Am I the only one who watched this show? It was fantastic. A reality show that presents itself as the very thing that every fantasy fan imagines happening to them. The twelve contestants are taken from real life to a medieval fantasy world where they become paladins and must save the kingdom from an evil entity known as Verlox. The Fates give them instructions and challenge them until they are whittled down into The One True Hero. The challenges here all related to the storyline, whether it's physical battle training by the captain of the queen's army or raising the right signal to warn the kingdom of danger or trapping a dragon or finding the right ingredients to create a magical antidote for the queen.
While some of the effects were clearly done in post-production, I was impressed by some of the stuff the paladins probably got to see (particularly with the magical antidote). They just always had this look of wonder about the world around them.
There also seemed to be far fewer politics than most reality shows I've had the misfortune of seeing. I remember my dad watching Survivor, or watching The Weakest Link, where people would sometimes get rid of stronger players because they were competition. A common refrain when deciding which of two paladins should be banished was which of the two was most likely to be or to help the One True Hero. Sometimes people voted for their friends and a couple of times politics were admitted to, but overall, I felt that the contestants kept the heart of the storyline at the forefront.
I've recently watched a couple of reality shows while I'm stuck in hotels for work, and I find myself thinking about what it would be like to be on the show. Not just for the final goal (romance, money, fame, title, whatever), but for how things must look behind the scenes. Did the producers get involved and inspire this contestant to act a little crazy or do something nobody else would dare? How did they edit this to make it look smooth? When did they take this interview? For The Quest, I didn't want to know. There are some parts that are obviously edited-in magic, and the finale had me sadly analyzing a lot of behind the scenes intrusion instead of just accepting the magic.
So what's funny, is that for a show that completely practices on a fantasy reader's hope that they can be taken from their world and thrust into a fantasy world by showing us these real people for whom it happened, I never would want to be on the show. I would never want the magic ruined by seeing how the cameras and producers interfere.
The series, at least the first one, is over, but the whole thing is free on Hulu right now. Just don't look at the clips below, because they're spoilery.
I don't know if I want a 2nd season. I enjoyed it so much, but I'm afraid that the magic of how this one felt wouldn't translate to future seasons.
While some of the effects were clearly done in post-production, I was impressed by some of the stuff the paladins probably got to see (particularly with the magical antidote). They just always had this look of wonder about the world around them.
There also seemed to be far fewer politics than most reality shows I've had the misfortune of seeing. I remember my dad watching Survivor, or watching The Weakest Link, where people would sometimes get rid of stronger players because they were competition. A common refrain when deciding which of two paladins should be banished was which of the two was most likely to be or to help the One True Hero. Sometimes people voted for their friends and a couple of times politics were admitted to, but overall, I felt that the contestants kept the heart of the storyline at the forefront.
I've recently watched a couple of reality shows while I'm stuck in hotels for work, and I find myself thinking about what it would be like to be on the show. Not just for the final goal (romance, money, fame, title, whatever), but for how things must look behind the scenes. Did the producers get involved and inspire this contestant to act a little crazy or do something nobody else would dare? How did they edit this to make it look smooth? When did they take this interview? For The Quest, I didn't want to know. There are some parts that are obviously edited-in magic, and the finale had me sadly analyzing a lot of behind the scenes intrusion instead of just accepting the magic.
So what's funny, is that for a show that completely practices on a fantasy reader's hope that they can be taken from their world and thrust into a fantasy world by showing us these real people for whom it happened, I never would want to be on the show. I would never want the magic ruined by seeing how the cameras and producers interfere.
The series, at least the first one, is over, but the whole thing is free on Hulu right now. Just don't look at the clips below, because they're spoilery.
I don't know if I want a 2nd season. I enjoyed it so much, but I'm afraid that the magic of how this one felt wouldn't translate to future seasons.
