“Fate: The Winx Saga” is currently a big topic on Netflix. I gave the fantasy series a chance, but unfortunately it confirmed my worst fears.
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I am aware that I do not belong to the target group for “Fate: The Winx Saga”. Still, I’m hugely disappointed with the new Netflix hit. Because of her popularity, I wanted to give Bloom (Abigail Cowen) and her fairy college adventures a fair chance. I tried to get rid of all of my prejudices about dark fantasy series for young adults and to get involved.
But no result: since I saw the first episode, the prejudices have turned into judgments and they are anything but reconciling. In the following lines I want to explain to you what is wrong with “Fate: The Winx Saga” and why I don’t dream of continuing after the first episode (even though I can’t rule out the possibility that things will get better after that).
“Fate: The Winx Saga”: Generic from the start
To make it clear to you right away why “Fate: The Winx Saga” disappointed me from the very first minute, here is a short summary of the introduction, which seems to me to represent the lack of ideas of the Netflix series:
A man runs through a dark forest, hears a noise and starts looking for the cause. Suddenly it’s dripping from above. He looks up and sees an animal carcass. The noise gets louder. The man panics, runs away and stumbles. Now he moves forward crawling to reach the saving goal. He almost made it, but oh no! His pursuer grabs him by the legs and pulls him out of the picture. Blood splatters, screams echo through the forest.
It is a popular practice in films and series that contain some homicidal threat to let an act of brutal violence take place on the very first scene. This has two decisive advantages: firstly, something exciting happens at the very beginning and secondly, the danger is introduced, which is supposed to hover like a threatening shadow over the upcoming plot in the course of the rest of the story.
Netflix Dying is stupid anyway, but then in a generic horror sequence … The poor guy!
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This implementation is in itself an effective way to start a story, but unfortunately it is used far too often. In order for such a scene not to come across as the hundredth variant of the same lyre, it needs at least one element that somehow stands out from the crowd and arouses curiosity.
In “Game Of Thrones”, where the same trick is used, it is the huge wall of ice that arouses curiosity in one of the first shots. In addition, the first meeting with the danger behind the barrier is simply staged in a less formulaic manner.
Apparently “Fate: The Winx Saga” lacks any individual signature. You could have put the opening sequence into any other dark fantasy series and it probably wouldn’t have attracted much attention. The whole debut episode continues in a similarly uninspired way.
“Fate: The Winx Saga” explains: With this video you look through it
I could move on to the second scene where Bloom strolls across her new campus to the accompaniment of pop music, while the camera pans to the other main characters and shows them doing activities that represent their personalities, Bloom is approached by the hottest guy in school and the two deliver a snappy flirt. No matter what happens in the first episode “Fate: The Winx Saga”: I feel like I’ve seen it before – and unfortunately better.
The worst mother in the world
The generic nature of “Fate: The Winx Saga” doesn’t seem to be the only problem with Netflix fantasy. The rushed rummaging through predictable plot points, the characters’ irrational behavior and the terrible dialogues make the whole thing worse.
Main character Bloom in particular left me speechless and confused several times. She has just arrived at the campus and has not had a bad experience there, so she wants to go home immediately. Pretty Sky (Danny Griffin) warns her that it is not safe behind the barrier, but Bloom sets out through the woods at night to return to her family.
But Bloom’s homesickness is not authentic, because she didn’t feel comfortable at home, as flashbacks show. There we also see her ultimate nasty bad mother (Eva Birthistle) and she has it all. Rarely have I seen such a ridiculously ignorant and irrational parent on a series that takes itself seriously.
Netflix Bloom’s mother is arrogant, mean, and involuntarily weird.
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My (attention, irony!) Favorite quote comes after Bloom’s mother removes the door to her room and the daughter is rightly upset about these hair-raising methods of bringing up the children:
“Don’t give me the feminist number. The follower mother takes out her megaphone right away, along with her doctoral thesis, and shows you where to go. “
If you have no idea what this saying is supposed to say, don’t worry: it doesn’t make any sense in the context of the scene either. In a later phone call with Bloom, “Dr. Raven Mother “then suddenly from a completely different angle. When her daughter calls her from college, she is even warm and empathetic. I’m sorry, but I can’t do this change of heart for her …
There’s more to Netflix than Fate: The Winx Saga
Some may think it’s unfair to go so hard with the new fantasy series after just one episode. But Netflix has better alternatives on offer. The first episode of “Fate: The Winx Saga” didn’t pick me up, so I’ll try another one.
If I z. B. want to see how young people learn the magical handling of fire, water and other essences, then I prefer to watch again “Avatar – The Last Airbender”. It’s a children’s series, but with a clear artistic vision and thematically more mature than what “Fate: The Winx Saga” apparently offers young adults.
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