This show was a complete unknown to me. Came expecting it to be another low-brow woke virtue-signalling CW-styled mishmash of simps and "strong female characters". Boy was I in for a surprise!
First off let me just say:I hate CW shows.
Now that we've got that out of the way, this series was amazing. The acting was top notch. Duhamel was unrecognizable, the guy who played his brother was just Oscar-level A-game acting and the whole cast of the 6 members of the original Union members was superb.
Blackstar's make up.... perfect! Effects... perfect, not overcooked and we didn't have stupid monologues by villains before they "pressed the button" tropes.
They should have killed-off the Chloe character. Every time she showed up she dragged the show dangerously close to CW waters.
The way they told 2 stories at the same time was genius: origin story AND present day was masterfully interwoven and the transitions from past to present was just flawless.
I remarked to my wife that this was Dark Knight or Watchmen level execution and she agreed. I actually watched it alone once then right away roped my wife in and we watched it again!
This masterpiece was put together by an artist who kept his eye on the story. No fan service, no "comedic relief" BS, no "romantic interest" formulaic crap... no strong female characters - the women were just strong characters who happened to be women. Period.
No tokenism with quotas for race and orientation... everything was just spot on natural and unforced.
Complaints?
- To the director/writers/show-runners: Go easy on the angsty "I hate my dad" filler. You don't need it.
- Chloe can die, she wont be missed.
- The series season was too short! I wanted more!
Finally...
Don't let social media and couch authors, activists and keyboard warriors force you to change your narrative style, pace or story... GoT made that mistake, LOST and they never recovered... just stick to your story!
I'm a satisfied customer! 11/10!