Season 1 review. Will update if needed after season 2.
Not too bad of a show, but has some issues that really drag it down.
Acting is a very mixed bag. Jennifer Connelly does a good job as Melanie Cavill and I also enjoyed some of the supporting roles like Ruth and Miss Audrey, even though most of those supporting roles don't add a whole lot of meat to the story and often feel like underdeveloped, missed opportunities.
While not always or necessarily a bad thing, a lot of characters are one-dimensional caricatures, perhaps more fitting for a cartoon. This works well for some, like Ruth, but not too great for most, like LJ.
There's way too much overacting in general, where the performances of the actresses playing Josie and Bess stand out as pretty bad on average in that regard.
The biggest issue with the acting though, is the lead actor, Daveed Diggs. The guy can't act and he has no presence. His eyes are always empty and he is apparently only able to produce one facial expression. His monotonous voice and inflection also don't match the character. I always see the actor trying to play a character, never the character itself. It really breaks immersion. Massive miscast here and easily the weakest link of the show.
Immersion is broken even more by the fact that his character is all over the place and isn't believable at all in most of the contexts he finds himself in. This isn't a revolutionary leader, but a street corner criminal at best.
He's not even likeable, being that self-righteous smart ass know-it-all (while still failing to accomplish anything), with his unfitting nonchalant demeanor and hilariously large wig.
CGI is mostly well done. Music is good, and I do like the overall atmosphere it tries to create.
The general story is interesting enough to keep me wanting to know what's going to happen next. The first three or so episodes don't make a whole lot of sense in hindsight and I feel the story is a bit too shallow in most of what it tries to accomplish.
This could have been an easy 8 or 9 if the casting and acting would have been better, possibly also while burning through the story a bit slower and not focussing on the rather unoriginal and obvious stuff.
I can't really give this more than barely a 6/10 in it's current form, even though I enjoyed some parts more than that rating would suggest. Will update the score after season 2, if needed.
