I liked the first season, but a lot of it was just the excitement of seeing the things I've read play out visually (to an extent). Especially the environments and props looked a little rough on the edges, and the cohesiveness of the writing/pace/focuses was not on point, though it wasn't bad either.
The first thing I thought while taking this episode in, was how great it looks in comparison. I just recently re-watched the first season to build up to this premiere, and wow. I don't know what they changed, I don't know what kind of things go into producing something like this, but whatever they did, it really hits the nail visually and atmospherically. My intuition says it's a combination of a lot of different small things designed, executed and played out just a little bit better, simultaneously.
There were bits that felt awkward or weird, sure, especially with the tightened timeline and other (surprisingly well executed, though small) changes, but there isn't a show that doesn't have any of that. In relation to other shows in this genre, this episode is close to the top in my books.
And really the main thing: Excellent work delivering Nivellen. That was absolutely perfect. It made the episode, really. Adaption from the books here didn't fail, casting was perfect. In fact, to the contrary: It really did surprise me how good they managed to make this. I had my doubts when the episode titles came out, as well as in the beginning of this episode, but all that quickly vanished as the episode progressed.
This gives me hope for this season. Really a big bump up from last season, in terms of immersiveness/atmosphere/visuals as well as cohesiveness.
The first thing I thought while taking this episode in, was how great it looks in comparison. I just recently re-watched the first season to build up to this premiere, and wow. I don't know what they changed, I don't know what kind of things go into producing something like this, but whatever they did, it really hits the nail visually and atmospherically. My intuition says it's a combination of a lot of different small things designed, executed and played out just a little bit better, simultaneously.
There were bits that felt awkward or weird, sure, especially with the tightened timeline and other (surprisingly well executed, though small) changes, but there isn't a show that doesn't have any of that. In relation to other shows in this genre, this episode is close to the top in my books.
And really the main thing: Excellent work delivering Nivellen. That was absolutely perfect. It made the episode, really. Adaption from the books here didn't fail, casting was perfect. In fact, to the contrary: It really did surprise me how good they managed to make this. I had my doubts when the episode titles came out, as well as in the beginning of this episode, but all that quickly vanished as the episode progressed.
This gives me hope for this season. Really a big bump up from last season, in terms of immersiveness/atmosphere/visuals as well as cohesiveness.