Seeker's Journal: Rewatch and Review - "Denna"
" Denna" Review and Picspam
"Denna" is one of the most intense episodes of "Seeker" out of the entire two seasons. Jessica Marais was absolute perfection as Mistress Denna, the Mord'Sith chosen by Darken Rahl to break Richard. Everything about her, from her commanding presence, her cold porcelain beauty, her sly seductiveness, her shrewd knowledge of Richard's potential weaknesses, to the slight hints of her own vulnerability is flawless.She owned that part. It was the first time we see a Mord'Sith, and when Denna first stalks in slow motion toward Richard in that forest, she conveyed - without words - how deadly and fearsome the Sisters of the Agiel really are. She reminded me of a panther.
This episode also gave Craig Horner a chance to show his acting chops, and he didn't disappoint - no small feat considering that he was strung up by his arms with chains much of the time. The two actors had great chemistry, and were able to convince me of the strange combination of hate, fear, attraction, and even a twisted sort of love that came to exist between the characters. It was a perfect display of how a prisoner, even after being subjected to terrible abuse, can come to see their tormentor as the most important person in their life. Not that Richard ever totally gives in, of course, but he comes right to the brink. Watching Richard stumbling around next to Denna, leaning against her, was painful.
However, I was always unsure how much of Richard's submissive behavior around Denna was an act. I don't think all of it was, but it was hard to tell. I suppose that was what the viewer was supposed to feel - uncertain - until the point when Richard kills Denna.
That scene was so powerful - the way Richard's expression of anger changed to one of almost gentleness, and Denna's expression of stunned disbelief dissolving into sadness.
The very end, where Constance revives Denna, was great. But - after experiencing the Breath of Life himself, didn't Richard expect Denna to be brought back to life? My guess is that he just wanted to get himself and Kahlan out of there, and probably assumed that Denna would meet a terrible punishment for failing to break Richard.
One problem I had, though, was with Kahlan and Denna. Kahlan's touch means death to a Mord'Sith, but Denna seemed oddly indifferent to that danger in Kahlan's presence. When the two of them were fighting, Kahlan was close enough to Confess Denna many times, but I saw her try only once toward the end. In fact, she often used her daggers at close range, when Confessing would have been much easier.
Speaking of Kahlan - I found her actions at the beginning of the episode to be problematic and not very believable. She kissed Richard a few times, then told him she had no feelings for him, then, claiming it was for Richard's own good, she left him, taking off to find another Confessor to aid him. She doesn't even bother consulting with Zedd. In my opinion, It just seemed like an artificial plot contrivance to get Kahlan away from Richard before Denna moved in. I know she was trying to relate her actions back to Shota's prophecy, but it still didn't wash.
I was interested in the Confessor Kahlan was looking for. The story of Lara and her Confessed villagers almost deserved an episode of its own. That's what frustrates me so much with Seeker sometimes - the writers seem to have this compelling need to tell two stories, and one (the "B" plot) is not only short-changed, but by the occasional cutting away to it from the main story, diminishes the power of that "A" plot. Luckily, in this episode, the Richard/Denna scenes were strong enough to carry over the interruptions.
I would have liked to know more about how and why Lara acted as she did, whether her mate loved her even after he was released (It looked as if he stayed with her while the others left); I would have liked to know a little bit about the villagers themselves - they are just an anonymous throng in the show.
Finally, I thought the Richard/Kahlan ending was just a little flat - she betrayed him by leaving him, thus fulfilling Shota's prophecy; Denna told Richard all about Confession so now Kahlan doesn't have to; now Kahlan's back and will never leave Richard again because she finally admits that......she has feelings for him.
Thank goodness the episode didn't end there, but flashed back to the Mord'Sith temple where Denna is alive once more.
This had all the promise of a great episode, but for the reasons I listed about, I would rate it as just a very good episode
Rating: 4 out of 5
Denna Picspam:
