Lower Decks

The following review contains spoilers for Legend of the Seeker through the current episode, “Bounty,” originally broadcast the weekend of November 8th, 2008.

Judging from “Bounty,” future episodes of Legend of the Seeker will revolve around Richard, Kahlan and Zedd on the run from the latest threat, be it bounty hunters, Darken Rahl, or weird cave-dwelling dragon creatures.  In other words, the Threat of the Week.  In many respects, that makes Legend of the Seeker no different from any other syndicated action-adventure series.  Episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess were for the most part stand-alone stories that saw Hercules and Xena battling a new foe each and every week.

What makes Legend of the Seeker somewhat different than Hercules and Xena is the fact that, unlike Hercules and Xena, Richard has a stated goal: to kill Darken Rahl.  That’s pretty much his job description these days.  He’s the Seeker, he’s got the Sword of Truth, and it’s job to save the people from the evil Rahl.  In other words, with every passing episode in which he doesn’t kill Rahl, he’s not really doing his job.

Obviously, Richard can’t very well kill Darken Rahl after only three episodes.  So he — along with Kahlan and Zedd — will be stopping to help every helpess maiden from D’Haran soldiers.  His long-term goal remains destroying Darken Rahl, but bringing hope and optimism back to the people of the Westlands (or is it the Midlands?).  I assume the three will continually be moving towards Rahl’s stronghold, which suggests that two presumably supporting characters — Richard’s friend Chase and his brother Michael — won’t be appearing much in future episodes, unless Richard & Co. turn around.

As for “Bounty” itself, I admit to being fooled by Lilly, just like Richard.  I did not have her pegged as the type to go to such lengths to double cross Richard.  I did wonder why we were shown a boy being captured by D’Haran soldiers, but when Lilly was revealed to be her older sister trying to save him from being executed by catching the Seeker, everything began falling into place.  The secondary story about the magic map was little more than a means to an end; Kahlan and Zedd can’t very well use the maps if they are ever separated from Richard because a) they’ll be out of range soon enough, and b) Zedd destroyed them.  So they were just a way to trick the D’Haran soldiers and save Lilly’s brother.

I’m not yet sold on Richard as the heroic Seeker even if he has become an impressive warrior thanks to the Sword of Truth.  Kahlan is a much more compelling character, having stated more than once that she’ll gladly lay down her life to protect Richard (not to mention the fact that her sister was killed while trying to reach Richard).  Her ordeal in the cave with the Shadrin showed that despite her formidable fighting skills and magical abilities, even she’s afraid of giant dragon things.  I did wonder why she was wearing that ludicrous half dress, half cloak outfit. Aside from being awfully revealing, although that might be the fashion, it can’t be safe running through the woods with those flapping coat tails waving about.

As always, Ted Raimi did a great job in his role of Sebastian the mapmaker. And Zedd’s ill-fated attempt to take down the rabbit was amusing.  We never saw any of the characters eating, though, so I suspect they are still quite hungry.  Once again, however, the “bullet time” sequences whenever Richard and Kahlan were fighting need to be toned down or, better yet, done away with.  They stick out like sore thumbs and do not at all fit the atmosphere of the series.   Still, I plan on continuing to watch Legend of the Seeker. It’s a fun show (even if it could stand to take itself a little less seriously).