Posted on August 19th, 2010 by Samuel Walters
“Vengeance” is an episode about confronting the choices of the past. At what point does forgiveness take over for anger? For the actions of yourself as much as for the actions of others? What does it take to find salvation or redemption for the mistakes of the past? What must one sacrifice to achieve atonement? These are the central questions to an installment that, for the most part, isn’t quite as tightly knit as the best that Legend of the Seeker has had to offer. Still, this is an episode that has an important story to tell — one that has meaning far beyond the machinations of its characters.
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Posted on August 15th, 2010 by Samuel Walters
How do you place a value on life? If you have the power to decide who lives and who dies, how do you exercise that power?
These are the questions at the very heart of “Desecration,” an episode of Legend of the Seeker that successfully combines suspense, action, and a wonderfully cohesive story about the central question of who lives and who dies. This installment that manages to create a tale that is as meaningful as it is entertaining. Ultimately, the episode is yet another classic installment of a series that has truly matured into a show that is worth watching.
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Posted on March 28th, 2010 by Samuel Walters
“Creator” is a clip show. But to be fair, it’s a purposeful and well-constructed clip show, one that manages to incorporate its clips into a fairly interesting and compelling story. In fact, quite unlike Season One’s clip show, called “Home,” this episode tells a genuinely worthy tale, one that says something about the characters and the story — beyond simply recapping what has happened thus far in Season Two. The result is, very nearly, a classic.
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Posted on March 21st, 2010 by Samuel Walters
I’ll admit, I never had any great expectations for Legend of the Seeker — a weekly television show based on Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth book series. In fact, I almost didn’t start watching the show in the first place because it seemed like it’d be little more than a mindless diversion. And, initially, that’s just what it was: lightweight, entertaining, but ultimately disposable. And then, halfway through its first season, something happened. The stories began to mature. Oh, sure, there were some growing pains and a few rather glaring missteps. But by the time the second season rolled around, it featured a fresh new approach to writing that has literally transformed the series into a meaningful, worthwhile show. No longer are its stories simply mindless or shallow or empty. No, Legend of the Seeker has become a show worth watching. I eagerly await each new episode. And I am waiting on bated breath to hear of the show’s renewal for a third season.
And here is why you should, too.
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Posted on March 21st, 2010 by Samuel Walters
“Bound” isn’t the best episode we’ve seen from Legend of the Seeker. But even so, it gets several important factors right — namely strong thematic and character connections between its subplots — and it is quite entertaining. The biggest problems with the episode are right at the beginning, in terms of writing and pacing. But once the episode becomes immersed in the story, it quickly becomes a very compelling tale. The result is yet another classic installment.
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Posted on February 28th, 2010 by Samuel Walters
“I don’t need magic to make a man beg for mercy.” – Cara
“Princess” is a wonderful example of how a series can inject enough humor and farce to prove that it isn’t taking itself too seriously, while still telling a riveting, compelling story. Legend of the Seeker scores an instant classic with this episode, perfectly balancing humor, character, action, story, and even a bit of thematic depth. The pacing is brisk and the comedy is legitimately funny. With solid dialogue and acting, this may be one of the most entertaining episodes of Seeker thus far.
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Posted on February 21st, 2010 by Samuel Walters
“Hunger” is a very, very good episode of Legend of the Seeker. Despite a few obvious plot developments, the story manages to be both suspenseful and character-driven. Along with some welcome continuity to the first season of the series, this episode manages to tell an entertaining and meaningful tale.
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Posted on February 15th, 2010 by Samuel Walters
“Torn” is a very good episode of Legend of the Seeker. At its heart, it’s a character exploration. But it also features a surprisingly brisk pace, good dialogue, and a reasonably suspenseful plot (even if the central mystery is tad bit on the obvious side). What makes the episode work is its rationale and its execution. The ideas aren’t especially new, but because they are presented with a reasonable amount of craft, this is one installment that ought not to be missed.
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Posted on January 31st, 2010 by Samuel Walters
“Perdition” is a meandering, uneven episode which, like its main character, is aimless for much of the story. There’s some action, some character and so forth. But the emphasis is in all the wrong places. To be fair, the final sequence is fantastically written and executed. But it’s not worth the pedestrian buildup. Worse still, there’s a lingering question: How did the events of this episode (and the two preceding it) affect our heroes in any meaningful way? Again, the benefits are significantly outweighed by wasted efforts.
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Posted on January 24th, 2010 by Samuel Walters
“Dark” continues The Legend of the Seeker‘s subtle reinvention of the series, putting characters is separate and unfamiliar circumstances. For the most part, the episode is a success, building off of mystery and intrigue — and quite a bit of subterfuge. These elements really drive the narrative forward. Along with some new plot developments, there’s plenty to like about this installment. There are a few pacing issues — the episode drags a bit through its middle paces — but otherwise, it’s a classic offering.
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Posted on January 18th, 2010 by Samuel Walters
As far as Legend of the Seeker episodes go, “Light” is a relatively weak installment. That’s not to say it was bad, but there were enough missteps in the execution of its story that the whole affair felt a bit forced, awkward and uneven. The story itself is an interesting one, but somewhere between the editing, directing and even visual design, something is lost. As a result, the episode is above average, but not by a whole lot.
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Posted on January 12th, 2010 by Samuel Walters
“Resurrection” is an exceptional episode for a number of reasons. First, it presents a villain who is smart, adept, and thoroughly ruthless — with very strong ties to our hero. Second, there are some solid themes at play, from trust to how we use power. And, finally, the story is filled with enough twists and turns to keep audiences on edge for the entire episode. This isn’t perfection though. Some of the dialogue is a bit too close to cliché. There are some questionable plot choices. But there’s much, much more here to like than dislike. And when you consider just how dark this episode is, the result is an instant classic.
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Posted on December 13th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“Fury” is the kind of episode from Legend of the Seeker that ends up being very compelling almost in spite of itself. Its opening paces are almost inexplicable and quite nearly boring. But, fortunately, once the real story gets going, it becomes a thoroughly compelling and transcendent story about emotion — namely about the dark rage which resides within us all. In this story, it is Richard which must confront his own powerful emotions and find a way to not just overcome them, but to confront them and channel them into something productive. The result is an episode which becomes a classic, despite its obvious early missteps.
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Posted on December 6th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“Wizard” is a middling kind of episode that can be enjoyable, but hardly qualifies as exceptional. True, it does a better job of focusing on the important plot elements established for Legend of the Seeker‘s second season, but the story itself isn’t especially interesting or compelling. Thankfully, a very strong final scene elevates the episode to just slightly above average.
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Posted on November 30th, 2009 by Samuel Walters
“Touched” is an exercise in nonsensical melodrama. Really, for as far as this series has come, it takes a significant step backward with an episode that, for all intents and purposes, is centered around the whimsical, selfish and naive impulses of a young girl who wants the world and is suddenly realizes that she has the power to take it. I suppose the premise itself isn’t all that bad, but the manner with which the episode executes the idea leaves a whole heckuvalot to be desired — despite the rather important plot developments for the series as a whole.
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