Half Bad

Created by the writer Joe Barton who also wrote the Lazarus Project, comes an 8-part series of the fantasy drama. Sunsational CGI effects, immersive backgrounds, and artistic cinematics make watching more enjoyable.

The main character is Nathan, the bastard son of a witch, a blood witch who grew up in Fairborn witch territory. Blood and Fairborn witches continuously hunt each other. Blaming each other for the blood drawn.

To be honest, this genre had been explored many times before. However, Joe Barton's version is definitely unique and very creative. He has his way of connecting multiple stories together without confusing the audience. Also, the chemistry between the main actors are clearly visible. It's a very effective fantasy-gory-drama.

Honestly, it was one of the best English language shown I have seen in recent years that come out of netflix. This and Lockwood & co. Were creative, innovative, very well made and well acted and eventually CANCELED because netflix honestly do not have any idea what their audiences want! This show had an uniquie premise, dark & gritty atmosphere matching the somber themes, with beautiful music, and well paced plot development. Except for one scene in the last episode the whole thing was water tight so it completely evades me on what could be a plausible reason to cancel the show since there is a lot of potential for a season 2. As usual netflix raising prices but giving us nothing.

This show is very gripping, a fun combination of many things we love but I don't blame it.

We encounter a world divided between witches and non-witches like in Harry Potter but the racism allegory is actually inside the witches world itself divided in two as well. The main characters are teens because who cares what adults witches are doing these days? Certainly not saving the world. They possess X-men mutants-like powers and use them most of the time but they also have guns to make it easier. They also use a lot of smoke for budgetary reason I fear. But the show includes some decent cgi and good special effects when needed.

What really surprised me is that this is based on a book. But I would say "inspired" as it took me a couple of episodes to realize I had actually read the book a few years back but didn't recognized the story at all. They changed the plot so much it makes senses they even changed the title.

This comes with some issues: a lot of plot holes, an obsession with changing locations for the sake of it, spells rules invented when needed and a big gap between characters abilities. It's silly how Jessica doesn't use her key power more often for example.

Also some elements are very rushed. The school part that I found very compelling could have been more developed, so are the villain motivations or just why the leaders of the Fairborne exist within the real world. Also the Blood witches are not that well defined. Basically a lot is not explained as we move to new countries and places constantly.

But thankfully the main trio is very likable and entertaining, the love elements are subtle and the fantasy part exciting so I'll forgive the few weaknesses and hope we get a bigger budget in season 2.

This series has a good storyline, good acting, and good special effects and once you start you get dragged into the story. It's binge-watch-worthy, although I recommend not watching it in one sit, because it gets heavy sometimes. It's a 16+ series because it gets violent and very cruel. I give this series an 8,5 out of 10. It is that good, if you like fantasy, action and a good storyline this is your cup of tea. Hope season 2 is made soon. It's also price worthy of special effects for example. Netflix doesn't have good series about witches until The Bastard son and the devil himself. Thank god they finally made a good series about witches and magic because every other series with magic was meh on Netflix. Do watch The Bastard Son and the Devil himself on Netflix I recommend it 100%.

There's not a lot I can add to the other positive reviews in regards to this exceptional series, just to reiterate how frustrating and annoying it would be for Netflix to cancel the show. This wonderful adaptation has taken considerable thought, skilfully combining the very well written and developed characterisation along with the actors performances mixes up a magical formula viewers will just love. Also, the plot arcs have real ' legs', in that I can't see peoples attention spans drifting nor the quality petering out any time soon. Take the above elements, add a huge pinch of triple-A special effects and the magicians (including the incredible Andy Serkis) at The Imaginarium (production company) have conjured up something truly special.