Tommi Horttana Before watching this show, you should know something I didn't know at the time: This show is entirely for real. If you don't know this, it feels cheesy and clichéd, but knowing that, it's the most genuine and heartfelt reality show I've ever seen.When I watched this for the first time, I was constantly suspicious. I just didn't dare to believe that they really could immerse 12 people in a fantasy world, without directing them, telling them what to say, or filming everything multiple times, and still produce a story as coherent as this. But based on numerous interviews and interactions with the fan community, they really invested in the immersive experience of the participants. The actors weren't there just to play the scenes we see - they were there hours upon hours just to interact with the contestants, talking, improvising, and never breaking character. In fact, many of the scenes we see are not scripted at all, even though they suspiciously feel like that. Oh, and that CGI stuff? Mostly practical effect created on the set for the contestants to gawk at.The contestants (called paladins in the show) truly engage themselves with the fantasy realm and its fate from day one. They take the need to find the One True Hero to heart, and act accordingly, instead of just maximizing their chances of victory. There's hardly any scheming or backstabbing when it comes to the voting, and the paladins compete in a positive and honorable atmosphere. And many of them even look inside themselves and ponder the meaning of heroism, which in my opinion lifts the otherwise cheesy premise to another level. All in all, a very welcome exception to the way reality shows tend to bring out the worst in every person.I'm not saying this show is perfect. As the first season of a show with an untested concept, you can tell they're still finding their way. They took a very straightforward approach to the storyline, the reality aspect with its challenges and votes doesn't always mesh seamlessly with the storytelling, and the comments from the contestants can feel very over the top at times. But all that feels minor in comparison with the sheer positive energy and the simple idea of living in a castle surrounded by living and breathing knights, serfs, and royalty, and working together to save the realm from evil.

lekkin I don't watch many reality shows, but I have really enjoyed this one, largely because of the immersion of the contestants into the fantasy realm. For many of the contestants, this show is like a dream come true: getting to live in a castle, practice the medieval arts, and fight to save a kingdom.The set design is absolutely fantastic, and there are so many wonderful pieces of costume and little details sprinkled throughout the show that really help pull in the characters and the audience. Unfortunately, I think the acting of the most of the non-contestants is often a bit stilted, especially toward the beginning of the season. I'm about half way through, and it seems to be getting a little better. Furthermore, the story is quite generic and unoriginal so far, but I don't think this is a bad thing so much as simply drawing from all the familiar clichés of fantasy in order to be true to the genre. That said, the reality show aspect is written in quite well with the story, and I love how the rules are explained without breaking character at all. And I do have to say, they did an excellent job with the Fates!Overall, a wonderful show that I hope will only get better if it continues on for more seasons!

s-lafitte My adult daughter first told me she'd discovered this show. As she began to tell me about it, I got so excited, I said "Wait! I have to see this! Did you record it?" I'm happy to say, she had. The opening sequence explaining the plot, captured my heart immediately. It truly was love at first sight. I love the reality-meets-fantasy idea, & cannot say enough for the acting, costumes & setting in an actual castle! A joy for a Lord of the Rings fan like myself. And I feel inspired by the 'paladins'--contestants from America who've come to 'save' the mythical kingdom. There are values like integrity you rarely see on any show, especially reality TV, and those are honored here. In addition, I can watch it with my older kids and we're both entertained. The show deserves season 2 & beyond.

Judith Dahmen When I first stumbled upon a Trailer to "The Quest" (by accident, because there was hardly any advertisement for this show!), my first thought was: "Oh no, not another reality show! Reality shows always have the same concept: Making stupid people do stupid things so that the stupid audience has something to laugh at the expense of the contestant's dignity. And then there are always those bitch-fights and a lot of defamation going on. Man, I hate reality shows, why can't they leave their hands off my favorite genre, the fantasy? I know exactly how this is going to be: They will take the worst nerds there are, put them into cheap costumes, let them battle each other in stupid LARP-combats, and most likely they will film all of that in front of cheap scenery along with bad, non-credible actors that will cost the show the last bit of authenticity!" What shall I say? I have never been so happy for having been entirely proved wrong and this is the first time ever I'll give 10 of 10 points to a show in the IMDb. Since "The Lorf of the Rings" came to cinemas in 2002, I have never been that enthusiastic about anything anymore.Funny fact: The producers behind "The Quest" actually ARE the producers of "The Lord of the Rings", and they got the idea for "The Quest" even 12 years ago when they thought it was unfair that only the actors got into horse-riding and sword fighting workshops, and they imagined how great it would be to give "normal" people the chance to experience such an adventure.However, the thing that most distinguishes "The Quest" from other reality shows is not even the fantasy setting (which by the way includes high quality armor, real weapons and most notably a REAL European castle which was bustling 24 hours a day for an entire month by countless extras and four extraordinary convincing actors who did an awesome job improvising 80 % of their actions and dialogs!) but the interpersonal acquaintance on set AND off set.There was no backstabbing, no cat-fighting, no intrigues. The contestants ("The Paladins") didn't fight against but alongside each other. They grew together strongly, became friends, comrades, they helped each other out and watched each other's backs. They didn't vote out the strongest competitors but knowingly always kept the one they believed could become "the one true hero" to save the magical world of Everealm. There was no prize money in the end, it was really all about the good deed of helping the residents of Everealm become a free people again.Even the producers didn't try to defame anybody. On the contrary. Best example maybe: One of the contestants has the habit of grunting while laughing. What would be the usual way for a reality show to deal with it? They would repeat every grunting sound twice in slow motion to give the stupid audience a stupid reason to laugh. What is The Quest's producer's way of handling it? They let the cutters cut out every single grunt so that the contestant wouldn't be embarrassed! Isn't that nice? Isn't that the sort of acquaintance between people we all want to see more on TV? This way, "The Quest" emphasizes completely different values than other reality shows. Without having a single boring moment, the show is exciting and entertaining for every family member between 6 and 92 and teaches everybody a lesson in loyalty, bravery and moral along the way. Since nudity, violence and abusive language are no subject of this show, I really MEAN it when I say: There's finally a show that you can watch with your entire family, and every one who has kept himself a sense of adventure and wonder will enjoy it! (This review used to be a lot longer, but there's this restriction on 1000 words, so I had to crop the parts out where I talked - all spoiler-free of course! - about the cast, the soundtrack, the contestants and so on. If you are interested, here is the link to my full version review:)