The Wheel of Time

I wanted to like the show given how much I enjoyed the books, but there are so many changes it's like pulling threads out of the pattern, eventually it's going to unravel. I watch this with my wife and she has a hard time following what's going on as someone who hasn't read the books. It's a shame a quality production house like HBO didn't pick this up. The books are a treasure but you really need some talent if you're going to adapt to screen.

The Wheel of Time is one of those rare shows where every season gets better and better. It's a show where you can't be playing on your phone, cooking dinner or doing something else, it requires your undivided attention. It's a show that never gets stale. I can't remember ever being bored, even for one episode. I loved every second of every episode and I think you will to if you give it a chance. The entire cast has been fantastic. With season 3 coming out I just rewatched the first two seasons from beginning to end. I saw that it's already been renewed for a fourth season and I'm sure it'll be just as good as the first three.

The acting is actually very good but they can only do so much when the writing is aweful.

Some of the story changes are understandable, but most times the changes are nearly incomprehensible don't seem to serve a purpose. Additionally, there are a couple of moments that the writers make very poor story choices resulting in at least one instance of using the sin of "Deus Ex Machina" to escape their own story traps. This is lazy writing at its worst.

There are also fundamental changes to the main and side characters along with fundamental changes in relationships between people and organizations. This is another major writing sin and seriously jeopardizes eliminating or watering down both major and minor themes of the original story. Inexcusable.

There are other issues with poor site locations. A good example of this is picking a river next to a cliff to represent a part of a river delta for the largest river in the world. REALLY?

I gutted this season out and watched every episode from beginning to end so I could give the show an honest shot and not be one of tgose people that posts an opinion based on ignorance.

Season 1 did have a few moments that were at least decent, but not enough to make up for the rest of its considerable flaws and sins, therefore, I will NOT be watching season 2.

With great source material to work from this should have been an easy pitch and catch for the showrunners but they have elected to follow the overarching plot without actually following any of the character arcs that make it up.

The sets are painfully reused, CGI low quality for 2021 and the best actor left the show after episode 6. The best parts of the show are the characters with less screen time, especially Dana, Padan Fain, Ishmael and Logain.

There is almost no setup to the Dragon at all and even less to the Dark One. This is the core struggle at the heart of the Wheel of Time and lost completely to the rapid pace of attempting to get through the 'quest' portion of the Wheel of Time as quickly as possible.

After 8 episodes I find myself with very little left to argue against those who see the show as misandrist in nature. Every single male character is deficient in some way whilst women are elevated in terms of power and competence. Given the more equal world we live in than when EotW was penned, along with the fact that the source material has plenty of empowered female characters, it's difficult to understand why.

I would be lying if I said there are no moments in The Wheel of Time that I didn't enjoy. A few brief moments of action and some characters standout over others. Some of the sets look great and others have CGI from 2003.

As in many other reviews I wrote for individual episodes the biggest culprit affecting WOT is the writing. Conversations are rarely engaging, and most characters are poorly developed, providing nobody to emotionally attach to. The second problem for me is the acting and casting. Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, Zoe Robins as Nynaeve, Daniel Henney as Lan and Kate Fleetwood as Liandrin are all great in their roles. Everyone else including Rand are boring beyond belief. Rand and Egwene have no chemistry and it's hard to watch one of the worst love triangle plot threads unfold with Perrin. Perrin has potential as a character, but his expression is the same throughout the whole season, the same goes for boring Rand. Watching Rand during the finale made me want to poor bleach on my eyes. Matt, what happened to Matt...who knows?

For the budget the WOT's marketing bragged about little talent is displayed from the writers and a majority of the actors. Some of the CGI is distractingly awful for a big budget show. Another problem is the shows pacing. Episodes can drag on one after the other with the last thirty minutes of episode four being the only highlight. The direction of the story is all over the place and I was bored throughout most of the season.

If you're desperate to watch something fantasy related don't let anyone's opinion prevent you from giving WOT a try. Some people do seem to be enjoying it. For me, I loathed WOT for the majority of the show's duration. Potential is lurking on the horizon for WOT. Maybe use some of that Amazon money to hire better writers and directors?