Jacob Kozelek

The show is good, some of the best TV of the year so far. I see a lot of negative reviews here and it feels like there is some misunderstandings about TV as a medium as well as some of the inner workings of Hollywood. The harsh reality is that attractive people get cast for shows and movies. In ASOIAF Tyrion DOES NOT look like Peter Dinklage, and General Leslie Groves (of Manhattan Project fame) looked more like big chungus than he did Matt Damon. While I agree it would be nice to see more representation of ugly people in Hollywood, I don't think the cast being too attractive is a valid, or particularly well thought out, criticism. Additionally, most of the time hard scifi doesn't translate well to a visual medium. Hard fantasy usually doesn't either. This is why series like LotR and Harry Potter can do well at the box office, where as Brandon Sanderson hasn't gotten picked up to write a script. I love hard scifi, but foregoing those elements to focus on the characters makes sense in the context of the medium. As does rearranging parts of the timeline, opting for a more diverse cast, and writing the characters to be more relatable to a wider audience. As for my actual review, I think it was brilliant. The VFX were mostly great, however there were a few scenes where it was clear they were running low on their budget. I loved the cast, I appreciate diversity and representation in media. There were a few members that felt flat, but the core cast (Adepo, Gonzalez, Bradly, Hong, Wong, Chao, Sharp, Kelly and Cunningham) gave stellar performances and really drew me in to their characters. I felt that their characters were relatable, and although some of the more lighthearted scenes and dialogue felt out of place, it was much needed in a show who's themes are pretty somber. The writing was great. There are definitely a few pieces of dialogue that felt flat or out of place, however I think the pacing of the show was fantastic and it was easy to be drawn into the story. Thematically, I think the show segues seamlessly from the eerie mystery of the first half of the season to the dour desperation and moral ambiguity of the second half. I think this is the best D&D have been since the first 4 seasons of Game of Thrones. I am hoping that since the source material is already finished, they will be able to stick the landing on this one.