I liked Beastmaster, particularly the first season. It had a different feel from Hercules and Xena - gentler, lusher, not as bawdy. More earthed-tone. Less polyester.
Granted, the overall story of Kyra's rescue wasn't very ambitious and Dar could be frustratingly passive at times, but it's interesting to see a show do quiet well. Not a lot of shows out there have the patience to give a tiger a continuing story arc. Dar's calmness matched what his character was trying to say in the world. The Sorceress was more effective with an eyebrow arch and knowing smile than some cackling know-it-all who explained her whole plan to the hero in Act Three, giving him just enough time to come up with a way to stop her.
The series changed a lot in the next season and changed again in season three. It got a little more "generic action show." Less mystic and more magic. I didn't like it as much, but I don't really know where they would have gone next. Would we have seen Kord again, or was that just a "this looks neat" throwaway scene? Did someone have a plan for the Apparition? What about the next piece of the Soreceress and Sharak's love affair?
In this day and age, we have a lot of strong creator-driven shows that have deliberate plans and tones, but came about a few years after this show was airing, so what we have here may have been darts thrown at the storyboard. A few happy accidents tilted the score of the season, but without a clear mandate for the show, the producers wandered back towards more traditional waters and mimicked what was working for an other series.
Best Of Season One
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The Last Unicorns
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I like it not just because it shares the name of my favorite Peter S Beagle book, but also because it captures a real fairy tale feeling in both the visuals and the story.
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The Demon Curupira
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Emilie de Ravin did a great job with this quirky little demon. And the widening of the mythology of the world was fascinating.
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Rescue / Revelations
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The one-two punch at the end of the season. Yes. Kyra's fate was predictable, but Zad's mania and Tao's humor pulled things along.
Worst of Season One
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The Chameleon
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Weird baby story. Baby stories in general should not be trusted.
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Riddle of the Nymph
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The one where everyone gets turned into a child. Could have been interesting if they'd taken a different tack, but they went with the meglomaniac twelve-year-old instead.
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The Slayer
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What was up with Zuraya again? Why was she cursed again? For all that talking, there were an amazing number of unanswered questions.