There is good and bad in this show.
Here's the bad:
As someone who read this fascinating book (several times), I must admit I am disappointed. The story line and special effects in the series are fine, however all the tension between all the different characters has been completely watered down or lost all together.
What a let down since the ambiguous shades of grey between evil and good tugging back and forth inside each and every character in the book seem to have been lost completely in the screen version. That was one the best feature of the book.
The next mistake of the series is to lay down all the details of every aspect of each character and technology within the first 10 minutes of the first episode without letting the viewer discover as they go. Don't you want to let folk savor a special dish rather than have them swallow the whole like a pill? Let the viewer deduct what they are witnessing rather than been told every detail, why not also having spelled out captioning of every technical innovation described in the story while at it?
The result is that there is no more surprise or discovery after you've been introduced to the characters within the first minutes no more ambiguity or exploration of possibilities. It's just another TV series from that point on.
Please Netflix, before doing a script read the book more than once or at least find someone who is really passionate about the story and can dwell in the deeper subtleties of the story.
Trying to make another TV show just to satisfy the lowest common TV viewer is I know the sure way to make money but as a low hanging fruit it is also the watered down version of what could have been really amazing.
The original novel is at the level of a Neil Stephenson novel if not William Gibson and has lost much in the screen version.
Here's the good:
If I completely disregard the original intensity of the book and discover the story through the eyes of one who experience it only through this show, I would rate it much higher, as it is entertaining, has good pace, all the ingredient of traditional movie industry cliches are present to satisfy the majority of viewers. Graphics are well crafted and the story line seems to hold the road.
In fewer terms it is a good show and if it was a truly original work and idea would most likely deserve way more stars than I gave for my rating.
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