[Abyss]

I'm so sceptical about this... it IS MTV after all... but will be watching.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 04 January 2016 - 08:08 PM, said:

I'm so sceptical about this... it IS MTV after all... but will be watching.

This is MTV's first dip into the recent flux of "channel-produced original content" though, and as such I feel they've thrown everything they can at it.

If you had told me before VIKINGS premiered that the History Channel (refuge of awful reality/scripted tv) could pull off a successful scripted drama, I might have laughed...but now I am so enthralled by VIKINGS (better than GoT IMHO) that I am avidly looking forward to their next show (the Templar one KNIGHTFALL).

That said, this could also stumble too.

In all honesty, all this has to do is nail down the CW teen audiences, and it will fly...regardless of what anyone else thinks of it.

[polishgenius]

Reviews seem to be fairly positive without gushing. I'm expecting something maybe at the level of Arrow or Gotham; not startlingly good (and I've failed to follow either of those shows long-term) but enjoyable.

[Studlock]

I don't know MTV does produce Teen Wolf, which by all accounts is pretty good show. I'm willing to give it a shot.

[worry]

Still looking forward to it. But just realized the official name of the show is The Shannara Chronicles. Blech!

[Abyss]

It's MTV... we'll be lucky if only half the characters are pregnant teen girls.

[worry]

The verdict is in:

Spoiler

It mostly sucks. Amberle is solid, as is her family. Wil and Allanon are middling (I'm guessing with better material they'd both shine more). Eretrea and Amberle's boyfriend are awful.

The depiction of the demons is actually pretty great so far. Dagda Mor and the Changeling were effectively creepy, and actually seem threatening. If the show did one thing right, it's make the danger seem real and urgent.

The decision to make Sword backstory works too. The post-apocalypse stuff fits all right.

That said, a lot of the writing is awful. "As your friend and loyal servant." "As we both know already..." -- the dialogue is FULL of this kind of tell-not-show. There's also stuff like Wil saying "Was that a compliment?" when absolutely nothing established between him and Allanon would suggest that surprise. There's all kinds of these generic bits of dialogue, which would be fine if the show took any time to lay the groundwork for them. At that point Allanon had been a little bossy in the few minutes he and Wil have been onscreen together, I guess, but not a cross word was ever really spoken between them. They're not exactly Riggs and Murtaugh.

Another terrible decision was letting us know so fast that the dog is the Changeling. Maybe I'm wrong, but didn't the book keep it a mystery? It would have been an effective reveal later in the season, and this early it seems like hand-holding.

Lastly, I just want to reiterate how bad Eretrea is. So, so bad.

[QuickTidal]

I'll come down on the other side of that and say:

Spoiler

I thought it was great pretty much throughout. Yeah, Amberle's boyfriend can't act very well...and for some reasons everyone else with elf ears pulls them off, while he looks weird.

But I mean I loved it. Yeah, there is some hokey dialogue...but lets remember this is suppposed to be OTT Classic 80's fantasy.

And I loved Eretrea (sidebar: it's the little girl from PAN'S LABYRINTH all growd up!) and thought her early scenes were great. Casual knife flip after she saves Wil, the bathtub scene where they are almost kissing but not...well done all told.

And no, the dog secret isn't a mystery to the reader, Brooks pretty much plasters it on the page that its the changelling.

My wife also loved it (as a non-book reader who knew nothing going in). This is exactly the type of fun, fluffy Tolkien-esque, questy fantasy TV show I was expecting. Can't wait for more!

Oh and sidenote: They NAILED the young person (CW-ish) demo they needed to nail (hot young stars, modern music, emotionally charged encounters) which is I think only going to help this show stay on. Remember that MTV has TEEN WOLF and little else....but if the TEEN WOLF fans stick around to watch this...they will be golden.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 06 January 2016 - 11:40 AM

[Esa1996]

QuickTidal, on 06 January 2016 - 11:37 AM, said:

I'll come down on the other side of that and say:

Spoiler

I thought it was great pretty much throughout. Yeah, Amberle's boyfriend can't act very well...and for some reasons everyone else with elf ears pulls them off, while he looks weird.

But I mean I loved it. Yeah, there is some hokey dialogue...but lets remember this is suppposed to be OTT Classic 80's fantasy.

And I loved Eretrea (sidebar: it's the little girl from PAN'S LABYRINTH all growd up!) and thought her early scenes were great. Casual knife flip after she saves Wil, the bathtub scene where they are almost kissing but not...well done all told.

And no, the dog secret isn't a mystery to the reader, Brooks pretty much plasters it on the page that its the changelling.

My wife also loved it (as a non-book reader who knew nothing going in). This is exactly the type of fun, fluffy Tolkien-esque, questy fantasy TV show I was expecting. Can't wait for more!

Oh and sidenote: They NAILED the young person (CW-ish) demo they needed to nail (hot young stars, modern music, emotionally charged encounters) which is I think only going to help this show stay on. Remember that MTV has TEEN WOLF and little else....but if the TEEN WOLF fans stick around to watch this...they will be golden.

Only read the two first chapters of the first book last summer, but I REALLY enjoyed the show. Found the two first episodes to be better than the equivalent in GOT. The characters were good, the CGI was great and the scenery was beautiful. Of course, its only two episodes in so far and it may yet go downhill, but it sure is promising.

[Morgoth]

It read the book, hm, 15 years ago? So my memory is a little hazy, but I thought the changling=dog thing was kept hidden until he tries to assassinate the king?

I assume everyone on this board have read the book.

[QuickTidal]

Morgoth, on 06 January 2016 - 12:30 PM, said:

It read the book, hm, 15 years ago? So my memory is a little hazy, but I thought the changling=dog thing was kept hidden until he tries to assassinate the king?

I assume everyone on this board have read the book.

I reread it about two years back...and I'm fairly sure it's on the page...but I could be totally wrong. Either way, it's fine to have it on screen up front...if only because we know the Changelling is going to use its power anyways...so the audience either guesses at it and they keep it hidden for a long game (I universally loathe when TV shows do this as I just want to know...the reveal isn't big enough to be worth it) or they tell us up front and keep the story clicking along.

[worry]

So like I said, the show OFFICIALLY sucks.

[worry]

i think you can watch it on mtv.com already.

[Primateus]

worry, on 06 January 2016 - 09:33 PM, said:

So like I said, the show OFFICIALLY sucks.

What, even officially? I thought it wasn't half bad. Sure, it's not great, but I think it could be rather enjoyable.

[worry]

It definitely could be.

[QuickTidal]

worry, on 06 January 2016 - 09:33 PM, said:

So like I said, the show OFFICIALLY sucks.

If official means hippy California dude opinion...as opposed to the superior northern one...suuuuuuure.

[worry]

The Canadian opinion is valued at roughly 70% of the American opinion.

[Esa1996]

Having seen all four episodes, I got to say that I really like it. It has some flaws (Mostly the really fast pacing. The character development seems a bit rushed and the character relations seem to develop a bit too fast), but nothing is perfect. One of the best, if not the best, TV series I've ever watched IMO.

[worry]

Definitely a valid opinion, but on the other hand

Spoiler

I SUMMON A HENGE OF STONE!

[paran falcon]

Ok, so I just finished the whole premier episode. I watched the first half hour last night knowing I couldn't watch the whole thing, and I was grinding my teeth by then. My biggest issues were always going to be how drastic are the changes going to be. I said I'd try to let that go and enjoy the show for what it is. I was having a really hard time doing that until the "mental confrontation" between Allanon and the Dagda Mor. Allanon states that the Illdatch is what corrupted the Dagda Mor. I predict:

Spoiler

They are so confident the show will be a hit that they're already setting up The Wishsong of Shannara. The Illdatch is the "antagonist" of that book. They're already explaining how magic is going to effect Wil somehow. I have to think they may be ambitious enough to consider doing The Sword as a prequel which is why they removed a generation of Wil's family and made Shea Ohmsford his father. To keep the events of Sword more recent so the same major characters can be used.

As to the premier: I agree that Amberle is the strongest character so far. (Am I the only one who pronounced her name as Amburl [phonetically] ?)

Lauren is pretty bad. I can't swallow Gimli as Eventine. He brings gravitas to the role but I can't buy him. Eretria (didn't pronounce her name that way in my head either) is ok, at best so far.

The scenery and settings are absolutely spectacular. This may be the star of the show. The cgi is pretty damn good for tv, imo.

How the F can they go to Wing Hove (supposedly!) and not mention or show a single Roc? They can't possibly write them out of the show...

I agree that the demons have been well done to this point. Not what I expected, but they inspire fear.

The Reaper was the third demon out of the Forbidding. Aah, whatever.

I'm in for the long haul despite my issues. Unless it gets a good bit worse. My daughter loved it and my wife liked it, as I knew they would.