I was going to say that it was only a matter of time before Legend of the Seeker spent some time mining the inherent drama of the banelings and the Faustian deal that keeps them among the living, but that's just the thing, it wasn't. Season 2 could have come and gone without really giving the disturbing implications of this unique variety of antagonist a proper seeing-to. All in all, the depth "Hunger" gave to this season's go-to monster did more to advance the show's themes than another canned plot would have.

Much of Seeker has espoused a worldview that's pretty grim and cynical. No plot device has been as good at damning human nature as the banelings. Take away all the metaphysical elements of them and what remains are people who don't so much value life itself but rather just their own lives. This unsettling relativism is everywhere in this show and it mercifully undercuts any clear tendency toward do-gooderism. While the quickness with which most characters accept the Keeper's deal is likely more a product of episodic storytelling constraints than anything, it still lends an air of ugliness and selfishness to those who choose to become monsters.

But there's another layer to the banelings that I don't believe Seeker will ever explore. In the Sword of Truth books it's understood that there's a dualistic afterlife, that the spirits of good people go to a different place than the spirits of bad people. I'm not sure if the series is staying true to this premise, but if it is then there are dark implications in the broad spectrum of people we've seen become banelings. If simple folk and even children are coming back to kill, that means they were bad enough in life to go to the evil side of the afterlife. I love the idea that Legend of the Seeker takes place in a world where small children are evil enough to deserve hell.

All that in mind, the true moral scale of Seeker's world isn't readily apparent. For example, when Cara dies in this episode she ends up in the tortured underworld, so it seems her recent transfer to Team Good Guy hasn't netted her enough brownie points to avoid the green flames. But then again, Zedd's brother Thaddicus is also hell-worthy. The disparity between these characters is pretty significant. One is a mass murderer, the other a gambler and a cheat. I dunno. Maybe Terry Goodkind is a Calvinist.

Regardless of any metaphysical issues, "Hunger" was a nicely stylistic episode. Baneling Cara was pretty disturbing, especially during her first secret kill. It was also nice to see Ted Raimi again as the crooked shopkeeper Sebastian. His pairing with Thaddicus was actually pretty inspired. I do wish the episode had taken the time to better explain just what Shadow Water is, but it served its purpose as the Big Magic Thing of the week just fine.

Best Moment: Cara's hunting expedition. The atmosphere was spot-on and Tabrett Bethell's delivery was just the right kind of skin-crawling.

Notes: "Hunger" was a real ensemble episode. It worked nicely compared to the usual focus on one contingent or another.

Episode Rating: 5/5- This wasn't as spectacular as the best episodes of the season, but its depth, atmosphere and drama were a welcome change of pace.