Talamasca: The Secret Order

The Talamasca has centuries of history that could have been explored from it's origin story to present day,as a fan of Rice's stories the Talamasca has always been a mysterious organization I wished she would have given more stories about,when I heard about the series I had hoped that it was going to be the Talamasca's story but instead they chose to make it just some generic type of supernatural series with the name Talamasca to rope in fans of the books. It's a shame because there was so much material that was there to be mined,I'm not sure the fans will stick with this series,Iwill watch for a few more eps but I'not holding out hope that it will me what I need.

I'm halfway through the second episode, so grain of salt. I'll change my review after watching a few more episodes, but I suspect it won't find its feet enough to improve much. I haven't read Rice (not this series, anyway) so I'm coming in without having read -- or watched -- anything but the original Pitt/Cruise Interview. First, the writing is just not very good. The premise isn't very original (maybe it was when Rice wrote it?) but that's okay as it's still pretty rich and this show holds so much promise. So why isn't the writing better? They say painfully obvious things, hold back information annoyingly but unnecessarily, and it's bad enough that the actors are struggling with it. Denton is chewing up the scenery and responding to situations so inconsistently and inappropriately that his acting alone was almost enough to get me to stop watching. It may not be his fault, IDK. And please, do something with his hair, he's not 12 (or James Blunt) and it's 2025.

If the writing shores itself up and Denton gets better direction, maybe it'll attain its promise. Crossing my fingers, but not betting on it.

Watched the 3rd episode. Too much angst, too much explication, not enough movement. The tension is forced and it gets pretty boring.

So whilst I understand that the first two episodes are a slow burn, I have high hopes and I'm fully invested. I think it's too easy for people to write off a show after a couple of episodes. We live within a culture of instant gratification but sometimes we have to invest in something for longer than 5 minutes. I've read comments stating that the reviewers don't care about the characters but after two episodes why would you? I enjoyed both episodes.

The Good

Interesting peek into the workings of the organisation.

Vampires, witches and other supernatural occurrences.

Acting, directing, and the rest of the production are all great.

Interesting enough plot and subplots.

The Bad

As has been said, it *is* a bit of a slow burn...

Vampire abilities, magic, and psi abilities aren't popping off every few seconds...it's somewhat understated beyond the first episode. It *isn't* a magical show.

The story so far is quite tight - you do get a glimpse into Talamasca, vampires, witches...but the story isn't *about* them, they're just in it...if that makes sense.

The story could be easily transposed into any other setting...the things the characters do for most of the screen time are pretty mundane and typical of detective/mystery fare. I appreciate that the same can be said for a lot of things, but in this case, it seems even more so.

It's set around central London - it's accurate...therefore it's grey...nowhere near as sumptuous as either of the other series.

Conclusion

I'm attracted by the paranormal elements, but the itch isn't quite being satisfied.

I'm happy to watch it, my score may go up and is unlikely to go down...but...I'm not being blown away.

If it were cancelled after 4 episodes, then the truth is I would be pretty indifferent.

It is exactly what you would expect. I like that the characters are all solid the actors are delivering solid performances and they did not go for some sort so celebrity stunt casting. Relying more on the script.

It is basically a slow, mystery type with minimal fantasy elements at least the first and second episodes.

But I really don't think weekly releases does this any favours. Each individual episode has so little content, interest or excitement, you get to the end and wonder why you even watched it. I expect this would be better if you could binge the whole thing.

I found the directing and photography very drab and boring, with little colour or interest, action scenes are show after the action part. So just the result. And it just feels like random scene/event after random scene/event the logic tying each scene to the next does not exist. No idea what world these writers exist in.

So far after 2 episodes I don't care about any of the characters or the reason of the plot or what happens which is not much.

The rating right now it is a boring 5 which would be don't bother. I gave it a 6 because only seen the first 2 episodes. But if it does not pick in the 3rd episode I think this series is going to bomb, people are not going to bother watching it.

Basically it is like an amazing looking burger, but tastes like cardboard. If they dont start adding some flavour this show is toast.