Lower Decks

Legend of the Seeker
“Revenant”
Originally Broadcast the Weekend of Saturday, February 28th, 2009

I feel quite badly about not recognizing Michael Hurst in this episode as the wizard Amfortas.  I was a fan of both Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, in which Hurst co-starred as Iolaus and its spin-off, Xena: Warrior Princess.  I’m going to say it was the long hair that threw me.  Of course now that I know Hurst was in the episode I can’t believe I didn’t notice.  If I had, it might have made an otherwise color-by-numbers episode a little better.

After last week’s clip show (“Home”) I was hoping to finally see the resolution of the ongoing Box of Orden storyline. Zedd got his hands on the box — the third and final one Darken Rahl needs to get his hands on the most powerful magic of all time — in “Puppeteer” (originally broadcast the weekend of Saturday, January 17th, 2009). In “Confession” (originally broadcast the weekend of Saturday, January 31st, 2009) Zedd visited his family home to pick up the key to the Crypt of Tavol’Rang, where he hoped to hide the box.  And in “Home,” Darken Rahl attempted to learn the location of the box from Richard but failed.

That brings us to “Revenant.”  In the teaser, several men break into the Crypt of Tavol’Rang hoping to steal valuables.  Instead, they are attacked.  When Richard, Kahlan and Zedd make their way to the Crypt, Zedd explains that it the outer door is sealed by magic and Zedd has only key to inner door.  The Crypt is the final resting place of Kieran, who was Seeker before Richard (centuries ago).  Richard and the others are shocked when they find Kieran’s sarcophagus empty.  Plus, there’s someone else in the crypt with them.

Eventually, after finding Kieran’s skeleton and learning that a wizard has cast a spell so his spirit cannot travel to the underworld), Richard convinces Zedd to undo the spell.  Big mistake.  Richard’s body is taken over by Kieran’s spirit, who quickly knocks out Zedd and ties up Kahlan.  The legend of Kieran is a lie.  He was in love with his confessor, Viviane, and the two consummated their love, meaning Kieran was confessed by Viviane.  This prompts his wizard, Amfortas, to convince her to kill herself so Kieran can  concentrate on his mission.

Instead, he goes crazy and starts killing everyone!  Amfortas, in turn, kills Kieran and binds his spirit to keep him from terrorizing the underworld.  Now that he’s in Richard’s body, Kieran decides to reunite with Viviane by putting her in Kahlan’s body.  Soon enough, the two are tearing off each other’s clothes.  It turns out Kahlan wears leather undergarments.  Zedd saves the day, though, with some help from the spirit of Amfortas, and convinces Kieran to leave Richard’s body by threatening to kill Kahlan-turned-Viviane and keeping her spirit from the underworld.

So, the episode ends on a happy note.  Kieran and Viviane will finally be reunited in the underworld where they can be together forever.  We also learn that Zedd, unlike Amfortas, thinks that a Seeker should be with his Confessor — but only in the afterlife, apparently.  Of course, the third Box of Orden still hasn’t been safely hidden from Darken Rahl, who is using dark clouds to track it.  After casting a spell of obscuring, Zedd decides to take the box and hide it somewhere on his own.  He won’t even tell Richard or Kahlan where he’s going to hide it.

All in all, “Revenant” didn’t have much to offer.  The plot of the episode was weak — an angry spirit takes over Richard’s body — and I’m getting tired of waiting for the Box of Orden to either be hidden from or obtained by Darken Rahl.  The flashbacks featuring Kieran, Viviane and Amfortas were the most interesting parts of the episode, truth be told. Craig Horner wasn’t able to convincingly play Richard-turned-Kieran. It was just Richard a little angrier than usual.

The highest praise I can give this episode is that it did a fine job showing of showing off Bridget Regan. And although sex appeal has long been a part of syndicated action/adventure shows, its just not enough for Legend of the Seeker.  The season is half over and aside from sexy leather outfits and slow-motion battle scenes, there’s no substance, no compelling reason to tune in week after week.  I’ll keep watching through the second half of the season.  I don’t think I’ll be watching Season Two.