And so The Journey begins… or ends?
Welcome to the Four Lands that in 2016 had sprung out of Terry Brooks fantasy novels into the TV screens – The Shannara Chronicles. In this post-apocalyptic fantasy world, epic storylines unfold and magical beings in tight and eye-catching leather costumes follow their destiny to become the world-saving heroes or doomed and corrupted villains. Welcome back. To Legend of the Seeker for horny and mindless teens.
Amazing landscapes of New Zealand, fatal sword fights, tragic love affairs, magically endowed and incredibly hot people all over the place – it’s a feast for the eyes and the senses. Not so much for the mind and the viewer’s quest for novelty or good and lasting intrigue. There’s nothing extraordinary, that’s true. But it’s easy, fun and so beautiful to watch.
Meet the merry band of orphan hotties
Wil
The story is pretty simple, straightforward and rushed. It feels like it’s all been seen and done before. Especially the first episode. Naive and kindhearted lead Wil Ohmsford (ac. Austin Butler) starts a boy meets world adventure after the death of his mother, whose only role in the series was to die. But not right after she partially revealed a mysterious secret to Wil about himself and his heritage. An ordinary-looking teenager sets on a journey just to find out how special he actually is.
Eretria
Not only the goofy eye candy Wil kept my attention, but the story itself was interesting enough to follow it and wonder what’s going to happen next. Especially since Eretria (ac. Ivana Baquero) was presented. I swear I’ve never seen a better-acted flirtatious scene. ANY scene with Eretria in it ends up sexually charged just because of her presence. Everything about her screams hot lava mess – her body, her costume, her look, her voice, her attitude.
Gladiators infiltrating Shannara
Another reason why I like this show – it’s relation not just with the Seeker, but with the Spartacus and even Xena: Warrior Princess as well. Manu Bennett who played Crixus in Spartacus and Mark Anthony in Xena plays a druid in The Shannara Chronicles who is basically Wil’s mentor, guiding the main character’s way to save the world from evil for the full two seasons. And he’s great in this show, just as he was in Spartacus. Actress Brooke Williams who appeared in both Legend of the Seeker and Spartacus is also here as the cute blondie Catania who becomes the love object of a young man called Bandon who has innate magical abilities that slowly corrupt him and turn Bandon to dark and perilous magic.
Not such a fairytale as Legend of the Seeker and not as cruel and explicit as Spartacus, The Shannara Chronicles stands somewhere in-between and has been even called Game of Thrones for teenagers. The leads are not without their sins and weaknesses, characters make mistakes and if their destiny is such – they die or get hurt. Nothing is certain in the show, but not as desperate as in Game of Thrones. The Shannara Chronicles holds its charm and my attention. And I hope that it’s coming back for the third season, although the ratings don’t seem too promising at the moment.
YES to the third season!
The Shannara Chronicles is one of those cases when the creators could be doing complete shit with the series and not care at all, but I would be watching it still. It’s all about the characters and their storylines. However predictable at times it becomes – the show is still captivating because of the leads. And that reason alone makes it worth watching. After all, it’s based on a popular and well-known series of fantasy books – how bad can it get if it follows the novels and doesn’t stray too much from the original story…?
