffron to her feet, commenting they’re lucky to be alive.
Up in the Sky Citadel, Supreme Being shows the Jaspers his secret project, Earth Two. He plans the Great Reset, wiping out everything on the current Earth so he can make it over again without the mistakes from his first attempt, specifically humans. Damon (Jonny Brugh) listens in from around the corner. Supreme Being sighs. He can’t do the Great Reset without the map. Furthermore, he’s concerned that Pure Evil will get the map first. “I shudder to think what will happen,” he tells the Jaspers. They all shudder.
Time Bandits streams on Apple TV+, with two new episodes dropping every Wednesday.
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