October Faction

I rarely write reviews but felt compelled for a variety of reasons. First, the premise is excellent but so much potential was wasted. This show could have offered the viewer a semi-original experience but instead chose to roll stereotypical and predictable into a boring agony. Casting was the first mistake. Fred Allen and Viv Allen were played by actors too unbelievable for their roles. The actor portraying Fred Allen presented as weak and goofy with zero identifiable characteristics of a "monster hunter", while the actress playing Viv Allen so overplayed an unhappy teenager, you want her whiny, ridiculous self to be taken out by the nearest Presidio team. Second, for two teenagers who discover the secrets that they do, both Viv and Geoff's reactions are utterly difficult to stomach. As a frequent and dedicated follower of many fantastical shows, suspension of reality is expected and often desired, however these two teenagers react to all of the going-ons as if they were watching paint dry. They portray teenagers as selfish, whiny, foolish, ungrateful, and in general incredibly stupid. By the fifth episode, it was near impossible to find anything likable about either of them. Lastly, the writing. Occasionally, there was some humorous banter, but the overwhelming majority of the dialogue was contrived and lacked the ability to further the story or character development. Tedious. Disappointing. I'm more disappointed in myself for continually looking forward to these new releases by Netflix to only be let down by their simplistic attempts that undervalue my viewer loyalty.

The cringeworthy, stereotypical teens REALLY need to be rewritten. It's as if the writers don't know how to combine apathetic, privileged, tuned out teenagers convincingly.

The storyline has promise and if you can hang in past the 3rd episode, the series starts to pick up. A little more background on the "monsters" would be helpful. As well as showing a few more creatures would help.

Anyone who goes on about this being some high school melodrama show hasn't watched it. Yeah, the kids are in high school and that's a part of the story, but a small one.

It IS kind of standard secret organization fighting monsters in the world stuff, but the overall story is strong, the script is at least good, and the acting is fine....if the casting a bit qestionable.

I don't expect every show to have Avengers level special effects, and this is no exception, but the visuals are more than passable. But overall the show lacked a....personality. It was a little by the numbers, not really inspired and just didn't have a feel of it's own.

But it's not the write it off, predictable, boring wreck that some people are trashing it as. It was solid, and if you like supernatural action with a good story, you'll dig it.

Of all of the actors they could have picked, WHY did the casting director choose J.C. MacKenzie to play Fred? I know it sounds cruel, but I preferred watching his scenes with my eyes closed.

Only half way through & I keep asking myself why am I still watching... I like the overall premise of a monster fighting family, but the annoying moody twins are so cringe worthy. In fact all the teens are stereotypical & annoying AF ! Get rid of the teens or at least make them likeable & give us more monsters !!!