Cheesy Medieval Goodness
If you live Knights and Wizards and such, and you like watching shows on Hulu (good for lunch breaks etc) you should check out The Legend of the Seeker.
Give it a few episodes. In fact, don’t even start with the first (most cheesy of them all) episode. Start with episode 5 and then go back and watch from the beginning if you like it (you can watch the entire episode by clicking play below):
Before you watch the episode. Here is a little background, and show synopsis, and for a special bonus I’ll throw in the other stories the writer ripped off in [brackets]! This guy, Richard, is “The Seeker” (Don’t remember why he’s called that, doesn’t matter). He’s got this magic sword (not sure what it’s powers are, doesn’t matter, it’s just “magic” somehow). When he was born there was a prophesy that he would overthrow the evil lord that ruled the kingdom [Bible, Jesus, kind of...] so the evil lord declared that all the male children from the town he was born in should be killed [Bible, Jesus (& Moses actually)], but this wizard guy found out and carried him off to another kingdom [Bible, Jesus][Star Wars, Luke & Obi-wan], that was inaccessible due to a magic wall. The dark lord doesn’t realize or know and thinks he’s killed him. The wizard gives him to some guy to raise and they never tell him he’s adopted or who his dad is [Star Wars, Luke, kind of...]. Then, some chick (Kylie? I can’t remember what her name is, she’s a “confessor”) comes seeking the Wizard for help [Star Wars, Leiah, Obi-Wan]. The dark lord is chasing her because she has a book he wants [Star Wars, Leiah, Death Star Plans] and he sends his soldiers after her. Some stuff happens and Richard finds out who he is from the crazy old hermit/wizard, after which his uncle gets killed by the Dark Lord’s minions before Richard can return to rescue him [Star Wars]. So the Wizard, the Confessor and Richard all set off to take down the Dark Lord once and for all, once Richard finds out he is the last hope, he is a magical Seeker [Yep, basically the plot of Star Wars in a medieval setting]. So the dark lord (I think his name is Raul?) knows Richard is still alive and is looking for him. The Wizard is training Richard to be a good Seeker, and they are traveling the dark lord’s kingdom to try and find and stop/kill/whatever the dark lord. That sums up the pilot, and tells you what you need to know to jump in and watch the show. Oh, but one last thing, a confessor, if they touch someone, basically can make that person fall madly in love with them, protect them with their life, and do whatever the confessor says. They live only to please the confessor. Richard and the confessor chick are in love, but it can never be because if the confessor is ever “with” Richard (in a “Biblical” way) she will steal his soul [Yes, that's basically Rogue from X-Men, good catch]. Ok, now you are ready to watch episode 5:
It’s a really fun little show. Cheesy FX, corny dialogue, etc. But if you don’t expect a whole lot from it, you just might get hooked. Especially if your name is Jonathan Wey, I really think you might like it. Oh, but watch out for the gratuitous homo-erotic shirtless man chopping wood scenes in the first episode, you can just, like, minimize your browser or something (This is another reason I don’t recommend with starting with the first episode. I think they were trying to appeal to women with this show or something. Or maybe get nerdy guys’ girlfriends interested in the show so that they would actually watch it with their DND playing boyfriends. Either way they should have cut the scene. It’s gross. Even my sister thought so, lol…).


February 24th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Are you sure, Chris? There is a fine line between cheesy and brilliant.
You might also add that the ‘wizard gives him to some guy to raise and they never tell him he’s adopted or who his dad is’ theme also draws on the Merlin/Arthur legend. Merlin gives Arthur to Ector to raise him up in safety, remember?
Just a thought.
February 24th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Hey, good catch! I actually didn’t know that though. It’s been a while since I read any Arthur, and I remember what I see a lot better than what I read…
Yeah, but if I *say* it’s cheesy, then people have lower expectations. Then they expect cheesy, and when they get brilliant, they are pleasantly surprised. It still borders on cheesy though… Especially the first episode…
February 24th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I watched a little bit of that fifth episode….the guy who plays the wizard also was in the Mad Max movies, and he played The Mouth of Sauron in the extended ROTK. And you didn’t mention that this show is based on Terry Goodkind’s “Sword of Truth” series. I haven’t read those books, but I know it’s fairly popular fantasy.
I don’t know, man. It’s pretty cheesy. I’ll probably end up watching the whole episode anyway. haha.