Lower Decks

The following review contains spoilers for Legend of the Seeker through the current episodes, “Prophecy” and “Destiny,” originally broadcast the weekend of November 1st, 2008.

The first two episodes of this new, hour-long action/adventure series were shown back-to-back on my local The CW station from 6:00PM to 8:00PM on Saturday, November 1st.  And then, oddly enough, the first episode was shown again at 4:00PM the following day.  It seems each new episode will premiere on Saturdays at 7:00PM and then repeat Sundays at 4:00PM.  I’m not quite sure why each episode will be shown twice, or whether other local stations are doing the same thing, but it means I have two chances to tune in.

I’ve been watching first-run syndicated action/adventure shows for decades.  My personal favorite is probably The Lost World, which ran from 1999-2002, but I also enjoyed Relic Hunter, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess and even the occasional episode of Sheena and Beastmaster.  Aside from Relic Hunter, which was purely action/adventure, each of these syndicated dramas had a fantasy element, just like Legend of the Seeker.

In fact, there’s an awful lot of fantasy in Legend of the Seeker.  Wizards, magic swords, magic books, dragonesque creatures and even an evil sorceror/leader (I think the character of Darken Rahl is supposed to be some sort of sorceror, or maybe he just surrounds himself with sorcerors).  Judging from the first two episodes, which together introduced the world of the series, the characters and the premise, Legend of the Seeker will fit quite nicely within the framework of the archetypical fantasy epic, as well as Joseph Campbell’s concept of “the hero’s journey.”

Legend of the Seeker is based on a series of novels — the Sword of Truth Series — by Terry Goodkind.  The first novel, published in 1994, is titled Wizard’s First Rule, which was originally the title for the series.  Because I’ve never read any of the novels in the Sword of Truth series, I’m blissfully unaware of any horrendous contradictions that have taken place in the translation from page to screen.  Which means I can enjoy Legend of the Seeker based solely on its merits as a television series.

Now, syndicated action/adventure shows, especially those with a fantasy bent, share many aspects (that mostly fall into the aforementioned “hero’s journey” concept).  There’s a main character whose suddenly thrust into the role of a hero (Richard Cypher).  There’s a beautiful woman (Kahlan Amnell), a wise mentor (Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander), a sidekick (Dell “Chase” Brandstone), an evil villain (Darken Rahl) and family trouble (Michael Cypher).  Not to mention flowing dresses with tight bodices, resulting in heaving bosoms.  In that respect, Legend of the Seeker really excels.  The white dress worn by Bridget Regan as Kahlan was flowing and had a tight bodice and after all that running and fighting, her bosom sure was heaving.

I can’t say these first two episodes were outstanding or ground-breaking or even all that original.  But they did a fine job setting up the rest of the series (the fact that I don’t quite know why there is a boundary between the Midlands and Westlands, or what exactly Confessors do, or much of anything about the mythos of the show at this point is understandable, there’s plenty of time to delve into that).  The acting was acceptable, the scenary was wonderful, and the special effects about what I expected — not amazing but not terrible.  I was very disappointed at the lack of opening credits, although perhaps later episodes will include some.

My biggest complaint were the fight scenes.  Forget for a second that Richard, moments after getting his hands on the “Sword of Truth,” is a powerful and deadly killer, the fight scenes were too complex (for lack of a better word) and dependent on slow-motion imagery or what is commonly called “bullet time.”  They were cinematic, I suppose, but that’s not what I want when I’m watching a syndicated action/adventure series.  I want frantic swordplay and rough-and-tumble combat.  I don’t want it long and pretty, I want it dirty and quick.

Overall, these first two episodes were enjoyable and that’s really the most the show could hope for.  Will it spark a rebirth of the first-run syndicated drama?  I doubt it.  But it will have me watching every week.