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Cobra Kai: The Rise (2021)
2:2
I enjoyed the first two seasons, and i really hate season 3 and 4 ... is 2:2.
My impression was that the first two seasons were building an interesting story, with a clear direction and focus. It was the story of the underdog and the reform sensei, starting from nothing and winning in the end. I also enjoyed the rivalry between Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso and the conflicting philosophies of their karate dojos. The little love triangle, and adult / teenage drama was fun, and well implemented into the script. I expected for the next seasons to go even deeper in these karate philosophies; plus if they took that radical and unnecessary decision at the end of season 2 to go into Miguel's recovery and then come-back. That story would had been inspiring.
Now the story is all over the place, GOT style. The characters are locked up in an endless soap-opera routine, that can go forever, realistically until ppl are getting bored and the ratings start to fall. Old characters from the franchise are being deployed unnaturally into the show like that 'Ali', now 'Silver'. And how do you feel when you see that a character is being there just for the fans of the franchise, he / she doesn't fit into this story.
The story already had a villain, and a pretty good one, and an undefeated one, it didn't needed another one, what's the point to that?
Miguel interaction with Daniel LaRusso was just ridiculous and unwatchable. He has this permanent dumb smile on his face in every scene with Daniel, is this intended or he is just a bad actor?
Also there was no reason for him to bail the tournament, he was the defending champion, this was his moment to shine, that's why he was trained by two sensei, not to pick fights in school. One moment the karate is everything to him, the next moment ... out of the blue, karate means nothing is anti-climactic and THIS is not good writing.
There is more to say, but no point really. This Cobra Kai turned out to be disappointing, after a great start. The show has still excellent reviews and hype. It is amazing for me the things ppl find enjoyable and interesting about this season. If this was actually the first season, i wouldn't even got into it in the first place. There was ZERO karate all this season, Johnny Lawrence was reduced to a side-character, with a minimal impact on the plot ... they throw a fight for fans (per demand) between Daniel and Johnny which made no sense plot wise, but they didn't had the balls to declare a winner, and finally the finale had no drama, no-kick, no-sparks, after they build up on it like this super-event. Just saying...
Gossip Girl (2021)
A LGBTQ / BLM take on 'Gossip Girl' ...
Left wing / neo-marxist politics and propaganda, 90% gay content, social media crap, BLM unwarranted and hysterical outbursts just to fill some quota, characters that don't make any sense and have no point to them, no time left to tell any story.
Good as a documentary about the chaotic state of the american society pre-pandemics (it was a slight reference to the pandemic i think, some brief line there) ... otherwise this series does a great job in documenting the political division between the two most-dominant ideological and political currents form the US and European continents ... the conservators and the progressive (this is how they call themselves ... but they just want to reset the civilization to a tribal state, reset and star over). I don't care either way.
And the documentary is on point with the Social Media and Instagram crap too. When the Original GG was created, technology was still a means to an end, today is just that ppl are not just using these social media environment, they are living inside.
So, to the point, the series has good documentary value, but zero artistic value whatsoever. If you are not in this sort of stuff, it will not entertain you, it will just annoy or bore you.
The show that this is trying to emulate, wasn't about activism and politics, wasn't trying to corrupt the entertaining industry with the left-wing political agenda, over and over again. It had an original premise about a wannabe writer who wanted to be part of a privilege class and came with the clever idea to write himself into it, using the social media. Half of the fun was just not knowing 100% who GG was until the series finale. And that gig was done, you cannot make a sequel to that ... but you can come with something new, original.
No vote (that's way, way below 1 star ... btw).
Cobra Kai (2018)
Cobra Kai never Dies!
I hardly remember the old movies ... but i like the new Cobra Kai Dojo and what it stands for. The Myaghi guys are a bunch of hypocrite from top to bottom.
Daniel LaRusso had no interest in starting a Dojo, or helping kids, until Johnny Lawrence re-opened Cobra Kai and actually won the tournament. More so, he did everything to stop it. I don't feel like this is 'let's help some kids' for him ... it's just something personal. The Dojo it's also a side-thing for him (something to be open or closed at his wife's whims) ... he and his wife are running a dishonest business (i mean ... car selling) ... and take full advantage of his 'ex-karate champion' image to promote his business. What happened with the Myaghi philosophy that 'karate is not for medals and glory' ... then? And that thing about ... 'karate is not about money' thing was such a cheap shot ... considering what he did in season 1, with doubling the rent. He also seem to have family connection with the italian mob, that were overlook in the second season.
As someone already said, Johnny Lawrence is the true karate kid in the Cobra Kai series. He doesn't do any of this for money, but you have to pay the rent, the bills, that's how real life works, not the Myaghi's fantasy and the fake life-lessons that Daniel is teaching to those kids. Johnny Lawrence ... is also owning to his mistakes, past and present ... i never seen Daniel doing that. And to steal his kid (Robby), right when he was ready to bound with his father and poison him against his father and what the Cobra Kai Dojo stands for ... this is something you cannot do.
I know that the lines are a little merky between good and bad, but not really that merky. Johnny Lawrence may seem rough around the edges, but his heart is in the right place and he is holding true with the karate's ideals. His desire to reform the Cobra Kai's philosophy and adapt it to the times, and in a way that really change those kids life in a good way ... is honest and inspiring. I wouldn't say the same about Daniel LaRusso and his Dojo, which is the exact opposite. Bringing ... John Kreese into the show ... it's the only way to make Daniel look a little better some times, but be careful that's just ... a red herring.
I look forward to the season 3 ... this is a good show, i just binge watched the first 2 season ... if i knew that season 3 is so close to air, i would had waited a little more.
The 100: The Last War (2020)
Farewell the 100! You will be missed!
"In peace, may you leave this shore. In love, may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels, until our final journey to the ground. May we meet again."
The finale was great ... everybody got what they wanted. The people that wanted to transcend they transcended, the main protagonists wanted to live and they got to live ... on the ground and in peace, as they always wanted. This is a little misunderstood ... they didn't just came back for Clarke (even if that was one of the reasons), but because they wanted to live and to continue experiencing feelings and individuality. It was a clear choice between Life and Unlife (which transcendence means).
So ... Bellamy was not right, sorry to say! He himself ... told Jasper ... 'I'm no quitter' when Jasper already had given up. No pain, no suffering ... that's not all ... no love, no joy ... no individuality, no consciousness, no LIFE ... sentient life at least ... in a way we understand it. Being part of the mass consciousness and giving up all those gifts of Life ... it is pretty much what ALIE wanted with the City of Light. If that is an option ... you are free to do it, even death can be choice ... but not to enforce something like this on others ... and offering to all mankind ... these 3 choices ... 1. death by crystallization ... 2. transcendence which means death of individuality in The 100 universe and 3. sterilization. So no, Bellamy was not right and his actions got Maddi killed as an individual consciousness and taken her away from Clarke.in the end.
I like Bellamy character too, but the last time i've seen this character in the 100 was at the end of season 6 ... with an epic line like this ... 'We didn't killed Prya ... the truth did'. That was Bellamy ... i don't know who that stranger was that came back in the late season ... Levitt who was born disciple was capable of more loyalty and friendship then the Stranger that people are calling Bellamy ... which i find insulting to his 6 season character. Moving on ...
Cadogan and Sheiheda ... maybe didn't got what they wanted, but they got what they deserved. I would had found it outrageous if any of these two guys would had transcended. Another good one for the ending.
A Judge that doesn't understand the meaning of justice ... hilarious ... and trying to judge feelings, when you don't have any. I don't think this is how it suppose to work, but whatever ... i let it slide, since it's science-fiction.
Why so many GOT references? What's the connection here? I watched GOT and there was nothing there ... to entertain me, to inspire me, to challenge me, to make question human existence and evolution, or to surprise or shock me ... a decade of nothingness. I can pin-point episodes form the 100, that were more intense, dense and packed in events, twists and believable drama than entire GOT seasons. The HBO shows are all like that ... i've just binge watched first season Raised by the Wolves, 10 episodes that could had been compressed easily in an single episode ... Westworld, Handmaiden's tale, etc ... they are all like that ... ultra slow paced, meant to take your eyes with massive CGI effects, very talented actors, but nothing else really.
The 100 is a masterpiece, a hard-core survival drama, with an original premise, incredible characterization and very fast story-line, not afraid to ask the big questions, or to subject its character to the hardest choices imaginable. This doesn't waste the time of the viewers with things like shooting a bow three times to fire up a boat, and other stuff like that, showing zombies eating the flesh for a minute of so several time per episode, dragons and clowns in capes and masks doing infantile things. The 100 is Stargate level, if we are to compare shows.
The 100 is post-apocalyptic sci-fi, these two genres are not exclusive. BSG was also a very good post-apocalyptic sci-fi. When the starships appeared in the season 5, that doesn't meant that the show stopped being post-apocalyptic. Post-apocalyptic means that the story is taken place after the civilization ended ... not just roaming destroyed building, scavage, fight with other humans for scraps and kill flesh eating creatures (that cannot be explained by scienence, only by dark comic fiction). These is what is happening when crappy shows are allowed to set the trends of the industry.
Coming back to my two favorite shows in the last two decades ... Stargate did a lot better 'the evolution of the mankind' theme ... than the 100. But they started to design it from the early season so they had time to work on it, while in The 100, they only introduced it in the show in the last season, so that's that.
In sci-fi literature and media, ascendance and transcendence are two types of evolution, but they don't mean the same thing. Both processes implies the end of the physical existence, the physical body, transforming into energy and leaving the material plane into another dimension of existence. The difference is that when transcending that person become something else than it was before, the individuality ceases to exist so does the individual consciousness, which becomes part of the mass consciousness ... This was the approach of the 100 =, a type of transcendence which more resemble assimilation. Ascendance means that you ascend as an individuality and get to keep your consciousness and free will ... you still move to the higher planes of existence, but as a human, an ascended-human ... not like something-else. The later was the Stargate's approach to the human evolution and ascension was just the first step ... there were many planes of existence above. That is clearly more appealing than what happened in The 100.
The 100: Blood Giant (2020)
Very good episode!
It took some days (of me frying my brains out) ... but i finally understood what happen at the end of the episode and Bellamy's death.
This will of course bring no comfort to Bellamy's fans, who wants to see their favorite character on screen no matter what. As for me, even if Bellamy was one of my long-time favorite characters (along with Clarke, Murphy, Raven and Indra), i still care about the rest of the characters, and i don't want to see Bellamy betraying and eventually killing all other characters. I think is better this way ... not ideal, but better.
Bellamy didn't died for the book, i know that now. The book was just a trigger and a test. When Clarke saw Bellamy reaching for the book, she realizes, that Bellamy is the real threat to Maddi and and everyone she knew. Bellamy could tell Cadogan everything, about Maddi, the Flame, even showing him the book as proof. At that point, being triggered by the image of Bellamy holding the book, she decided to test him and made one last effort to reach him and bring him back. If Bellamy would had given her the book, then she would had known that there is still a chance to bring him back, and he is still in there somewhere.
But then she realizes that Bellamy is beyond saving ... and he will not even consider something as small as giving her Maddi's book, at the price of loosing his own life ... this is the moment when Clarke realizes that Bellamy is truly gone, and she shots him.
Even if the book was still somewhat important and dangerous, the real danger to Maddi and her friends, was Bellamy, that's why he shot him. Bellamy would had betrayed Maddi, her, their friends, as he did it before.
Yeah, i'm sorry that this happened to Bellamy, but it did in the episode 'Etherea'. I only saw a Stranger in Bellamy's body since then, i'm afraid that Bellamy died 2 episodes ago. As much as i liked his character, i don't want three more episode with Bellamy backstabbing his friends again and again.
Why Clarke? Who else could had done this? Raven? Murphy? Echo? Octavia? I don't think they could have done it. Perhaps Octavia, but i will not bet on it. The Disciple had no reason. And Sheidheda didn't even knew him! This is how they were able to produce maximum of emotional impact, and Clarke is perhaps the only character strong enough to be able to do this, to Bellamy.
The 100: Anaconda (2020)
The 100 ... pretty much ended in season 6!
This show was obviously planed in 2 Books, 5 season each, one book on Earth, the other in the outer space (the rest of the planets in the bridge system). Something happened in the last part of Season 6, that made them compress 4 seasons into season 7 (the show was just canceled, and they served the viewers some cliche). As a result ... everything is a mess, the story-telling had become complicated and very hard to follow, multiple story-lines are mixed together in a very unsatisfactory way, the main cast was mostly side-lined, lesser and undeveloped characters had taken the front screen, there is no context for any of the new civilizations / cultures that were introduced in season 7. It's like the rush-season. The main characters, as little as they matter any more, have been radically changed, to fit the story, not the other way around, major plot holes, very little science involved or focused on.
Like the season 7 wasn't enough of a massacre, now they wasted another episode to set up things for a spin-off that is completely unnecessary, will add very little context to what we already know and we obviously know how the things turned out for all the factions involved ... 1. the neo-marxists that left the bunker to live off the land, and to fight for the land like their cave-men ancestors, the grounders (completely mindless organic automatons ... which hate any form of technology). They will go into LGBT stuff, race stuff, and all the other crap that stands behind this aggressive political left-wing activism nowadays. 2. the conservative-religious-elitist mixed with using technology to control everyone's lives, that represent the other political current nowadays (the same group that used religion to control everyone, and now uses both religion and technology ... depending on the target). I don't know and i don't care which of the two factions are the crappiest, i hate them both. This 'prequel' will be about modern-day politics, nothing else.
The Stargate tried something similar with Stargate Universe and it failed miserable, after two master strikes SG-1 and SGA. At least the Stargate had an excellent run, The 100 failed to met his full potential.
In conclusion, i don't care about the 'prequel', and i already know what all that thing will be about and i know that will be canceled in 1-2 seasons max (depending on how aggressive will be these neo-marxist advertise the show on the internet), just like SGU.
As premises go, life inside the bunker was already done before, in numerous forms. I personally find much more interesting the life on the Ark, you cannot just open the door and with few blood modification live on the irradiated Earth; also you don't get to have a mysterious transportation device, that once you figure it out how works it could transport you on one of other five planets, perfectly suited to support human life. Surviving generations in space, with no artificial DNA modification, with limited life-resources, air, water, breeding limitation, the Exodus Charter ... and then getting to explore Earth for the first time in three generations, that was brilliant set-up premise of the 100. I don't care about a bunch of privileged ppl living for a few years inside of a bunker and then getting bored (or because of a family squabble) and going outside ... this stuff is not for me, sorry, not after the masterpiece that was 'The 100'.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Less and Less fun ... each time!
Well ... the only movies i really enjoyed from this Marvel Universe ... are GotG 1,2 and Thor - Dark World and Ragnarok ... especially because are not Earth based, and explore other cultures and civilizations. This one butchered both ... storylines and character groups, with a really childish story follow-up and characters' motivations, an overpowered uni-dimensional antagonist with a relentless and simplistic goal (i guess this is specific to comic-books ... but i hoped the franchise had outgrown those ... and will try a little more depth), way too many action scenes with a known outcome ... no twist, no upset ... nothing to look remotely interesting and to remember about the plot. A bleak ending, with many random and meaningless ... 'deaths' ... which are not even close to be emotional ... because of the random factor ... and because they won't be probably permanent ... which bring us to ... ending with ... major cliffhanger ... which is a very ... poor writing choice for a movie. The only way you watch a movie ... is because it offers you ... a sufficient sense of closure and explanation ... at the end ... otherwise ... you watch a tv series ... because these story is much more long-winded, complex and characters are much more ... in-depth. In conclusion ... this has to be one of the worst ... titles in the entire franchise ... when i was expecting ... a deluxe / combo. The word is frustrating ... and no ... for me ... frustrating is not fun. Perhaps ... i'm just not part of the targeted audience, and i shouldn't over-thinking this. Sure ... i know what i was getting into ... but i always expect ... things to grow ... with more story and more character development ... including the targeted audience ... but i see now ... that this franchise ... is targeting a younger and younger audience ... every time ... and the character are ... adjusted accordingly ... to fit ... while the action scene are increased exponentially ... instead of other types of interactions ... between characters. So ... trash! ...:))
The 100 (2014)
The 100 - Best Post Apocalyptic Show
I found this show ... to be really good from the very beginning. I don't understand why people are bashing the first episodes or the entire first season. I have no bias for or against CW network or shows, i didn't even knew this was a CW show until later, so i was unbiased and objective from the beginning ... it is the same writing team that wrote season 1 to 4 ... that's why i care for ... not the network who airs or funds it.
I thought the show ... started pretty strong, and pretty fast paced ... if i'm not mistaken ... in the pilot ... The 100 Crew it already gets on Earth, with a fair amount of Ark adult drama going around, so no teenage drama. So interacting with an old / new planet for the first time ... it is one of the highlights of the series ... a 'hail mary' moment. I cannot possibly understand what you like about this show ... if you hate so much the pilot, which painted the premise the entire show is based upon.
I just think that you are going in circles of your own preconceptions and biases. If you dismiss shows because of the age of the casting or the network which is on ... creating unreasonable level of expectations and when a masterpiece as The 100 come up ... you dismiss it out of hand. I liked the Pilot as much as the entire series. And at the moment the first 2 seasons of The 100 aired ... there wasn't a single sci-fi or post-apocalyptic show ... that either stand up. Later on we got ... Dark Matter and The Expanse, which are fairly decent stock.
Now ... considering you are a ... fair reviewer and a fan of this genere (you could be always a TWD's fan or dropout ... which is not about survival it's just an elimination game ... in a fantasy universe with black humour) ... The 100 is very classy sci-fi ... it is about survival and adaptation to a new planetary and situational set-up ... not keeping strong on the illusion that apocalypse ... never happened ... and trying to recreate pieces of former life ... just to have the writers bringing them down, in the most violent ways possible (that's TWD btw). The 100 is story-driven ... the deaths are realistic, believable, they are not happening artificially even mathematically ... on quota / season ... one season can die more characters than other, or more important characters ... or no one can die ... it is not set in stone ... this make the show unpredictable ... and the story flowing naturally. So you won't have a character waking up one episode and saying 'today i will make something really stupid, that will either kill me or make the writers look really bad for not killing me'. You won't have either 'everyone survive no matter what' or 'everyone must die' type of concept with this show ... The 100 found a proper balance, the death are situational, making them inspirational at the same time ... and moving the story forward, not in circles.
What The 100 have and very few shows on the market have ... is artistic value, right? First ... the story is conceptualized for at least 5 season ... they don't just make up stuff as they go. And they don't augment the story as they go along ... for commercial purposes ... the show remained true to its artistic concept and integrity ... staying out of fans' drama ... for losing characters, down-voting ... bashing the show at time. I like that ... it is so rare! In parallel we have two shows TWD and GOT ... that have ZERO story, HUGE budgets and are COMMERCIAL at heart ... they fancy themselves ... in promoting extreme visual violence, realism (despite having no realistic or scientific facts to based on).
As for the fact that ... the main casting is mostly teenagers ... they stopped being teenagers since they landed on the ground ... that was the whole point (i guess that was missed ... somehow?). Their childhood and teenagery remained on the Ark ... on the Ground they were forced to make adult and very hard decision ... in order to survive the new environment. Replace that with more adult characters ... and you won't get the same effect. Having a bunch of adults making the same decision that The 100 did'n in the first 4 seasons ... would not be either so interesting or dramatic. Having them sent on Earth in the first place ... is science-based ... being born in space ... on several generation ... they body was better suited to survive the irradiated earth ... they had better chances ... than an previous generation ... and they were delinquents ... too young to be SPACED. The Adults were required to run the ark ... they couldn't had send adults one way trip to the ground ... on a recon mission, a probe!
I found the science facts of the show to be fairly well written, but they cannot only focus on those ... they had to develop the story and characters at the same time. That's the only way to keep people addicted ... if you focus only on the science facts or the relationships ... you will only end up with a niche audience in toe.
The Circle (2017)
Interesting message ... poor as artistic value and acting!
I prefer to read this movie in a different light ... you cannot expect full disclosure from the citizens ... without offering full disclosure yourself ... State, Secret Services, Corporations, etc, meaning no more state secrets, trade secrets, non-disclosure agreements, etc. It works both ways, this is at least my opinion. If the TPTB think that they can use the technology to just spy and exploit the consumers, they are sorely mistaken ... we will 'spy' them as well, technology doesn't work ... one way. They hide the biggest lies (aka secrets) ... they have the potential to commit grave criminal acts ... under the cover of 'state secret' ... they are the ones to fear disclosures ... and the disclosure is coming for them ... either way, as soon as a critical mass of people will realize that their 'secrecy' is not a requirement for the public mandate they were given, and informations can be gathered legit and with respecting fundamental rights! This is the future that will most likely happen ... not the one in the most dystopian movies ... we will have either a 100% participative democracy or anarchy ... different variations of the slave state ... are a thing of the past not the future. People will not give away any right they rightfully conquered so far ... and revert back to a tribal system of government. The main function of technology is to bring ideological evolution not involution. I'm sure that at a certain moment in the near future ... a critical mass of world citizens will understand that technology is meant to serve, not to exploit ... and will take the correct political and economical fail-safe ... to see that purpose fulfilled.
The Handmaid's Tale (2017)
The Greatest Show in the History of TV Shows...God made This One!
I don't get the Handmaiden Concept ... she obviously doesn't enjoy being a slave ... then why does she do it? I obviously don't enjoy this show ... i just watched first 5 episodes ... to see if a solid reason is actually presented as to why she is taking any of this? But no ... she is just scared all time, broken, living in the past, a truly living shadow. It is my strong opinion ... that no life is this important, certainly not this handmaiden's life ... free people will not accept just living without any of their basic freedoms (there are nuances here ... but the protagonist here ... is the ultimate slave ... on the bottom of the freedom chain) ... people will just go down fighting or if this is not an option ... will just kill themselves ... rather than living a no-life! Wherever the slavery happens ... it is by choice ... some people enjoy being slaves ... or for religious reasons (meaning they really have higher values that surpass their freedoms) ... never to a free society and never with the gun. So you see ... why i have a hard time to accept this concept ... more ... to enjoy it. It is not my intention ... to pick at another over-rated show ... or a political statement, a philosophic outburst or whatever this is ... i just don't get the concept. Fear ... is no longer such a strong motivator ... to make anything like this ... happen! You don't believe it? Just try it for real ... and see what happens! We all die .... eventually anyway ... so what BIG cards do you think you have ... to bluff like that?
Game of Thrones (2011)
What's the big fuss about this show?
This show is in fact 3 disjointed story-lines ... that only come together at middle of season 7. The Story of Fire and the Story of Ice ... were merely used as devices ... to keep the audience buying the main story-line ... which was also the main focus of the show ... As for the main story of the show ... a medieval Game of Thrones ... we have only 3 major houses ... that actually impact the story ... with only Lannisters being allowed to move pieces on the game board ... the role of the other houses being only to react and counteract. While Lannisters are full featured by the writers ... strong military, best diplomats and schemers, filthy rich, best strategical position in the heart of Westeros, no taboos, the other houses are either too weak, too poor, too honorable, too divided. So the Lannisters always get on top ... even when their realm of possibilities is null ... something ... miraculous ... happens ... and they turn the table. At the end of season 7 ... the ruling power of House Lannisters ... from the beginning ... Cersei Lannister ... with the weakest position in the history of negotiations, and weakest poker-face ever, still manage to foul everybody ... this is how weak the writing of this show really is.
The show struggle from the beginning to foul the audience that it aims for realism ... so it obsessively promotes 3-4 anti-stereotypes usually found in history dramas and fantasy shows also introduce an insane amount of unnecessary and redundant characters ... so they can be killed afterwards ... following what they believe to be impressive and shocking visual effects. It is this lie ... which hooked a massive shallow and dull audience (TWD shared) to the show in the first place ... along with a massive marketing crusade ... unseen in any television show. Otherwise ... the show feature ... dragons, undead, resurrections, prophecies, visions, shadows and all the fantasy themed stuff ... running along (but not interacting) with an highly unrealistic medieval politics mechanic, aftermath and characters. It looks like it wants to be both ... but fails and it is none.
As far as the mechanic of Westeros ... and westerosi archetype ... i found an insane amount of contradictions ... despite being a patriarchal system (you will not see a female soldier, guard,...) ... it is 2 women that actually manage to make the ultimate power-play. In a world that is profoundly corrupt and limited to gold as ultimate value (which can be translated in sex and multiplication as the final goals) ... the westerosi ... manage somehow to summon ... a sacred respect for royal traditions, to acknowledge bloodlines and bent knees, be xenophobic and racist at the same time ... it is like the worst values the human races manage to uncover and promote ... in ten millenniums of written history ... no matter how contradictory ... the westerosi ... will have them ... all at once!
To resume ... GoT ... it is unrealistic, uninspiring, very slow paced, poorly written ... with contradictory rules ... which ultimately create a flawed world mechanic! The characters and their goals ... are predictable and simplistic. The story-lines are disjointed for 90% of the show time. The show struggle to be both fantasy and political medieval drama ... and fail at both counts.