wyshvbsp

I've read the original books so I remember what was part of the original plot and what wasn't. It's extremely obvious that the extra content shoehorned in to the show is hurting the pacing and the quality of the episodes.

It actually feels like some of the other actors complained that they didn't get a big enough role so they shoehorned in extra plot to stroke their egos and it causes the plot to drag badly.

It's especially obvious now that they've had to do some serious mental gymnastics to justify returning a critical and important character role to where they were meant to be in the story, something that wouldn't have been a problem if they hadn't shoehorned extra unnecessary characters into the plot in the first place and followed the source content.

I can only hope they stop messing with the story in the last 2 seasons and return to a faithful adaption of the original novels.

The first thing people will do is compare it to its predecessor series, you need to stop there because you're setting yourself up for a headache.

Treat this show as a stand-alone story that just happens in the same universe; other than the main premise the show is not seeking to be a carbon copy clone of its predecessor or a gender bent remake. It's its own story.

Now as for that story what I've seen so far has been excellent! The plot is entertaining, there isn't any of that "tries too hard to be modern" that a lot of new shows struggle with, the characters feel realistic and not one dimensional.

The biggest thing I could knock is that it's missing the actual current global situation, and resides in a timeline that doesn't have those things we've taken granted (masks, virus etc.) though this could be explained away by saying it's a "memory" and minor details in memories are often overlooked.

There seems to be a lot of whining in the reviews about wokeness, and diverse casting? I don't see anything unrealistic or woke about the group they've cast or the story, I guess there's probably just people from the fringes who dislike anything that challenges their unrealistic view of life.

I'd recommend giving this a try and seeing if it feels good for you, don't trust a review, actually give it a chance and you might find this is a great show that you really enjoy, I know I do so far and I can't wait to see what happens next.