I don't like making statements like this, but "Perdition" is one of my favorite episodes of the series so far. Despite the shortfalls, the intent of the show--action plus a bit of pathos--held true, delivering an exciting hour of television that kept me entranced. There wasn't one show this week that came close to capturing my attention, including Damages, Fringe, Supernatural, Burn Notice, Caprica, and even the finale of Dollhouse.Richard is stuck in the Valley of Perdition which makes people live out their worst nightmare until they die. He imagines a world where the Keeper has trashed almost everything. Seven years has passed and Kahlan is married and has a daughter. True to its purpose, the Valley of Perdition keeps Richard seeing things and basically everyone except Richard dies. Darken Rahl shows up and Richard wanders to scorched earth where Kahlan's spirit tells him to die. That's the first real clue that everything is fake.Kahlan shrugs off all notion of prophecy and does anything to find Richard. She confronts the Prelate and fight with the Sisters, escaping only with help of Sister Verna. The Sisters of Light have good intentions, but Kahlan doesn't care if they are right. Even if she believed the prophecy, I don't think she would care. She is a bit self-serving in this regard. There wasn't much talk about morals when there could have been and that could have made the episode better though LoS approaches these subjects with such a heavy hand it might have backfired. Kahlan made such a quick decision she didn't even consider the consequences of her action, and granted no one else protested, so the fault goes to everyone. I'm hoping the prophecy will come back to haunt them in the future, because from a purely rational standpoint, it probably wasn't the best idea to go against writing that magically pops up on these rocks.Richard gets out of the Valley on his own and takes on the Sisters of the Dark and with the help of Zedd, obliterates Sister Nicci (literally). I don't know why the producers are still doing those cheesy slo mos, but it was utterly ridiculous when Richard charged into battle.As expected Leo dies before, but not before having sex with Cara. When that happens, he has to die. It was funny seeing Cara's apprehension at Leo's increasing affection towards her and her possible reciprocation. In the end, she expresses that she really cares for her, but he was already burned to the point where his body is useless. His body ends up on a funeral pyre which normally would mean he's gone for good. In Legend of the Seeker, he could come back in some magical incarnation.Two scenes were very reminiscent of Star Wars. First, Richard shoots out energy setting fire to the bainlings and looked almost exactly like Darth Sidious in Return of the Jedi. Then he blocks Sister Nicci's lightening with his sword like Mace Windu in Revenge of the Sith.Score: 9.5/10