Wild Child

Beastmaster Episode Review

In which there is a little Claudia Black. And just enough King Zad.

What Happened

One of King Zad's new allies, Milosh, is off wolf-hunting, but all he catches is a little kid. Fortunately, Dar has heard the sounds of the hunt and is the credits and a commercial break away from showing up.

Dar saves the kid, calms the kid, and avoids being bitten by the kid. Milosh returns to King Zad, who tells him about the Beastmaster. Milosh announces that he'll kill Dar, and Zad doesn't try very hard not to laugh in his face. Huna, another of his guests, explains to Zad that Milosh killed the Chieftain of her tribe and tried to claim his place.

That night, a she-wolf shows up and leads the boy away. Dar guesses that the she-wolf is the little boy's "mother" and wonders if she can tell him where the boy came from. Huna tells that story when she runs into Dar: the little boy is Atticus, her son by the tribe's Chieftain and next in line to lead their people.

Dar talks the she-wolf into letting them see Atticus, and Huna bonds a little with her son. Even the wolf is making the aw-face, but then Zad and Milosh crash the party and the fight scene starts up. Milosh gets killed, and Zad decides to go because he knows it's the end of the episode. Reunited, Huna and Atticus travel away to safety.

What We Learned

• Always pick on people your own size.
• A man's rights only extend as far as his talents to exercise them.
• No slave builds his master stronger chains.
• A man, apparently, has needs. The prospect of sharing his bed with a woman of more or less equal status intrigues Zad.
• Milosh will not be humiliated by that hairless strutting jackass again.
• This Milosh must be a real glutton for punishment.
• Putting Zad back in power would be a welcome by-product of driving out the Nords.
• Welcome to Zad, anyways.

Best Line

Zad: "You have to love a man who gets it so wrong, so often, so predictably."

What Did I Think?

Much better than I expected from the "wolf-boy" preview. Claudia Black gives a nice performance and holds her own in the scenes with Steven Grives.