"Do you ever feel like we're living through a particularly bad period of history?"
— Alexandra Shitshoveler
Miracle Workers: Dark Ages is the second season of the Miracle Workers anthology by TBS, released in 2020. It is based around Simon Rich's short story "Revolution".
In Dark Age Europe, Alexandra Shitshoveler (Geraldine Viswanathan) longs for more than her father Eddie (Steve Buscemi)'s job of, well, shoveling shit and desires an education. Meanwhile, Prince Chauncley (Daniel Radcliffe) desires to impress his father, King Cragnoor (Peter Serafinowicz), who has assigned his right-hand-man Lord Vexler (Karan Soni) to keep an eye on him. Resolutions begin to form when Chauncley and Alexandra meet.
Tropes in this season:
- Abdicate the Throne: In the finale, Chauncley renounces his claim to stay with Al, his father abandoned them, and all other relatives died in "Holiday", leaving Vexler in charge.
- Beware the Nice Ones: When the celebrity minstrel that Chauncley invited to perform for the peasants instead smugly refuses to perform for any low-class audience, Chauncley gets furious and forces him to.
- Big Damn Kiss: In the finale, Al and Chauncley share one after saving the town.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Maggie doesn't like apprenticing to be a nun because the pay is crap, there’s no upward job mobility, and they cut out your tongue after you take your vows.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Mary Baker quickly ends up engaged to her own brother, mainly due to a lack of other options.
- Cannot Spit It Out: In "First Date" Al and Chauncley go to a astronomy lecture, but due to Chauncley's extreme inability to express his feelings, Al winds up dating the handsome astronomer who came to the village to give a talk.
- Chekhov's Skill: Subverted; in the A-plot in episode 3 ("Road Trip") it's established that Lord Vexler, the king's far more competent aide, speaks the native language of the tribe that he and Chauncley are visiting on a diplomatic mission. Chauncley insists that they must know English, and he's right, they do—but Lord Vexler overhears what he thinks is the enemy leader talking in his native language about how he's going to serve Chauncley poisoned wine. This misunderstanding ruins the treaty signing.
- Competition Freak: King Cragnor and his kin are very intent on proving their dominance. In fact, a series of pleasant party games turns into a three-way fight-to-the-death, to Chauncley's horror and disappointment.
- Con Man: Dr. Goodman in "Help Wanted" first comes across as an intelligent man, but he doesn't actually understand medicine himself, and most of his procedures involve genital amputation. When his reputation is blown, he ends up skipping town to become an Italian architect.
- Dark Age Europe: The season's setting, and it's a very stereotypical example. Even their higher education is comically sparse and ignorant. Most people live in a harsh, filthy environment with constant war and brutal punishment for even trivial offenses.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: Chauncley tries to impress his father in the first episode of the season by going off to war with his enemies, but quickly gets cold feet and ends up faking an injury from the Shitshovelers' runaway shit cart.
- The Dung Ages: The season is set during a dirty and ignorant pastiche of the medieval age.
- The Elites Jump Ship: The astronomer who romances Alexandra Shitshoveler seems like a free-spirited bohemian at first, but when the peasants are attacked, he shows no empathy towards them at all. Exaggerated with King Cragnoor himself, who decides to take the royal treasury with him and make for his royal yacht when Lower Murkford comes under siege.
- Greek Chorus: Lampshaded quite well with a minstrel who annoys Prince Chauncley with a song that's essentially running commentary on his bad date.
- Heel Realization: When Lower Murkford is besieged in the Grand Finale, Alexandra tries to escape with her family, but so many other villagers (most of which had mocked her in the past) try to hitch a ride with her that their cart breaks down and they all end up captured. When the invaders then decide to Spare a Messenger, they realize they were (literally) a burden and unanimously decide it should be Alex, though she meets up with Chauncley and helps save everyone in the end.
- His Name Really Is "Barkeep": In regards to character's surnames, which come from their families' professions. So, Ted Carpenter is a carpenter and Mary Baker is a baker. Wesley Pervert, meanwhile, does "stuff". Alexandra Shitshoveler seems destined to be a shit shoveler like her father, but she dreams of bigger things.
- I Am What I Am: Wesley Pervert says this word-for-word in the season finale when Chauncley and Al catch him watching them kiss.
- Ignored Epiphany: The King makes a breakthrough with his therapist and seems to be improving his relationship with Chauncley, but reveals he burned down the therapist's hut when she charged him for a full hour after only 50 minutes. At the end of the episode he admits to never growing or changing before strangling a servant to death for telling him they're out of cherries.
- It Will Never Catch On: Eddie actually says "it'll never catch on" when confronted with the idea that the peasantry might poop in a hole, instead of just pooping on the floor and paying Eddie and Alexandra to come shovel it up.
- Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Prince Chauncley is a sensitive soul while his father and all his forebears are all blood-thirsty despots.
- Match Cut: In "Holiday", from Al holding the bottle of wine that her obnoxious Uncle Bert brought, to a different bottle of wine being uncorked in the palace.
- Medieval Morons: Alexandra learns a mere three "facts" at the university (the Earth is flat, the Devil is real, the sun is crazy) before graduating.
- Misplaced Accent: Most characters speak in their actors' natural accents, resulting in a mishmash that emphasizes the season's fictional European setting.
- Missing Mom: Al's mom is mentioned to be dead in the first episode.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The kingdom is ruled by King Cragnoor the Heartless.
- Nasty Party: Chauncley's side of the "Holiday" episode ends this way, as Cragnoor kills all their relatives, as he planned, to consolidate his power.
- New Technology Is Evil: Alexandra tries to use her intelligence to make her father's job easier, but he at first refuses to accept any change, even though the old ways are intentionally more laborious and painful. He does become more accepting by the end of the first episode, however, after they're both honest about their feelings to each other.
- Noodle Incident: The prince does such a bad job at shoveling manure that every time he does it, houses and carts combust in flames. We're not shown how this improbable series of events happen; they always cut past it.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: The season is set in Medieval Europe, but no attempt was made to come up with a singular accent for the fictional kingdom. Instead, everyone just uses their natural accentsnote to create a comedic mishmash.
- Official Couple: Chauncley and Al, if the ending of "Holiday" and opening of "First Date" is any indication. Made truly official in the finale.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: The season ends with Al and Chauncley riding a wagon to Paris, Chauncley having renounced the crown.
- Playing Sick: This actually ends up saving the day in the Grand Finale. The invaders besieging Lower Murkford are terrified of the plague, so by using some herbs to fake its effects, the villagers drive them all away.
- Royal Inbreeding: A small gag is made that Al can't tell if Chauncley sweats because he likes her or because his inbred body can't properly self-regulate its temperature.
- Second-Act Breakup: In the episode "First Date", the prince has to compete with a handsome astronomer for Al's affection. He fails at every chance, eventually deciding to cut ties with her rather than keep trying, leading to the events of the two-part season finale "Moving Out".
- Stock Scream: The Wilhelm Scream is heard offstage in the season finale, as Valdrogian arrows rain down on the village.
- Take Me Instead: When King Cragnoor demands recompense for his son after his Deliberate Injury Gambit, Alexandra's father takes the blame to spare his daughter. Thankfully, the Prince calls the execution off in time.
- Thanksgiving Episode: Despite the fact that it first aired in February, "Holiday" has Lower Murkford celebrating "Harvest Day", complete with a pageant about the extermination of the local people, and Al having to deal with her horribly obnoxious Uncle Bert coming over for holiday dinner.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Prince Chauncley doesn't want to disappoint King Cragnoor, but really doesn't have the killer instinct to impress his father.
- White Sheep: Chauncley, in comparison to his tyrannical father and ancestors.
