Susi J

This show started out with so much promise. Hilarious trailer which is also the start of the first episode of the series. And I really enjoyed the first few episodes. But more than 10 episodes in - of a total of 18 - I can see why it didn’t get renewed. It’s just not believable that the lead character, Dex - played by Cobie Smulders - could drink & behave like she does & still look as good (as Cobie Smulders). She is an alcoholic, gambling addict & sex addict, and 10 years after coming back from active duty she still thinks everything is fixable by getting drunk. No, in the real world, that makes everything WORSE. If this was based on reality she NEVER would have gotten custody of her Down’s Syndrome brother & kept it. In the show he is 21, but that means she’s looked after him since he was 11. No way. She’s both emotionally and often physically unavailable. This show almost celebrates alcoholism. Her best friend has a bar, and they seem to solve any issues by drinking a bottle of whiskey. She has sex with every attractive man (& woman) she sees, but is incapable of a relationship, despite all of her flings appearing to want a relationship with her. It would be great to see the character get sober & into recovery. But despite having constant terrible experiences & alcoholic blackouts, nothing propels her to realise she’s “hit rock bottom” & get some help. I know it’s based on a comic book series, so maybe I’m expecting too much. But other comic recreations have characters with super powers, so if they don’t have “normal feelings” like normal humans, it’s more acceptable.

Four episodes in and Willow is so far disappointing. I was hoping for something more like The Witcher or The Wheel of Time but despite having similar fantasy elements, Willow ain’t no Witcher or TWOT. Most of the characters are lame versions of contemporary teens, illustrated by their poor speaking skills. And they’ve all rushed off to save Aierk who has only been briefly in 1 episode of the 4 and the lamest of the lot. WHY is Elora so madly in love with him? And how can his sister Kit & him be royalty? Elora is a bit lame too - more like an animated Disney Snow White. I did see the original film & it was much better with a young Val Kilmer starring with Joanne Whalley - who after meeting & marrying Val was briefly Joanne Whalley-Kilmer. Too bad we won’t be seeing any Val Kilmer this time round as he is reportedly in a very bad place health-wise and may not properly recover his voice. I know George Lucas created the original Willow character and 1988 film but WHO is writing this stuff? Without original source material that both The Witcher and The Wheel of Time have to draw on in spades, I wonder if this will even survive beyond one series? I live in hope of it improving in subsequent episodes but I have serious doubts.

I’m glad I found these reviews as I could hardly believe all these good actors were in this very badly written, terribly-plotted tripe. Cush Jumbo, James Nesbit, Eddie Izard, Richard Armitage etc must have struggled to keep straight faces when saying their lines. The woman from Cush Jumbo’s (Cassie/Megan?) past had been “searching for her for years” when she just lives a few blocks away. Cassie ran away because she just “had to get out” of that life 17 years ago but she’s only moved up the road and around the corner, less than a suburb away. Agree with other reviewers, plot holes “galore”. And it sounds like even if I made it to the end - currently I’m on episode 4 - nothing would be explained anyway. And yes, there was social media & emails 17 years ago, so there would be digital fingerprints of Cassie’s former life. Although have kept watching it cos it’s like seeing a train wreck - it’s hard to look away; and it’s so unbelievable that I just keep thinking, no, they must explain it in the end. Especially those weird young couple of murderers - people have called them Ken & Barbie - who sing & dance & dress like they were in a Doris Day movie in the 1950s. Oh dear.