Spellbound by the pretty. Oh, yes.
Legend of the Seeker has me completely and utterly infatuated, thanks to basically my entire flist. I've always had a soft spot for pretty shows set in medieval-type of times, so it really came as no surprise to me that I was hooked from episode one. This show is a perfect combination of adventure, fantasy, corniness and humour, and Kahlan fights with daggers, people, DAGGERS. That is only my biggest kink ever.
The freshman season was so fabulous that it would be truly unjust not to squee about it in form of a picspam. Those of you not yet familiar with the show, what are you waiting for? Check out the brilliance under the cut and join the cult of Kahlan. Seriously, that woman is fierce.
Generic 'Meh' points
- Okay, let's get the negative out of the way first. I have to say, the sporadic (but obvious) references to religion annoy me greatly. Fortunately, the entire show doesn't revolve around said references.
- The baddies are, most of the time, very predictable. The deceit can be seen coming from a mile away. Again, since the show isn't about the secondary characters, I'm willing to look past that.
- Richard can be so darn childish at times that I want to whack him around the head. Childish and whiny. Kahlan and Zed should totally gag him and tie him to his horse every now and again.
- As much as I adore Bridget Regan, she can't act being shocked. And, as Kahlan, she obviously needs to do that a lot, so it's rather amusing. But, other than that, Bridget does a brilliant job. ♥
- This show is corny. But it's all right, because it's, sort of, supposed to be. "Oh, Deni. You're with child." is probably the most LOL-worthy line of the season.
Top14 of Season One - Why Everyone and Their Mother Should Watch This Show
(In no particular order, because that'd be impossible)
1. Richard has a DESTINY y'all.
When Zed declares that Richard is able to read the Book of Counted Shadows "because [he's] the true Seeker" I can't help thinking he should follow it with "Kidding!". But anyway, there really is nothing better than stories of heroes with OMG A DESTINY, because that guarantees an interesting storyline. And when you add a magical sword and a powerful sidekick (and in this case, two) to the mix, the show can't really fail.
2. Sucking out people's souls has never been this hot.
Okay, I can't get over how damn cool Kahlan's power is. Sure, it must be an awful burden on her as well (oh, the angst is epic), but she makes confessing people look so hot and cool that I want to cheer loudly everytime she does it. Oh, and just an utterly pointless thought, but would it be possible to confess a confessor? Or would the universe be ripped in two because of it? Can you tell I'm way too invested in all this?
3. I've never been a fan of leather, but...
Thank you to whoever came up with the idea of Kahlan as a Mord'Sith. And she totally hits the officer across the face, which shouldn't make me happy, but it does. I mean, in all honestly, this episode is all about those few scenes and Kahlan dressed up in wine-coloured leather. Exquisite. Even if the Agiel does look like a dildo - symbolism much? Ahem.
4. There's some powerful magic at work here - Vol. 26.
As much as I love long storylines that sometimes last an entire season (i.e. killing Darken Rahl), it is usually the so-called 'filler' episodes that become my favourites. It's the same with this show, because "Mirror" is absolutely one of the highlights of the season. Everything from fake!Richard's gay pose and fake!Kahlan's failed flirting attempts to the real Richard and Kahlan finding out they have doppelgängers is hysterically funny. Plus, how is it possible that Kahlan looks so damn fine with dirt and dust all over her?
5. Wait, what happened to my gayness?
Yeah. 'Nuff said? I have to admit, nekkid!Richard is quite...impressive. And, indeed, this would be the moment when I lose my lesbian membership card. It's a good thing Kahlan makes an appearance soon after the scene above, reminding me which team I actually play for. Damn biology, obviously trying to trick me into getting pregnant.
6. It's all about the weapons.
Daggers. Kahlan fights with daggers. *weeps* I'm so happy. As I stated before, these things are so very attractive to me; if I ever needed to fight with someone in medieval style, daggers would definitely be my weapon of choice (oh, shush. Like you haven't thought about it yourselves). So, the fact that our favourite female character wields them every week makes me melt into a small puddle.
7. Showing the other side of the coin.
These shows are often completely black and white when it comes to the good/bad juxtapositioning. But, at least for one episode, we actually get a glimpse of the 'reality' of the matters. It's a nice touch to make a point that Darken Rahl supporters also have families, and that the rebels can be just as cruel as the Dragon Corps. A parallel to our world as well, of course. Sheesh, sorry, I got all deep there for a moment.
8. "You wench!"
Kahlan pretending to be officer Dunn's wife is just too funny. This sort of relates to #4, because all kinds of body swapping and playing-someone-you're-not storylines have always amused me. That's why fantasy shows are great: you can do anything you want. Anyway, the look on Kahlan's face when Richard calls her a wench is my favourite thing of the whole episode.
9. Uhh... Bring on Season 2!
I'd heard so much about Cara and her awesomeness already before I saw the season finale, and the moment she appeared onscreen, I finally understood the hype. She makes me side with the Mord'Siths, which is just wrong. I'm also strangely fascinated by her mouth. Aaaand my status as a devoted carrier of the lesbian membership card has just been reinstated.
10. Yep, he did get it.
Just thinking about this scene makes me laugh. Zed blowing up the rabbit and then asking if he managed to get it is the funniest thing! I know, I'm so easily amused, but Zed makes me giggle quite often. How about the end of the body double episode when the tavern keeper is still in Zed's form, trying to sweet talk her husband into forgiving her? Hysterical. Absolutely hysterical.
11. You'd better not piss off the Confessor.
You know what's a bad idea? To tie up the Confessor and then threaten to kill the Seeker. The Confessor doesn't like that. When blood rage happened for the first time, I just went "Oh, this is so cool!", which is probably awful of me. But Kahlan in blood rage is just that, cool. It's the same with her confessing people, which I already mentioned above. The entire episode leading up to Kahlan finally losing it was done incredibly well - the emergence of blood rage is both understandable and realistic (within the parameters of the show, of course). Fierce, people, FIERCE.
12. See, it just happens to be the moment that comes around every 31,350 years.
"You won't be able to wake him. Three stars of Amulous appear within the circle of the crescent moon once every 119 years. And when they do, it becomes possible to cast a spell of the lying moon." And then I laughed, and laughed, and laughed. There's nothing better than random and far-fetched spells like this. Again, I love it that the fantasy genre allows the writers to do basically anything.
13. Who in their right mind wouldn't follow Kahlan?
Because this woman is gorgeous, strong, capable of taking care of herself, she has magical powers... Confess me now, my Lady! Seriously, I want to lick the screen whenever she's in a scene. And she's an expert with daggers, have I mentioned that before? It is a wonder she never gets blood on her white dress, though (then again, who knows how many times she's been forced to turn to Zed for some magical washing services). Anyway, I'd probably watch this show for Kahlan alone. So much pretty!
14. Because it's looooove.
The love story between Richard and Kahlan should be corny and boring, but it's actually anything but - and this is coming from a femslasher who rarely finds het couples worth investing in due to poor writing. Richard/Kahlan is totally my OTP, and I was seething with rage when they brought up a reason after another why these two can supposedly never be. GDIAF and give me my happy ending, dammit!
So, thanks a lot, flist. I'm addicted. Like I needed yet another fandom to flail about.
...SEASON 2 NOW. OH, YES.
The freshman season was so fabulous that it would be truly unjust not to squee about it in form of a picspam. Those of you not yet familiar with the show, what are you waiting for? Check out the brilliance under the cut and join the cult of Kahlan. Seriously, that woman is fierce.
Generic 'Meh' points
- Okay, let's get the negative out of the way first. I have to say, the sporadic (but obvious) references to religion annoy me greatly. Fortunately, the entire show doesn't revolve around said references.
- The baddies are, most of the time, very predictable. The deceit can be seen coming from a mile away. Again, since the show isn't about the secondary characters, I'm willing to look past that.
- Richard can be so darn childish at times that I want to whack him around the head. Childish and whiny. Kahlan and Zed should totally gag him and tie him to his horse every now and again.
- As much as I adore Bridget Regan, she can't act being shocked. And, as Kahlan, she obviously needs to do that a lot, so it's rather amusing. But, other than that, Bridget does a brilliant job. ♥
- This show is corny. But it's all right, because it's, sort of, supposed to be. "Oh, Deni. You're with child." is probably the most LOL-worthy line of the season.
Top14 of Season One - Why Everyone and Their Mother Should Watch This Show
(In no particular order, because that'd be impossible)
1. Richard has a DESTINY y'all.
When Zed declares that Richard is able to read the Book of Counted Shadows "because [he's] the true Seeker" I can't help thinking he should follow it with "Kidding!". But anyway, there really is nothing better than stories of heroes with OMG A DESTINY, because that guarantees an interesting storyline. And when you add a magical sword and a powerful sidekick (and in this case, two) to the mix, the show can't really fail.
2. Sucking out people's souls has never been this hot.
Okay, I can't get over how damn cool Kahlan's power is. Sure, it must be an awful burden on her as well (oh, the angst is epic), but she makes confessing people look so hot and cool that I want to cheer loudly everytime she does it. Oh, and just an utterly pointless thought, but would it be possible to confess a confessor? Or would the universe be ripped in two because of it? Can you tell I'm way too invested in all this?
3. I've never been a fan of leather, but...
Thank you to whoever came up with the idea of Kahlan as a Mord'Sith. And she totally hits the officer across the face, which shouldn't make me happy, but it does. I mean, in all honestly, this episode is all about those few scenes and Kahlan dressed up in wine-coloured leather. Exquisite. Even if the Agiel does look like a dildo - symbolism much? Ahem.
4. There's some powerful magic at work here - Vol. 26.
As much as I love long storylines that sometimes last an entire season (i.e. killing Darken Rahl), it is usually the so-called 'filler' episodes that become my favourites. It's the same with this show, because "Mirror" is absolutely one of the highlights of the season. Everything from fake!Richard's gay pose and fake!Kahlan's failed flirting attempts to the real Richard and Kahlan finding out they have doppelgängers is hysterically funny. Plus, how is it possible that Kahlan looks so damn fine with dirt and dust all over her?
5. Wait, what happened to my gayness?
Yeah. 'Nuff said? I have to admit, nekkid!Richard is quite...impressive. And, indeed, this would be the moment when I lose my lesbian membership card. It's a good thing Kahlan makes an appearance soon after the scene above, reminding me which team I actually play for. Damn biology, obviously trying to trick me into getting pregnant.
6. It's all about the weapons.
Daggers. Kahlan fights with daggers. *weeps* I'm so happy. As I stated before, these things are so very attractive to me; if I ever needed to fight with someone in medieval style, daggers would definitely be my weapon of choice (oh, shush. Like you haven't thought about it yourselves). So, the fact that our favourite female character wields them every week makes me melt into a small puddle.
7. Showing the other side of the coin.
These shows are often completely black and white when it comes to the good/bad juxtapositioning. But, at least for one episode, we actually get a glimpse of the 'reality' of the matters. It's a nice touch to make a point that Darken Rahl supporters also have families, and that the rebels can be just as cruel as the Dragon Corps. A parallel to our world as well, of course. Sheesh, sorry, I got all deep there for a moment.
8. "You wench!"
Kahlan pretending to be officer Dunn's wife is just too funny. This sort of relates to #4, because all kinds of body swapping and playing-someone-you're-not storylines have always amused me. That's why fantasy shows are great: you can do anything you want. Anyway, the look on Kahlan's face when Richard calls her a wench is my favourite thing of the whole episode.
9. Uhh... Bring on Season 2!
I'd heard so much about Cara and her awesomeness already before I saw the season finale, and the moment she appeared onscreen, I finally understood the hype. She makes me side with the Mord'Siths, which is just wrong. I'm also strangely fascinated by her mouth. Aaaand my status as a devoted carrier of the lesbian membership card has just been reinstated.
10. Yep, he did get it.
Just thinking about this scene makes me laugh. Zed blowing up the rabbit and then asking if he managed to get it is the funniest thing! I know, I'm so easily amused, but Zed makes me giggle quite often. How about the end of the body double episode when the tavern keeper is still in Zed's form, trying to sweet talk her husband into forgiving her? Hysterical. Absolutely hysterical.
11. You'd better not piss off the Confessor.
You know what's a bad idea? To tie up the Confessor and then threaten to kill the Seeker. The Confessor doesn't like that. When blood rage happened for the first time, I just went "Oh, this is so cool!", which is probably awful of me. But Kahlan in blood rage is just that, cool. It's the same with her confessing people, which I already mentioned above. The entire episode leading up to Kahlan finally losing it was done incredibly well - the emergence of blood rage is both understandable and realistic (within the parameters of the show, of course). Fierce, people, FIERCE.
12. See, it just happens to be the moment that comes around every 31,350 years.
"You won't be able to wake him. Three stars of Amulous appear within the circle of the crescent moon once every 119 years. And when they do, it becomes possible to cast a spell of the lying moon." And then I laughed, and laughed, and laughed. There's nothing better than random and far-fetched spells like this. Again, I love it that the fantasy genre allows the writers to do basically anything.
13. Who in their right mind wouldn't follow Kahlan?
Because this woman is gorgeous, strong, capable of taking care of herself, she has magical powers... Confess me now, my Lady! Seriously, I want to lick the screen whenever she's in a scene. And she's an expert with daggers, have I mentioned that before? It is a wonder she never gets blood on her white dress, though (then again, who knows how many times she's been forced to turn to Zed for some magical washing services). Anyway, I'd probably watch this show for Kahlan alone. So much pretty!
14. Because it's looooove.
The love story between Richard and Kahlan should be corny and boring, but it's actually anything but - and this is coming from a femslasher who rarely finds het couples worth investing in due to poor writing. Richard/Kahlan is totally my OTP, and I was seething with rage when they brought up a reason after another why these two can supposedly never be. GDIAF and give me my happy ending, dammit!
So, thanks a lot, flist. I'm addicted. Like I needed yet another fandom to flail about.
...SEASON 2 NOW. OH, YES.