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The Shannara Chronicles |OT| MTV - High Fantasy (ft. Crixus & DJ Douche) - Tue 10/9c

X

Xplatformer

Member
I can't be the only person that thinks the background music is way too loud compared to the voiced audio.

There are scenes where music literally drowns out what's being spoken.
 
P

Parch

Member
This turned into what I was afraid of, but being on MTV was the red flag so I'm not surprised.

You got the entitled prince. The whiny princess with the burden. The catty thief. And Wil the walking hard on. It's the fellowship of the seed with annoying teenagers and a mage babysitter.

The show has a good FX budget and an interesting fantasy setting, but it's ruined by all the teen angst melodrama. I'm sure it will do well with the target audience on MTV but it will never be mainstream popular. The teen ratings will peak when the monsters roar and Wil takes his shirt off.

Too bad. It looked like it had good potential.
 
K

KibblesBits

Member
This is quite close to the source. A good deal of people miss that most of Brook's characters are the same age as the crowd the show is aimed at.

That said I'm not displeased.
 
S

StuffRuff

Member
Finally caught up with all the episodes in one go. I'm definitely in the "enjoying it but slightly disappointed" camp.

Pros:

Great visual effects.
The actor and acting for Whil is a good match.
Allanon.

Cons:

As mentioned everywhere, its a bit too Twilight/Teen Drama focused for me.
Eretria actress seems like an odd choice, was expecting a more mature actress.
Rushing through the material a bit in my view, obviously they cant do everything from the book though which is fair enough.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
New episode tonight:
Reaper

Amberle, Wil and Eretria must overcome their differences in order to survive their quest, and the Reaper; Ander seeks help in finding the Dagda Mor from an unlikely ally.
Click to expand...
 
K

Kinan

Member
Discovered this yesterday on Amazon Prime in Germany, dubbed btw. Included in Prime subscription so those in Europe with Prime can watch for free.
Generally positive impression, not masterpiece, but a good, high quality work, will watch further. :)
 
S

Spikematic

Member
Future said:
So damn attractive though. All the young actors are hot as hell and its too damn distracting
Click to expand...

Agreed, everyone is crazy attractive. I'm used to that though as I watch so many CW shows, haha. In any case I hope her character improves in the coming episodes.
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
The title for tonight's episode ("Reaper") is one that I've been waiting for. If you've read the book, you know what's coming. Can't wait to see where this goes.
 
K

KibblesBits

Member
It's so interesting to see how things change and remain the same. Oh dear.

edit: That season highlight reel at the end is super spoilery too.
 
RPGCrazied

RPGCrazied

Member
I really hope for a season 2, its getting good now, and the previews for the remaining episodes look so good. Please don't end on a cliffhanger and cancel the show. I'll never forgive MTV for that.

Still not feeling the modern music in some scenes, doesn't feel like they belong.
 
S

Skux

Member
Even though I hadn't read the book I'm pretty sure this episode pretty much threw out the idea of a faithful adaptation. Stuff just seemed to come out of nowhere.

I can tolerate some contrivances but sending the Elf to scout the toxic waste dump was all the wrong kinds of funny. I mean there's even a sign saying "TOXIC WASTE" right in front of the suspiciously deadly-looking area. Maybe they can't read human English lol

Reaper was boss though.
 
S

Sober

Member
Yeah that was a little lame. Feels like either that episode was pointless or the ones before it were, as noted in the AVClub review.

And almost 10 minutes to spend on the flashback on stuff we pretty much already knew.

Hopefully the other half is better. Can't believe we're halfway through, I don't feel like much has really happened.
 
A

AngmarsKing701

Member
The Reaper was awesome, except for his destruction. Let's light fire to a radioactive toxic waste dump while we stand three feet away and he'll explode!

Lame.
 
D

Discotheque

Banned
this is more or less legend of the seeker with a bigger budget and some obligatory MTV/CW licensed music scenes thrown in.

i'll stay with it for my fantasy fix (like I did with seeker) but I don't really think it's that great. pretty much in line with what you expect from a show on this network. big mistake splitting up alannon from the 3 kids. he's needed to make the scenes more interesting tbh.
 
V

Verdre

Unconfirmed Member
Syrus said:
Is that good? Im liking the show
Click to expand...

It seems to be decent for MTV's scripted shows. They seem to top out around 2-2.5ish, but usually hover around the 1-1.5 mark if they're doing well.

Of course this must have an absolutely massive budget compared to their usual stuff.
 
S

Sober

Member
Discotheque said:
this is more or less legend of the seeker with a bigger budget and some obligatory MTV/CW licensed music scenes thrown in.

i'll stay with it for my fantasy fix (like I did with seeker) but I don't really think it's that great. pretty much in line with what you expect from a show on this network. big mistake splitting up alannon from the 3 kids. he's needed to make the scenes more interesting tbh.
Click to expand...
Legend of the Seeker is a way better show in spite of its source material and its budget. Shannara is fun at times and looks good but it's not even as good as Seeker, even when you factor in all the cheese in Seeker.
 
S

Skux

Member
There's a comment on the AV Club review that makes a good point: The story engine of the whole show so far is based on visions and a changeling. Even for fantasy they are some of the most vague ways to create a story and gives the writers free reign to pull any situation they want out of their ass.

A certain level of "just making it up" it is part of fantasy, but the world still has to abide by its own rules in order for viewers to attach meaning and investment in the choices made by its characters. When the Changeling can just stroll into the palace and kill someone it feels unearned and cheap, even moreso now that it's happened twice.

Speaking of things happening twice now, the Rovers don't even have magic or shapeshifters and they seem to locate and capture our heroes without too much effort. It's episode 5 and it still feels like the quest hasn't even started yet because it's constantly being held back by this human bandit clan.

That's probably what bothered me most about the episode - returning to these story beats that we've already seen (Rover capture, Changeling infiltration) when it should instead be moving forward with more interesting new stuff.
 
S

Sober

Member
Skux said:
There's a comment on the AV Club review that makes a good point: The story engine of the whole show so far is based on visions and a changeling. Even for fantasy they are some of the most vague ways to create a story and gives the writers free reign to pull any situation they want out of their ass.

A certain level of "just making it up" it is part of fantasy, but the world still has to abide by its own rules in order for viewers to attach meaning and investment in the choices made by its characters. When the Changeling can just stroll into the palace and kill someone it feels unearned and cheap, even moreso now that it's happened twice.

Speaking of things happening twice now, the Rovers don't even have magic or shapeshifters and they seem to locate and capture our heroes without too much effort. It's episode 5 and it still feels like the quest hasn't even started yet because it's constantly being held back by this human bandit clan.

That's probably what bothered me most about the episode - returning to these story beats that we've already seen (Rover capture, Changeling infiltration) when it should instead be moving forward with more interesting new stuff.
Click to expand...
That's also why Legend of the Seeker comparisons (at least up to this point) are bothering me, because that show was a TV show and Shannara feels like they're playing the 10-hour movie card here. So nothing really happened this episode until 10 minutes in cause that's when the flashback part finishes and even then it's just playing the same stuff again - is that just how it is in the books or what? As an episode of pure tv it felt really scattershot especially pacing-wise and as an 'hour of a 10 hour movie' it felt meandering at the same time.
 
S

Skux

Member
To expand on my last post, I did a tally. In only five episodes:

- Wil and Amberle have been captured by Rovers twice
- Wil has been seduced by Eretria twice
- Wil has had his Elfstones taken from him THREE times (twice from Eretria seduction and then from capture by Cephalo)
- The main characters have managed to escape from Cephalo and the Rovers twice
- The Changeling has managed to infiltrate and stage attacks within Arbolon's palace THREE times (first killing the Chosen, then attempting to kill Amberle, then killing Eventine)

It's just bad writing. It shows that none of the characters have learned and grown from their past experiences. You'd think that Arbolon would lock down the palace or find a way to detect shapeshifters, or that Wil would realise how Eretria is using him and start taking better care of his most prized possessions.
 
R

RubberLuffy

Banned
I think the real problem is that the book's sense of urgency is missing. And their weird need to forgo characterization in favor of love triangles and drama.

Early chapter book talk:

Turning Wil into an idiot instead of who he is in the books, which is someone who is out of his depth in this quest, but does everything he can as Amberle's protector. I don't know why they changed it from how it was in the books, where he's been living in Storlock for 2 years, and is already an apprentice Healer. It's a better basis, it is part of his character and part of what drives him.

At the start of the book Amberle has already abandoned her role, and been gone for months. It's a major defining feature of her character, the reasoning behind it, and her reluctance to embrace what is needed of her. Plus the guilt of finding out that by having abandoned the other Chosen she unknowingly saved herself from a horrible death.

But I guess it's better for Amberle and Eretria (who doesn't even show up in the book til almost halfway) be jealous of each other.

I can kinda see why they skipped Sword Of Shannara considering that book has like 1 named female character who is a rather minor character. It's a bunch of dudes who are all focused on their goal. But the second book is kinda dependent on those events, since it shows the kind of person who Shea Ohmsford is and why his grandson (son in the show, for some reason) would also be willing to take such a risk. It's not really a situation like where you can watch/read Lord Of The Rings without needing to see/read The Hobbit.

I'm not saying the Shannara books are perfect. Far from it, but Terry Brooks at least puts a lot of effort into who characters are and also giving a solid sense of how much time has passed during events.
 
DJ_Lae

DJ_Lae

Member
I loved the books when I was younger, although I haven't read them in a long time. I'll stick with the show until the end, but even my wife (who is generally way more tolerant of TV shit than she should be) is struggling with this show.

I don't blame her. Not much is happening, the characters are mostly idiots, and I don't get any sense of urgency about their quest. Some of the production design is really nice, but everything else seems really sloppy and I'm kind of disappointed even though I went in with few expectations. Maybe I'm just too old, maybe I don't remember as much of the books as I think I do.
 
LordOfChaos

LordOfChaos

Member
RubberLuffy said:
...
Click to expand...

I agree with everything you said. I hate that they relegated Will to dumb sexbot, he may have been from a small village in the book but he had something between his ears and could generally sort things out.

I've sort of relegated this show to "guilt watch". I really dislike the infantilizing of everything, the replacement of touching moments like the Tree talking to Amberlee with teen drama, and oh god the hip hop musics with the young children's and the swagger pants...Ahem.

But I do like that some of my favourite childhood books are getting some new attention at the same time. I'll keep watching with lowered expectations.


Oh, Brooks was writing a end series for the whole Shannara world last I checked, how did that go?
 
Z

zroid

Banned
This series is already turning into a massive guilty pleasure for me

there's a bunch of things that annoy me but at the same time it hits so many of the epic fantasy beats I crave, just can't resist

it probably will reach a point when the bad stuff just becomes intolerable but till then I'm enjoying it
 
K

KibblesBits

Member
I love seeing how they mix the pre apoc elements of the world in the show. A lot of little details were missed in the books when I read them as a child. I need to go back to them again but his themes are so damn repetitive.
 
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