Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This adaptation is so unecessarily melodramatic it’s almost parody. Here’s my review of the first seventeen minutes. *Yes, I did finish the episode, but I only had the time (and energy) to review the first 17 mins* This review is written for readers/fans of the book series from the perspective of someone who has read the series twice, and the first three books several more times: - No Lews Therin prologue scene - Instead, Moiraine tells us (through voice-over) that she’s looking for the Dragon, who could be a man or woman (not technically canon, but why not) - Logain is gentled in broad daylight by a couple of Aes Sedai (Red Ajah) after a cheap-looking sequence featuring less than a dozen people (not in the books—Logaine was actually captured off-stage in a battle near Lugard and was later gentled at the White Tower) - We’re told Logain is suddenly Rand’s age (not the case in the book—he was older) - In the next sequence, Nynaeve shoves Egwene off a cliff during some initiation scene (not in the books). I mean can you imagine the Women’s Circle if someone told them they were gonna toss someone off a cliff? Nynaeve would've stopped that IMMEDIATELY. Were the writers (or more likely, the producers) that nervous about our attention spans? *All right, that's too much backstory, time to shove someone off a cliff to keep our pea-brained audience engaged* - Egwene survives the cliff shove by relaxing in the rapids (this is here to foreshadow Saidir, but c'mon, give me a break--it's ludicrous. Takes a hammer to your suspension of disbelief) - No Rand until 7 mins in (still no Lews Therin) Who thought it’d be a good idea to introduce Logain before Rand? - When we finally see Rand, he doesn’t encounter the fade en route to Emond’s Field. They added all those above scenes and then decided to delete the fade part (which foreshadows the Ta'veren/possible dragon backstory, is an inciting incident, and provides spooky vibes in general) - Tam wears a ghastly amount of makeup (this, obviously, is not in the books lol) - Rather than show the trio as boys on the cusp of manhood (Tam asks Mat and Rand to help unload the cart), they’re just shown drinking in the al’Veres' inn - Perrin is Married (not in books) - The dialogue can't sound natural if most if it is there to awkwardly provide exposition. The world of Emond's Field could have been *shown* by the earlier introduction of Thom (or Padan Fain). Narratively, Thom could have been what's called the Question Character (who serves as proxy for the audience—Aaron Sorkin does a lot. Destin Daniel Cretton also does this with Rami Malek's character in Short Term 12) - Then, still in inn, there’s a drawn-out scene of Matt gambling/losing money/trying to impress a random character (not in the books). I know this is here emphasize the later reversal—Omg, Mat is good at gambling now!—but c’mon. This doesn’t endear him to us. Robert Jordan knew what he was doing, why would you mess with it? - Again, Perrin is married (???) - Egwene enters the tavern to a standing ovation for surviving the Nynaeve’s cliff shove (I’m serious) (not in the books) - Master al’Vere has an New Zealand accent (to be fair, LotR was inconsistent about this too). Just sort of odd that everyone from the Two Rivers doesn’t have the same accent… I’m down with the diverse casting (Marcus Rutherford is one of the few highlights here), but why does a Two Rivers inn sound like a UN conference? - Lan makes a Western movie-esque entrance (He bursts through the tavern doors and I think we get like five seconds of boots closeups before we see his face) (not in the books). It’s pretty attention-grabbing behavior for someone who usually likes to stay out of the spotlight. Again, it’s like the creative team is terrified of any nuance: *ding ding ding, this is an important character!* Take The Fellowship of the Ring, for instance. Imagine if in the Prancing Pony, Aragorn just jumped on the table, pointed at Frodo, and started shouting, "I'M F**KING ARAGORN!" - Perrin’s wife (again, not in the books) is at the forge during this merrymaking at the inn… Oh, and she’s a blacksmith too. And she’s pregnant. For those of you who didn’t read the books, just imagine watching The Hobbit and the first scene is Bilbo arguing with his wife (Dang, upon second thought, that actually sounds pretty awesome. Sort of submarined my own point there. Just believe me, it felt SO off. And we know his wife going to die because, again, he doesn’t have a wife until he meets… well, I don’t want to spoil it, but it happens later) - Perrin’s wife has beef with Egwene? (not in book) - Mat’s dad is cheating on his mom(?) and there’s a save the cat moment where Mat stops his mom from interfering with his dad (But honestly, maybe he should’ve let her confront him?) (Not in book) - Mat then takes care of his family, and his mom says he’s going to be just like his (cheating) father (not in book) - By the time Mat is kind to his sisters, we don't really care about him as a character (at least I don't) - Rand is ABSURDLY smooth with Egwene (not in book) His nervous discomfort is really endearing in the books… - Rand suddenly kisses Egwene at 16:56 (not in book). Is the creative team terrified of a dialogue where no one is making out or being shoved off a cliff? Moment-to-moment action only does so much… Seeing the fade during the walk to Emond’s field would have provided the threat of violence and built natural/organic tension (Dennis Villeneuve is amazing at this) I stopped writing this after Rand tries to feed Egwene berries during their makeout scene (For those of you who haven't read WoT but have read Harry Potter: Imagine if in The Goblet of Fire Harry Potter sees Cho Chang, starts chatting her up, and then immediately takes her to the prefect baths in order to make out some more. There's a reason characters mess up, fail, aren't smooth. And Robert Jordan made these decisions for a reason! I could barely finish the episode. So who's to blame here? Unfortunately, I think the lion's share (the Andoran share?) of the blame lays at the feet of Rafe Judkins. I mean getting a guy who did "Chuck" was never a good sign, but George Miller did Mad Max AND Happy Feet, so I was keeping my fingers crossed... After watching the episode, I felt sort of glad Robert Jordan passed when he did--at least he didn't have to suffer through this. Perhaps I should mention that reimagining the original source material is the right of any adaptor (I love Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the first six seasons of Game of Thrones. I'm not saying I'm disappointed because It'S nOt ExAcTly LiKe ThE BoOkS. I'm disappointed because the adaptation of the books is bad. Final thoughts: If you love the film adaptation of Eragon, hate nuance, and think the best books of WoT were written by Brandon Sanderson, this is the adaptation for you! PS: Was anyone else pissed when Tam goes full Gandalf and tells Rand: "All we can do is the best we can with the life that's given to us." And then they start playing the music which sounds a hell of a lot like the last minute of "The Bridge of Khazad Dum"! Like that's not even homage, that's straight-up theft. PPS: This is my first-ever Amazon review. I had to write it bc I was so pissed/disappointed/bummed