Legend of the Seeker 1x22 detailed thoughts
So here are my detailed thoughts on the season 1 finale. There are spoilers for Wizard's First Rule, so if you want to discus the episode without book spoilers you can bring up a topic in my previous entry.
After watching the episode again, I think the part that most contributed to my "meh" feeling was when Kahlan told Richard he did a good job and can go home. Those lines are not anything I can really picture Kahlan saying. It just came across as very "That's a good Seeker. *pet pet* Good boy. Now go on home." Even though Kahlan has made repeated comments about Richard being able to go back to a normal life after Darken Rahl has been defeated, this comment just didn't come across as being a sincere wish for Richard to find happiness. Not to mention that his father and brother are both dead and he has no real home to go back to. And his grandfather is standing right there. I can appreciate Kahlan giving him a chance to leave her for a more normal life now that everything is done, but the scene we ended up with just didn't have the emotional connection I'd expect.
So, I guess that makes a good transition to Richard and Kahlan's relationship. I'm gonna backtrack to some previous episodes for a second. In 1x19 - Cursed, I was glad that the show was addressing Richard's acceptance of Kahlan's power being a part of who she is and not something she should try to get rid of. In the book, this is of course what allows the two of them to be together without Kahlan's power affecting Richard. So yeah, I was happy they included that. But then 1x21 - Fever came along with the whole power of Orden and Confession cancel each other out, and I was afraid the show would use this as the way for them to be together. Thankfully they didn't do that. ^_^ But even though this season didn't end with the revelation that they can be together, I'm actually kinda happy about that part. For a tv series I think it works a little better holding off on that.
Now onto Cara. I enjoyed her and thought her actress was pretty good. That being said, I just got more of a Berdine vibe from her. Seeing the promo pictures I made the comment that in looks she was more Berdine to me, but I thought she could still be a good Cara. Her personality in the episode just struck me as a little more Berdine than Cara though. She was flirtatious in a way I never really associated with Cara.
There were also a few things that I felt the show didn't properly address. Maybe they're saving it for next season? First, the whole Rahl, Richard, and Jennsen are siblings thing from "Fever". Since in the books Rahl is their father, I assumed that him telling Jennsen they were siblings was just his way of messing with her head/gain her trust. Like in the book, I wouldn't expect Rahl to know he was really their father. I was expecting it to be revealed that Rahl was Richard's father though. Since that wasn't revealed, I'm wondering if in show canon they are siblings. Obviously those who haven't read the book would not know to suspect otherwise unless they just discount Rahl's story as a lie for Jennsen.
The second thing is what happened to Chase? Now this might just totally be me, but I thought for sure that Chase was with Rahl in 1x20 - Sanctuary, disguised as one of Rahl's soldiers. I was totally expecting that in the finale Chase would pop out from somewhere to help save the day! I swear that was him in the other episode!
Edit: I went back and watched that part again, and now I'm not so sure that was Chase. I don't know what to think anymore! D:
I didn't think this would be as long as it is, so just a few final comments. Overall I really enjoyed this season. About halfway through was when I decided to go ahead and read the books. After reading the book, for the most part I was fine with the changes that had been made to accommodate the tv format. I'm pretty easy going on adaptations. I understand that changes will be made and sometimes the changes really are necessary. I could even see that having Kahlan grow into her role as Mother Confessor might work better (They should at least have gotten the dress colors consistent though). I was disappointed that the role of Mother Confessor doesn't really seem to mean much in show canon though. I loved when Kahlan went into Mother Confessor mode in the books. The whole Kahlan not being the last Confessor thing of the show seems like it might have been the result of a changing storyline and just got messy.
Changes I don't really like are the ones that are big and unnecessary. Mainly, how the Boxes or Orden and Book of Counted Shadows were handled in the show. I really don't see why that had to be changed, and I think that part of the story hurt because of it. The show version has some moments where I didn't completely get why/how something was happening, where as the book plot came together more coherently.
And my Confessor comments above reminded me of one last thing. In the alternate future (Kahlan's) shortly after Kahlan is captured (well I think shortly. Time passage has always been kinda wonky in this show. XD) Shota informs her that she is the last Confessor since Rahl destroyed Valeria (but other than Denee, didn't the others stay in the Midlands?). So, did Rahl destroy the other Confessors as an event in the alternate reality, or was that done before he went after Richard and Kahlan? If the later, then that would mean it was not an event that got erased, and Kahlan is actually (finally) the last Confessor.
But yeah, despite how this might come across, I did really enjoy the series. ^__^ The DVDs can not come out soon enough And please please let there be episode commentaries by Bridget and Craig. And lot of behind the scenes goodies! and I'm looking forward to any news of season two! XD
After watching the episode again, I think the part that most contributed to my "meh" feeling was when Kahlan told Richard he did a good job and can go home. Those lines are not anything I can really picture Kahlan saying. It just came across as very "That's a good Seeker. *pet pet* Good boy. Now go on home." Even though Kahlan has made repeated comments about Richard being able to go back to a normal life after Darken Rahl has been defeated, this comment just didn't come across as being a sincere wish for Richard to find happiness. Not to mention that his father and brother are both dead and he has no real home to go back to. And his grandfather is standing right there. I can appreciate Kahlan giving him a chance to leave her for a more normal life now that everything is done, but the scene we ended up with just didn't have the emotional connection I'd expect.
So, I guess that makes a good transition to Richard and Kahlan's relationship. I'm gonna backtrack to some previous episodes for a second. In 1x19 - Cursed, I was glad that the show was addressing Richard's acceptance of Kahlan's power being a part of who she is and not something she should try to get rid of. In the book, this is of course what allows the two of them to be together without Kahlan's power affecting Richard. So yeah, I was happy they included that. But then 1x21 - Fever came along with the whole power of Orden and Confession cancel each other out, and I was afraid the show would use this as the way for them to be together. Thankfully they didn't do that. ^_^ But even though this season didn't end with the revelation that they can be together, I'm actually kinda happy about that part. For a tv series I think it works a little better holding off on that.
Now onto Cara. I enjoyed her and thought her actress was pretty good. That being said, I just got more of a Berdine vibe from her. Seeing the promo pictures I made the comment that in looks she was more Berdine to me, but I thought she could still be a good Cara. Her personality in the episode just struck me as a little more Berdine than Cara though. She was flirtatious in a way I never really associated with Cara.
There were also a few things that I felt the show didn't properly address. Maybe they're saving it for next season? First, the whole Rahl, Richard, and Jennsen are siblings thing from "Fever". Since in the books Rahl is their father, I assumed that him telling Jennsen they were siblings was just his way of messing with her head/gain her trust. Like in the book, I wouldn't expect Rahl to know he was really their father. I was expecting it to be revealed that Rahl was Richard's father though. Since that wasn't revealed, I'm wondering if in show canon they are siblings. Obviously those who haven't read the book would not know to suspect otherwise unless they just discount Rahl's story as a lie for Jennsen.
The second thing is what happened to Chase? Now this might just totally be me, but I thought for sure that Chase was with Rahl in 1x20 - Sanctuary, disguised as one of Rahl's soldiers. I was totally expecting that in the finale Chase would pop out from somewhere to help save the day! I swear that was him in the other episode!
Edit: I went back and watched that part again, and now I'm not so sure that was Chase. I don't know what to think anymore! D:
I didn't think this would be as long as it is, so just a few final comments. Overall I really enjoyed this season. About halfway through was when I decided to go ahead and read the books. After reading the book, for the most part I was fine with the changes that had been made to accommodate the tv format. I'm pretty easy going on adaptations. I understand that changes will be made and sometimes the changes really are necessary. I could even see that having Kahlan grow into her role as Mother Confessor might work better (They should at least have gotten the dress colors consistent though). I was disappointed that the role of Mother Confessor doesn't really seem to mean much in show canon though. I loved when Kahlan went into Mother Confessor mode in the books. The whole Kahlan not being the last Confessor thing of the show seems like it might have been the result of a changing storyline and just got messy.
Changes I don't really like are the ones that are big and unnecessary. Mainly, how the Boxes or Orden and Book of Counted Shadows were handled in the show. I really don't see why that had to be changed, and I think that part of the story hurt because of it. The show version has some moments where I didn't completely get why/how something was happening, where as the book plot came together more coherently.
And my Confessor comments above reminded me of one last thing. In the alternate future (Kahlan's) shortly after Kahlan is captured (well I think shortly. Time passage has always been kinda wonky in this show. XD) Shota informs her that she is the last Confessor since Rahl destroyed Valeria (but other than Denee, didn't the others stay in the Midlands?). So, did Rahl destroy the other Confessors as an event in the alternate reality, or was that done before he went after Richard and Kahlan? If the later, then that would mean it was not an event that got erased, and Kahlan is actually (finally) the last Confessor.
But yeah, despite how this might come across, I did really enjoy the series. ^__^ The DVDs can not come out soon enough And please please let there be episode commentaries by Bridget and Craig. And lot of behind the scenes goodies! and I'm looking forward to any news of season two! XD