I thought I’d
share my thoughts and feels about season one of the Cursed Netflix show. In case you haven’t seen it, I’ve posted the
trailer below:
I’ve seen a lot of
hate for this show since its release a few weeks ago, and while I can
understand the criticisms, I truly think people expected way more of this show
than what was promised. Some people seem to think it should’ve been on the
level of Game of Thrones or The Witcher, and that baffles me. So,
just so we’re all on the same page, this show falls somewhere between The
Swords of Shannara show and The Witcher. It’s not fantastic, but it’s
not bad either.
Okay, now that I’ve
said that, I’ll get into my own personal thoughts. First of all, there’s a lot
of action. Which is cool. Swords are always a good thing in fantasy shows;
however, sometimes this action was off put by the mediocre CGI. The fake blood
sprays and CGI wolves were cringey. I did love the transition scenes, though.
They were pretty.
My major complaint
with Cursed is how it butchered the typical Arthurian story. Some parts
were fine, like Merlin, Percival, and Lancelot’s journeys, but others, like
Uther, Gawain, and Arthur mostly had me scratching my head at the writing
choices. Uther is supposed to be Arthur’s father in the myth, so why is Arthur
a cutthroat in this show? Morgana’s storyline had me conflicted. I liked some
aspects, such as her romantic relationship and her dark origins, but the
Igraine bit is confusing. Igraine is supposed to be Uther’s wife in the myth,
so why is Morgana being called Igraine, supposedly her grandmother’s name? Does
that mean Morgana and her brother, Arthur, are actually Pendragons in Cursed?
Will they find out at some point? Like I said, head-scratching.
Moving on from the
mythology, I will say that Nimue is an enjoyable main character once you get
past the first couple of episodes. She makes many mistakes, but she’s consistent
in her goal of saving her people, the Fey. The Fey are actually a really cool
addition to this storyline. Sometimes it seems like Arthurian retellings skip
over the fairy aspect of the myth, so it was interesting to see that twist, in
addition to just have a retelling that focuses on a female character. Also, the
sword of power (Excalibur? It’s never called that, so maybe it’s not actually
Excalibur? But it probably is.) plotline is fun. Instead of focusing on Arthur
finding the sword and freeing it from stone, this retelling focuses on its
origins and its “curse.” A cool twist, in my opinion.
I did enjoy the
ending to this first season. There was a cliffhanger, but it’s one that I hope
really delves into the Lady of the Lake myth. Like the fairies, the Lady of the
Lake is another element that rarely gets screen time. Instead, most television
and film retellings focus on the male protagonists, Merlin and Arthur. I will
mention, though, that there’s criticism going around about how there have been other,
better female-centered stories written by female authors that could’ve been
adapted instead of Cursed. I can’t say too much because I haven’t read Cursed
or the other books, but I will mention that the author probably wrote Cursed
as a partnership with Netflix, so it wasn’t a true adaptation; it seems like
more of a “fleshing out of the screenplay to make a full-length book” situation.
Overall, it’s a
fun show that takes many liberties with the myth. If you don’t take it too
seriously, you’ll enjoy it for what it is.
