There are four episodes left in the season and Richard and Co., thankfully, are no longer following the whims of the compass, which often leads them into standalone episodes. The task of closing the rift was only made more difficult all the random places visited through the course of the season. Now, with the scroll in his hands, Richard can move onto more pressing issues and will still have plenty of opposition to make it to the end of the season.
The writers tried something very different in "Walter" and it worked out great. The focus of the episode was on Walter, a Darken Rahl lookalike, while Richard and the rest of them were only tangentially connected, and yet, in the end, it all comes together to move along the Stone of Tears plot and creates a memorable character at the same time. Ironically, the one time I want to give a shoutout to a specific writer, there is no information anywhere on the internet about the episode.
After watching Craig Parker as the evil Darken Rahl for many episodes, it was delightful to see him as the lackadaisical, almost timid Walter. I couldn't believe how much he changed. Most of the episode is spent telling Walter's backstory of becoming Darken Rahl's double, pretending to be Darken Rahl after the real Darken Rahl dies, and gets caught. It was a nice blend of humor and drama, but not particularly original.
Beyond the nice backstory is a hastily plotted return of Darken Rahl to the realm of the living which was too rushed to care much about. Somehow, Sisters of the Dark have the ability to switch people into other bodies, and Walter ends up in the body of a D'Haran soldier and Darken Rahl takes Walter's body. The scroll, given to Richard by Darken Rahl in exchange for Walter's body reads "The instructions inscribed upon the scroll will only appear in the glow cast by a nightwisp." Yes, the ever so obvious hint that tells you exactly what to do, but takes more time to accomplish.
Score: 8.9/10
