Legend of the Seeker is a new fantasy series airing in the US market on syndicated television. Not the most common model these days. However the show has managed to achieve commendable success with quite decent viewer numbers (almost 6 million viewers for the pilot  and a sustained 3 million or higher for the rest of the series to date). While the show is from the producers of Hercules and Xena and many commentators and reporters have painted a picture of the show as a direct legacy of these two products - I feel the situation is somewhat different.

 

 

 

 

Legend of the Seeker is attempting of course to cash in on the post-Lord of the Rings fantasy world (what isn’t?). But beyond that it is also attempting to bring a serious sense of design, lensing and action to the world of period TV series. That is something I can certainly get behind. Sure it utilizes something of the Hercules formula, sure it feels episodic, sure some of the humor seems a tad out of place. But it’s an adventure TV show. I do not expect it to be ‘high’ drama the entire time. So far it has struck a good balance. I will confess parts feel a tad contrived. But the skill with which the episodes are made largely overcome the inconsistencies in the overall narrative.

 

 

Now perhaps a disclaimer is in order. I did not read the books upon which the series is based and quite frankly I have no intention of doing so. I gather that book fans are, to varying degrees, enraged by the adaptation. I really could care less. The series is good. As as been said so many times before about literary adaptions - the books will always be there. Don’t stress it. I’m sure the fans who are all bent out of shape have valid points - in that the series does deviate from the books. I’m sure it seems that the original author’s work has been bastardized. Maybe it has. But that does not change the simple fact that as an adventure/action TV series Legend of the Seeker is just fine.

 

 

What the show does right it partly does simply by way of existing. There have been very few Medieval flavored fantasy shows without the words Merlin or Arthur in the title somewhere. Legend of the Seeker manages to convey a sense of a functioning world and a possible world. I do not have to shut off my brain entirely while watching the show. It also looks good in that the props, the costumes, the locations look possible. Nothing oversized or silly. Unlike the excesses of fantasy films from the 80s or even bits of the 90s. Not to mention that ridiculous attempt at a Dungeons & Dragons movie.

 

 

The action is also very passable. While the violence is mostly bloodless (although not entirely) it does imply force much more so than typical TV swordplay. There are also scenes of torture and great anguish for various characters. It’s safe to say that this is not a show for young kids. That’s a good thing. Personally I am sick of the toned down nature of modern TV fare. It wasn’t that long ago that PG ratings allowed for toplessness and bloodletting. Well, until the conservative right got a hold on the theater chains and the MPAA.

 

What does this all mean for future TV productions? Well I’d imagine if Legend of the Seeker manages to finish of the season while maintaining viewer numbers HBO just might give their George R.R. Martin properties a kick in the production pants. A project currently thoroughly tied up in pre-production hell. and who knows maybe some of the dozens of fantasy properties currently tied up in various companies will get a chance to make it onto the small screen instead of the big. That’s really not such a bad thing. TV serials allow for expanded story telling and as Legend of the Seeker shows, it’s still possible to have strong production values and epic scenes on a reasonable budget.

 

 

Perhaps most impressively Legend of the Seeker manages to blend episode structure with overarching story structure. My viewing of the show has tended to swing from deeply impressed to mildly bemused when it veered into semi-manipulative episodes that imparted a lot of “lessons” in a rather clunky format and less than plausible timeline. However Legend of the Seeker has proved nothing if not surprising. Every time it seems to swing into episodic tosh the next episode returns to the core of the story. In particular Episode 8, which I just finished watching, is not only by far the most challenging episode of the series in terms of subject matter it is also one of the best. The actors rise to the challenge and produced a rich and deeply disturbing episode that did not shy away from themes of torture, psychological warfare and the loss of personhood. That’s not a bad list for a syndicated fantasy TV show.