Eileen Pool

I read the books (several times) long before I watched the show. My viewpoint will probably be unpopular, but while the show was entertaining if you didn’t know anything about the books, I think as an adaptation this was pretty terrible. Some important things were changed, a lot of the story development was sacrificed for time, and the whole production seemed kind of “dumbed down” when compared to the books. The chemistry between Matthew and Diana and the development of their relationship seems almost nonexistent. The worst transgression for me was the cast. Nothing wrong with their acting abilities—most of them are capable actors and some are exceptional. The visuals are the problem; the show completely ignored the descriptions of most of the characters. Ysabeau is supposed to be a bombshell who looks a few years younger than Matthew, even though she sired him. Philippe is described as a large golden lion of a man and compared to Apollo. Marcus has the looks of a blond California surfer. Miriam is tiny with an outsized badass attitude. There are more and I could keep going, but you get the point. And although I really like Matthew Goode, he should have bulked up some to play the Matthew of the books. I wonder if the show’s writers thought the viewers wouldn’t understand the relationships if the cast actually resembled the people in the books. Writers take liberties with books all the time when adapting them for the screen, but I can’t understand why they would change such fundamental things about the characters. Makes no sense to me.