Lower Decks

Legend of the Seeker
“Hartland”
Originally Broadcast the Weekend of Saturday, March 7th, 2009

Since returning from hiatus three weeks ago, Legend of the Seeker has delivered a pointless clip show (“Home,” originally broadcast February 21st) and a disappointing ghost story (“Revenant,” originally broadcast February 28th). “Hartland,” however, offered one of the show’s strongest episodes to date, bringing together several characters from previous episodes and setting the stage for the rest of the season.

Oh, and Zedd wasn’t in the episode. That helped.

Before beginning my recapping and reviewing, a question for viewers with better memories than I. In the universe of Legend of the Seeker, are there three vast regions of land or two? I think the area ruled by Darken Rahl is called the Midlands and it is separated from Hartland (where Richard was raised) by a magical wall that was breached in the series premiere, allowing Kahlan to find Richard. It also let in a bunch of dragons called Gars. Let me know if I have my facts straight.

In “Hartland,” while Zedd is off hiding the Box of Orden, Richard and Kahlan come upon none other than Chase, Richard’s old friend. He’s being chased by D’Harans but with the help of Richard and Kahlan they’re quickly dispatched. It turns out Chase was captured while trying to stop the Gars from attacking. He escaped once he heard that his friend the Seeker was fighting the good fight. Before long, the three are sneaking into Hartland. They find Chase’s family gone, the town filled with D’Harans, and Michael working for the viceroy.

Richard’s friend Anna, trying to track down his brother, is cavorting with the viceroy. It turns out the D’Haran’s keep a bunch of Gars tied up away from town and whenever anyone begins to ask questions, a Gar is released and the town remembers how safe the D’Harans make them feel. They also feed men who won’t join Darken Rahl’s army to the Gars. It’s nasty stuff. Obviously, the D’Haran’s don’t actually care about anyone in the Hartland. They just can’t occupy every town. Hearts and minds.

Richard confronts Michael, who honestly had no idea what the D’Haran’s were doing, and he promises to tell the townspeople the truth. Anna will keep the viceroy occupied using her feminine wiles just long enough for Michael to spill the beans. Unfortunately, Anna stabs the viceroy instead. Oops. Soon, Darken Rahl orders his men to destroy the passage into the Midlands, keeping the Seeker stuck in Hartland.

Richard, Kahlan, Chase, Anna and Michael attack the D’Harans; they win the day but Michael is killed. Kahlan confesses the viceroy and orders him to do whatever Anna says. Once Richard, Kahlan and Chase are in the Midlands, the passage is destroyed. Anna has the viceroy send Darken Rahl a message (via magical writing) that the Seeker has been killed (or was it just stuck in Hartland?). He won’t know Richard’s coming. Take that, Darken Rahl.

“Hartland” was a solid episode, made all the more enjoyable without Zedd constantly yelling. The long-awaited reunion between Richard and Michael wasn’t exactly what I expected and Michael turned out to be a good person. Anna, who I believe was introduced in “Home,” is an interesting character and I hope we’ll see more of her. Given that she’s now trapped in Hartland with Richard, Kahlan and Chase off in the Midlands, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Chase, who hasn’t been seen since the series premiere (aside from Richard’s hallucination in “Home,” I believe) could add to the dynamic of the Seeker’s group, if he doesn’t turn out to be a one-note character, raging at his family’s disappearance. The rouse used by Richard, Kahlan and Chase to get past the D’Haran’s guarding the passage into Hartland was hilarious. Chase was disguised as a member of the dreaded Dragon Corps., Richard as a lowly D’Haran guard, and Kahlan as a lovely woman intended for the viceroy. Bridget Regan did an admirable job as the — ahem — whorish woman with a come hither look.

As enjoyable as I found this episode, I’m still not entirely sold on Legend of the Seeker. The quality of the episodes varies dramatically week to week and the acting still isn’t all that great. Craig Horner’s Richard is either confused or fighting, with little variation and I’ve complained often enough about the character of Zedd and his yelling, so I won’t get into that again. I’m not expecting compelling television drama with Legend of the Seeker, just a consistently fun show week after week. We shall see if next week’s episode is fun. If so, that’ll be two in a row.