According to "Dweller", family issues will mess everyone up, and that's pretty much the gist of this episode. As the adventurers take a necessary detour after the events of "Graymark", many of the cast try to come to terms with many issues of family that have shaped them. It's a similar play on themes found in "Graymark" but with a different focus as the episode explores the world and its characters through this particular lens. It's a particularly interesting move after exploring the pasts of some of their characters,it focuses on the characters that were left somewhat untouched or behind in "Graymark".
With Wil, we are shown glimpses of the past and more concrete evidence of what his father, Shae Shannara, left behind in his son. I much prefer the flashback method for this form of character exploration and exposition but it has never been a necessary format; sometimes a well delivered monologue and some priming is all you need. It almost makes the titular dweller (an amped up giant spider that feeds on fear) seem like an almost perfunctory and mechanical element. It exists almost solely to show us the last moments Wil and Shae had before becoming obliterated with almost no fanfare by the Elfstones.
The detour into the dweller caves proves to be more interesting when Wil attempts to pair off Allanon and Mareth who spend the course of the episode sparring; Mareth says she doesn't need a father and merely a teacher to hone her magic, meanwhile Allanon refuses to accept the fact he could've even fathered a child. The episode finally allows the audience to delve into the real reason for Mareth to seek out Allanon, and it helps to give some much needed depth for Mareth. It may prove likely she might fall under the sway of Bandon, which would provide both Mareth and Allanon interesting avenues for character development. For Allanon, it seems that extreme overbearing care (Bandon) or absolute negligence (Mareth) might prove to be equally problematic.
As for the characters in Leigh, there is some talk about Queen Tamlin's early days and the problems left to her by her mother's untimely death. This does help explain her a few things including her need to ally herself with the Crimson, as well as explaining the state of the human kingdom under her rule from allying with the warlock lord. Lyria is still a bit of a blank slate though she does gain some more agency with the help of Eretria and finds her way out from her mother's thumb. Lastly, with Ander, though Edain was not family but a close friend, he has to deal with the betrayal nonetheless while trying to investigate Tamlin's links to the Crimson.
For Bandon, it is an interesting trip down memory lane as he takes Flick to his childhood home, now inhabited by another family who strangely could not care less about the legacy of his cursed home, but care enough to hate magic users and the ills they have told they bring to the world. Regardless, there is a small wrinkle in the world building that is much appreciated more often than not. It is simple to see some kind of peasant simplicity to the unnamed elven family, and their superstitious views behind magic informed by ignorance, amplified by Crimson propaganda. That is the way the show seems to draw the scene with Bandon and Flick at the dinner table, though it is Bandon who finds an another meaning and takes it too far, murdering the young elven boy in front of his parents and Flick.
Miscellaneous thoughts:
- I would think as an execution method, throwing someone down a dam would work but I sort of wished the would-be victims fell and cracked their skull on the rocks before plummeting to the watery depths. Perhaps I've simply watched too many movies where a dive into the water means survival.
- Part of the show is begging for a kind of training montage with Allanon, Wil, and Mareth.
- Part of me wishes also the actual dweller was a more conscious threat for Allanon, Wil and Mareth, and not simply a one-act obstacle. There were many things that could be mined from its use, one being seeing both Allanon's and Mareth's most painful moments to help flesh out character.
No comments:
Post a Comment