S01.E01: Nimue

[jewel21]

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Scorned as a witch, a young woman with powers leaves her village to start a new life — just as a ruthless army scours the countryside for her kind.

Airdate: 07/17/2020

[kieyra]

Eep, trigger warning: while not as graphic as Game of Thrones, they are definitely going for dark/violent, and there's some animal stuff in this first episode. I hope it's just for 'inciting incident' purposes and not an ongoing thing. 

ETA: Minor E02 spoiler:

Spoiler

Dang, looks like they do like their CG animals and doing violent stuff to them. 😕 I guess I didn't realize how relieved I was not to have to worry about every horse/dog/wolf/woodland creature/magical creature anymore, now that GoT has ended.

 

[thuganomics85]

Well, I'll keep watching since I've really got nothing too much better to do and I'm sucker for anything fantasy related, but I was pretty underwhelmed here.  I get that first episodes have to deal with a lot of place setting, plotting, and exposition, but this was slow and kind of dull at times.  I'm hopeful that it will pick up as it goes on or, at the very least, develops some silly camp that at least makes it more entertaining.

Having never watched 13 Reasons Why, I know Katherine Langford best for her role in Knives Out.  I thought she did good here at least and should make for a solid lead.  The actor playing Arthur was charming as well.  Everyone else was fine, if unremarkable (even Peter Mullen, who is generally great.  Hopefully he will get more to do later.)

Well, there was also Gustaf Skarsgard as Merlin as well.  Going in, I thought for sure I would be comparing him to Floki from Vikings, but I agree with other reviews I read where it felt more like he was trying to be Wizard Jack Sparrow instead.  Whatever works, I guess.  I wonder if Gustaf ever wishes he could play normal characters for once, or has he accepted that this is his lot in life.

The scenery and production values were great, but yikes, that fight scene between Nimue and the wolves!  That CGI was laughably bad.  I guess the budget isn't going into that department!

[Babalooie]

23 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I wonder if Gustaf ever wishes he could play normal characters for once, or has he accepted that this is his lot in life.

I just told the hubby that Gustaf has probably been typecast because of his role as Floki.  Honestly, I did want to hear that high-pitched giggle every time he appeared on screen.

[hertolo]

I dont know. Too many tropes, irrational decisions and too much violence. Not that I couldn‘t take it, but that‘s just not how life works. As I‘ve only heard bad reviews, I guess I‘ll pass on the other episodes.

[shrewd.buddha]

It's not unwatchable, but it is very uneven.
Nimue looks like an 18 year-old but behaves like a 12 year-old, with all the running away and hiding and seeming to be clueless about almost everything. In those times anyone over 16 years old would act like and be considered an adult - - but I'm sure Netflix isn't going to get hung up on historical cultural inaccuracies.  

Random observations:

• Nimue hates everyone in her village and everyone hates her (except her mom and Squirrel boy) - maybe that's why she seems pretty unconcerned when they get wiped out..? 
• The Arthur guy that Nimue meets in the town - - that can't be the Arthur , right? 
• I suppose Nimue is going to grow into her abilities over the course of the season ...  but it seems as if her mother, being a Fey leader, would have encouraged her to learn a little about her abilities.
• Thus far, Nimue's personality seems to mainly consist of sulking and self-pity. (Like some bad stereotype of today's high-school teen.)
• I'm not psyched about the prospect of a wacky, drunk Merlin. I think there was already a version of that in one of the Transformer movies. (Which sadly fit the tone of that movie.)

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by shrewd.buddha

[yourmomiseasy]

I couldn't pay enough attention to keep track of what was happening and how they kept ending up in different places, but I think that problem was me and not the show.  It was very pleasing visually, so I think I'll give it another shot and rewatch this episode to see if I can pay better attention.

[Babalooie]

10 hours ago, shrewd.buddha said:

It's not unwatchable, but it is very uneven.

My hubby and I actually enjoyed it, and we're not Spring chickens, lol. I realize that this was the girl power version of the Arthurian legend.

OAN, I would watch Gustaf Skarsgard recite the phone book.  He's my favorite actor now, so much that I named my Volvo Floki.

[iMonrey]

I thought it was pretty good. It's definitely popcorn fluff, that's for sure - nothing too heavy or too deep - but it was easy to follow and that's what I'm looking for right now. Didn't need closed captioning to understand the dialogue (hello, Witcher) either. It's not going to win any Emmys but it's a pretty easy watch.

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The scenery and production values were great, but yikes, that fight scene between Nimue and the wolves!  That CGI was laughably bad.  I guess the budget isn't going into that department!

Uh . . . yeah. The wolves really looked terrible.

[tennisgurl]

The things I watch to get my fantasy fix...

Alright, this wasn't that bad, or at least as bad as some of the buzz I heard. The acting is all pretty solid so far, its fun seeing Katherine Langford in a setting like this, and I found myself enjoying the episode in a very popcorn magic adventure kind of way. Its filled with cliches so far, like the evil religious fanatic who want to kill all magic, the chosen one magic teen who doesn't want their power and is feared due to it, the disappeared estranged parent and the beloved dead one who dies early on for extra angst, the destroyed home town, all that stuff. Of course its often hard to tell an Arthurian story without feeling cliche, considering so much of what is cliche now was basically created by Arthurian myths, so I dont know. 

I will never understand people that know a person has powers or magic or whatever, and then talks shit and starts fights with them for no reason, its not only dickish, its just stupid! Its like throwing rocks at a lion, you kind of have that bite coming. "Your a freak look at you and your freak powers weirdo freak OH NO I AM BEING ATTACKED WITH FREAK POWERS WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING?!?" 

Will Gustaf Skarsgard ever get to play a part where he isn't a twitchy weirdo who spends his time yelling at the sky and communing with gods? Well its what he is good at, so I am not complaining. 

Most of the effects and the sets and scenery look quite good, but that CGI wolf fight...ouch that was really, really bad. Like, syfy original movie bad.