Fiction Podcast Review of The Two Princes, Season 1
I'm doing something a little different today. As an extension of my dive into audiobooks, I revisited a fiction podcast I started a few years ago and never finished, The Two Princes. It's a three-season podcast, complete as of 2020. It was quite the sensation when it was first released, and has a fantastic cast, including the illustrious Christine Baranski.
I remember hearing ads for it as new seasons were released in 2019 and 2020, and I was interested. I listened to the first few episodes a couple of years later and then stopped. After finally finishing season one, I am thrilled I dove back in.
The story follows Prince Rupert of the West as he runs from his mother's idea of what will make him happy and her stubborn refusal to admit their kingdom is about to be destroyed by a cursed forest. It's been spreading for years and will soon swallow everything unless Rupert breaks the curse. Only he doesn't know what the curse is or how to break it. No matter, his determination will overcome all!
As he forges his way into the enchanted forest, he finds he that is woefully unprepared. Soon, he is rescued from certain death by Prince Amir of the East, the rival kingdom of Rupert's homeland. Rupert lies about who he is because the beautiful Amir—ahem, not beautiful at all. Brave. Definitely brave. Anyway, Amir might kill him if he finds out that Rupert is not Fitz the thief. Rupert takes the job of leading Amir on a journey to the center of the forest, except he doesn't know anything about the forest other than the map he's hiding. Both of them have come to the forest to end the curse and free their kingdoms.
Only the solution, according to the prophecy Rupert's mother forbade anyone from telling him about, isn't anything he expected. And it might just destroy any hope of happiness.
The podcast is produced by Gimlet. I listened to it on Spotify, though I'm sure it's available on other platforms. YouTube has all episodes as well.
This fantasy story is also an LGBTQ+ comedy romance. Many of the characters are over the top, and it's very campy, but it adds to the comedy. That comedic element was the star of the show for me. The story expressed that comedy in every nook and cranny—characters, world-building, plot, and dialog.
To me, it seemed that the main genre would be comedy, then fantasy, then romance.
There were no characters I didn't like, mostly because even ones that might be irritating were made funny by the camp weaving through everything. The setting was imaginative to me, though not overly so. The entirety of the story is a mish-mash of trope after trope, but the cleverly formed campy comedy made it all work.
The whole thing was cute, hilarious, and sweet. I will definitely dive back into the adventures of Rupert and Amir!
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