The one that’s just comedy filler...
Ah, the comedy episode that I promised you, a light breather before we head into the darkness of the last four episodes. And man, I am so ready to get to the finale and the second season, you have no idea. Not long now!
As it happens, this story also counts as filler, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing if it’s entertaining to watch, and for the most part – this is. Heck, some of the best character beats can take place in filler episodes, because the writers are relaxed enough to explore certain dynamics without having to worry about the overarching plots – though this specific episode largely provides an opportunity for Craig Horner and Bridget Regan to show off their comedic timing.
Though the latter is obviously fantastic, Horner also proves himself worthy of the material. There are so many great little beats throughout this episode that each actor throws into their performance, from Kahlan’s disgusted facial expressions, to Richard’s more overt swagger, whether he’s eating apples or leaning on furniture. Even the way they walked, with Kahlan hitching up her skirts around her knees, was hilarious.
The basic premise is that a trio of con-artists, Gwildor, Frytss and Clayre (that’s the spelling in the credits) have gotten hold of a magical mirror that allows them to change their appearance into anyone whose reflection has already been captured in the device. This allows Frystss and Clayre to take on the form of Richard and Kahlan, and cause no end of trouble as they exploit their fame to get their hands on wine, women, treasure and special treatment.
What follows is a fun comedy of errors, in which the thieves plot to get their hands on the Sword of Truth, and a lot of back-stabbing and counter back-stabbing ensues. To complicate matters, Gwildor has a girlfriend in the form of Bianca the tavern-keeper, who gets pulled into the con despite her “friendship” with Richard and Kahlan. These partners in crime are after the reward money from the D’Harans should they turn the Seeker and Confessor over to Rahl, and so put their own scheming into play – and whether it’s the real or the fake couple that gets arrested is of little matter to them.
Meanwhile the real Richard and Kahlan learn that their imposters have been captured, and decide to rescue them – NOT, as you might have expected from their prior decision-making, out of the goodness of their hearts, but because a. the imposters have the Sword of Truth, and b. because if Rahl gets his hands on them, there’s no telling what he’ll force them to do (ie, kneel to him in front of a countrywide audience). I actually appreciate that they have practical reasons for saving two reprobates that goes beyond “well, we’re the heroes and that’s just what we have to do.”
But the real MVP is Zed, who returns in this episode and – on realizing he’s in the company of a disguised Frytss and Clayre – puts his own plan into effect once realizing his true friends have been turned over to a Mord Sith at the hands of Gwildor. He transforms himself into Bianca and turns up at the D’Haran camp with the fake Richard and Kahlan, claiming that they’re the true ones and that Gwildor (who has been disguised as a D’Haran general throughout) is an imposter.
A while later the Mord Sith notices “Zed” tied to a tree enroute to the People’s Palace, goes over to investigate (knowing that his magic can have no effect on her) and so giving Zed-as-Bianca the opportunity he needs to free everyone. And of course, Bruce Spence also gets to have some fun pretending to be Bianca. That little wail as he stamps around in a tizzy was hilarious (I’m using that word a lot).
Miscellaneous Observations:
Interesting that the show choses to have Richard making out with another woman as the episode’s cold open. The first indication that all is not what it seems is the fact that he would never show interest in someone that wasn’t Kahlan.
Bianca is played by New Zealand actress Claire Chitham, best known as playing the uptight Waverley on Shortland Street, and Aurora in Outrageous Fortune. Always nice to see her, and she had a killer outfit in this episode. It’s a shame she ended up being a wrong ‘un, as she was a quick thinker. But seriously girl, your boyfriend storming in disguised as a D’Haran soldier and demanding sexual favours to test your loyalty to him didn’t throw up any red flags for you? That was damn creepy.
Speaking of red flags, somehow Kahlan throwing off her clothes and diving into a lake doesn’t throw up any for Richard (it’s a diversion so that Frytss can nab the sword) though in fairness, I suppose a naked Kahlan would short-circuit anyone’s brain. I actually liked the immediate aftermath of this, in which Richard sounds genuinely upset she would pull a stunt like this, and that much later – literally the second to last scene of the episode – Kahlan and Richard can have a laugh about it.
As ever, a lesser show would have Kahlan get in a real tizzy over the fact that Richard was swimming naked with another woman (even one disguised as her), but here she can tease him and hear him say: “there’s nothing I can say to that that won’t get me in trouble.” It's legit adorable.
Another good character detail is that all three of the main characters almost immediately realize that they’re dealing with imposters. Richard notices that Kahlan’s hair is dry, and Zed can instinctively tell that the couple telling him to meet them elsewhere while they “take care of” the stolen treasure clearly aren’t the friends he knows so well.
There’s a shot of Richard and Kahlan walking through the forest, and wow – you can really here the New Zealand birdsong!
It’s always nice to see a Mord Sith, though I question why this one didn’t have access to any horses. Was she seriously going to walk her prisoners all the way back to the People’s Palace? They weren’t even quick-marching! I’m also at a loss to understand how their powers work at this point. Obviously they’ve remembered that Mord Sith can deflect magic, which is why she goes alone to arrest Zed (all part of the plan to let the real Zed use his magic while she’s several feet away) but then why couldn’t she reverse the effects of the magic mirror? Ah well.
So do our heroes get rid of the mirror? I don’t recall them ever using it again, though at the same time we don’t see them smash it either. I suppose we have to relegate it to the same place that memory-altering orb went to.
I don’t think we see the con-artists on the show again, but letting them go out on another con was a generous touch – especially since Clayre puts Richard through the chastity test while she’s disguised as Kahlan (he doesn’t take the bait).
Basically, a comedy filler – though in two respects it does tie into the overarching plot: Zed is now reunited with Richard and Kahlan, and Tandi Wright shows up again as that Mord Sith later.
Only four episodes left!
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