***Editor\u2019s note: there may be spoilers in this article.<\/p>\n
A dream of falling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel it so strongly, needing to go towards that unknown and that fear,\u201d Dean Potter is heard saying in the first minutes of the show.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s quite the way to start the first episode of The Dark Wizard, directed by Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen of Sender Films, the minds behind Reel Rock.<\/p>\n
The series\u2019 debut, titled \u2018The Death Consequence,\u2019 offers a fascinating meditation into Potter\u2019s need to take his life to the razor edge in order to, one could probably safely argue, self-medicate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all came from a life that was unfulfilling,\u201d said Jim Hurst, one of Dean\u2019s friends.<\/p>\n
It starts by painting a picture of Potter\u2019s time in Hueco Tanks.\u00a0Some funny and fascinating details are offered (did you know that Potter used a stick to swat people who snored beside him?) and in this first chapter, there\u2019s already an indicator of how much Potter is drawn to big, scary adventures.<\/p>\n
In this case, it was regularly free soloing and highlining on primitive, unreliable gear.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could take the fear he had and morph it into superhuman strength,\u201d Hurst said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From the get-go, it\u2019s clear this series will tackle the mental health issues that plagued Potter.\u00a0The episode talks about his habit of journaling, and Potter\u2019s darker thoughts are set up to be the main antagonist.<\/p>\n
Hurst talks about how in some cases, he and Potter would sit, drink and just cry.\u00a0Potter had issues with his family and relationship problems, among other things.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people are blessed, and some people are cursed. And Dean was both,\u201d said Timmy O\u2019Neill, another of Potter\u2019s friends.<\/p>\n
The episode then looks at Potter\u2019s exploits in Yosemite, with his four-hour Half Dome record and initial appearance in Masters of Stone kicking things off.\u00a0Potter initially wrestles with maintaining purity in his climbing, but then recognizes the value in finding ways to get involved in film in order to earn a living.<\/p>\n
We get a picture of how Potter navigated the complexities of staying true to himself while pleasing sponsors and quickly becoming a leader among climbers in The Valley.\u00a0Of course, there are a lot of all-star appearances from climbers Leo Houlding and Cedar Wright to Eric Perlman, the man behind Masters of Stone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All in all, the episode kicks off the series to a great start, painting a complex portrait of a fun-loving, adventurous spirit who takes refuge in climbing in order to battle his demons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One quote from his journal is particularly telling: \u201cI need to quiet my mind and find clarity through emptiness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is the first in a four-part HBO series, with episodes dropping every Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"***Editor\u2019s note: there may be spoilers in this article. A dream of falling. \u201cI just feel it so…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,60,348],"class_list":{"0":"post-606855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-featured","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}