Z.W. Rusk

Just wrapped up season 1 of "Legend of the Seeker." And it's safe to say I enjoyed it. I really like this show, so it's little surprise it got cancelled. (Seriously: "Firefly." "Wonderfalls." I could go on, but I shall show some self-restraint.) At least there's one more season to console myself with.

As a brief warning: I will mention certain things about the shows, but nothing that's overly spoilerish. No major plot details. Still, if you don't want to know ANYTHING, you might want to just skip the whole entry. ;)



In addition to the rigid black/white morality I mentioned last time, there's a lot of worry over free will and the various ways it can be stolen from someone. In this world, both the good and the bad guys have the ability to turn someone into their thralls, and both sides use this ability often. The only real difference is the good guys handwring over it, and bemoan the loss of a person's free will.

I'm not sure how much good that does, in the grand scheme of things. The lesson seems to be, "Taking someone's free will from them is bad...unless you're a good guy, and you're really sorry about having to do it." Which is odd from a show that had an entire episode devoted to understanding your enemy and being better than they are (in the sense of "Just because THEY slaughter innocents, doesn't mean WE should"). I thought that was a great episode, where Richard gets to visit a D'Haran captain's family, and where the Resistance fighters are little better than the D'Harans themselves. Richard got a real lesson in the fact that every man he kills is someone's father or son or brother.

...and then next episode, it's back to slaughtering those nasty D'Harans, left, right and center. Which, y'know, combatants on the battlefield, blah blah blah. But still. TV writing.

More TV writing shows up in the next to last episode: "I am going to be perceptive and figure out this obscure but obscenely helpful clue! And now I will be needlessly stupid with this information, just to draw out the drama. Also, when I DO finally clue in the Only Person Left who can help me with this? I will do so in the worst possible way, in a way that I KNOW will cause them to react strongly and negatively to the idea!"

But, yeah, drama. And TV writing is TV writing, so I can't really hold it against the show.

One thing I don't get though: he's the Seeker of Truth. I'm not really sure what truth he's supposed to be seeking? Maybe we find out in Season 2. In the meantime? Pretty boys with swords and magic, hot chicks with daggers and magic, and...well, just lots more magic! And the occasional Aussie accent, which I love.

Y'see, the show is populated with Australian actors. In the beginning, everyone sounds American. But as the show goes on, and more and more extras are needed, their ability to shed their Aussie starts to drop. Oh, the main actors are fine, and Darken Rahl, as the big evil baddie, is required to sound Foreign (though he doesn't ever sound Aussie). But the extras we get in are really starting to slip; it wouldn't surprise me if, by the end of season 2, some random villager comes up to Richard and says, "G'day, mate! Ah, Sword of Truth is it, eh? Bonzer!"

And fanservice? I could do with some more of that. Though there's not exactly a dearth: both Darken Rahl AND Richard seem to enjoy walking around in shirts that are slit nearly half way down their torsos, to reveal those rippling pectorals. Hell, getting Richard out of his shirt is as simple as having him practice with his sword or making him go for a swim. Drop a pin, he'll take his shirt off. (I'm not complaining.) Kahlan walks around in outfits that barely restrain her ample bosom. It seems to be a requirement for her to show off cleavage at all times. So, yeah. I'm just saying, I hope season 2 drops more pins for Richard and gives us more pretty outfits for Kahlan. Also, more explosions. Zed does this great sort of circle blast in one ep that he really needs to do more often. Magical explosions FTW.

I am not exactly kicking myself for missing out on this, but I'm very glad to be catching up on it. I'll probably start mixing "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" back into the viewing mix though; since LotS had such a limited viewing window, I wanted to be sure I didn't miss out. I'd've gone NUTS if the streaming had ended before I'd seen the end of the season.

Also? That one D'Haran guard who wanted to get in Richard's pants? I'm STILL laughing about that. And we're not talking flowers and chocolates here. We're talking the skeevy way most prison guards look at female prisoners in bad pornos. The look on Richard's face...

Here's to more adventure, more comedy, more romance, more magic and, L-sama willing, more shirtless Richard in season 2!

"Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" have been put on hold for "Legend of the Seeker" for two very good reasons:

1) The first season of "Legend of the Seeker" is only available streaming via Netflix through Sept. 1st, and,
2) montanaharper sent me this, which is nothing but pure sexy in vid form.

I'm only on the second ep, so more when I've seen more. Oh, my reason for not watching this in the first place? I'd heard it was based off a series of books, and I tend to get tetchy about seeing the adaptations before reading the original source. Same reason I haven't seen the Harry Potter movies. *waits for the shrieking and hissing and screaming to die down*

Shut up, I've read the first book. It's on my list. Why do you think I'm DOING this? Honestly, Fandom, settle.

So no, I still haven't read any of the "Sword of Truth" series, but...but it's easy to watch NOW while it's streaming, so I'm taking advantage of it. Also, pretty boys are pretty. :3

Ulysses