Legend of the Seeker: The Complete 2nd Season

During its second (and final) year, Legend of the Seeker—based on Terry Goodkind's fantasy-adventure Sword of Truth novels—adds more plot twists and guest stars, including Keisha Castle-Hughes as an all-powerful being. The first season ended with the death of Lord Darken Rahl (Craig Parker) at the hands of good-guy Richard Cypher (Craig Horner), aka The Seeker—someone born to bring peace to the land. But Rahl finds renewed life in the Underworld, where he amasses an army of evildoers, including the zombie-like banelings. Richard and his companions—the wizard Zedd (Bruce Spence) and resistance fighter Kahlan (Bridget Regan)—join forces with Cara (Tabrett Bethell), a former member of the Mord-Sith (a feared order of women), to locate the Stone of Tears, which can seal the rift between worlds. But complications arise: a witch (Aimee Teegarden) who de-ages Zedd (Gabriel Mann plays the younger character), a narcissistic king (Parker Stevenson), an errant father (John Rhys-Davies), and a Mord-Sith (Jessica Marais) bent on usurping Richard's power, which only grows when the latter discovers his own sorcerer capabilities. Despite a sappy conclusion and a storyline that barely skirts clichés, the writing is generally good, while the production values are often above average (with the New Zealand setting the best effect of all). Although fans launched a “Save Our Seeker” campaign, ABC Studios still pulled the plug. Compiling all 22 episodes aired in 2009-10, DVD extras include a pair of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and deleted scenes. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)