O Poder

First I'll start by saying I didn't know this was a book. Didn't even know it was a thought until this show. For everyone saying it's boring... this is happening to women all over the world, all walks of life and from wealthy to poor to homeless. That being said fleshing out the characters, and giving backstory is very much needed! I for one was very happy to have origin stories, had it just happened with no what, when, why and how I'd have been confused. By the end of episode 4, I was thoroughly hooked! The imagery coming out of Saudi Arabia was extremely powerful, literally and figuratively. I have no doubt there will be some terrible paths taken and terrible things to happen to some of these women, and the people in their path. And I'll be here for it! I'm happy to see something new, completely original! This is not superhero stuff, this is evolution and maybe even survival for some. I'm excited to see where it goes and will update my review at the end if needed.

What an intriguing show! I started watching it around the time that episode three came around, so I binged 1-3 and then read a bunch of reviews thinking that some of the reviewers had previewed the entire thing. Nope. And I'm happy I stayed along for the ride. It takes awhile to get to know the characters and for their interconnections to start snapping into place, but it is a seriously intriguing, joyous, nail-biting, terrifying and horrific ride along the way.

The ensemble is excellent, too. Toni Colette is an actor's actor. And I have a soft spot for Toheeb Jimoh (whom you may recognize from Ted Lasso) as Tunde. Even some of the smaller characters are given some depth by story and cast.

I will be deeply upset if there is no season 2.

This is one of my favorite books, and I generally have very low expectations of any adaptation, so I went in to this with that mentality. It isn't perfect, but it feels like it's coming from the same place as the book, with the same themes driving the plot and characters (who are very well cast).

The source material covers a lot of ground, literally and figuratively. I've only seen four episodes, but I have been pleasantly surprised at the world and character building. I'm a little more concerned about how they will handle later events, as the story continues and women take power over the new world.

All in all, it's better than I expected and I'm excited to watch the rest.

I did not know anything about the show prior to watching and was instantly impressed. This show was able to bring so many worldwide social issues to mainstream awareness. The cross cultural storylines of women's oppression and the complex relationships they have in their lives was tied together seamlessly. The performace of the cast was a high quality, Toni Collette is always great and her interactions with Auli'i Cravalho who plays her daughter came across as genuine. It was good to see John Leguizamo playing a more serious, non villainous role.

Overall, I recommend this show. I know it isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea but I am glad I gave it a go and more importantly I'm glad it was made and released mainstream.

My review is based on the first two episodes.

The show is beautifully shot.

Despite the many characters, the story is easy to understand and the actors portraying them are delivering strong performances. All around the production is delivering everything I can ask from a show.

But unfortunately its fails to ask any interesting questions in regards to the shows premise, at least so far.

The obvious question being, does might make right?

Instead it seems to have already settled on an answer that "Yes, might makes right" meaning that a societies moral standards are defined by those in power. It portrays a world in which the powerful are categorically unempathetic to the plight of the powerless and cannot be persuaded by logical arguments, and therefore should the roles be reversed, they wont deserve any empathy either.

Frankly it is awfully black and white, with good people and bad people and nothing in-between. The universe seems like a oversimplified representation of the world we live in, juvenile, boring and unimaginative.

I look forward to the day shows are written by people who are smart enough to come up with creative solutions to problems - but with American productions it's always the same; Violence is the answer. Every genius in a superhero movies seem intent on creating easier ways to kill things. Doesn't matter if the hero of the story is a man or a woman, black or white, old or young - and in a story specifically about oppression and for one named The Power, it seems to spend awfully little time questioning how such power should be wielded. I get it might not be the first question, but at this point it should have come up. Its not believe able that so many characters would just roll with it.

I wonder if this show will end up looking like a CW production after a season or two.