The Good: Aside from the very poor transition from S2 (a full star off for this, bc many viewers will not watch this whole season bc of it) - more on this later...the writing is drastically improved, the characters are more fully developed, and while the story lines of the new cast are so progressive (I'm progressive, but the repetition of the Syrian refugee story AND the wronged Black girl whose mother is the University President...feels forced - it is a little over the top) that they will turn the anti-woke patrol off, they are well done and teach important messages, like if you want to make change in the world, great. But be smart about it, so that you succeed in doing it. And mentors are provided, so that kids can learn about how real change is made. These little life lessons are really well done. These kids grow individually and together more and they're more fleshed out, as are some of the side characters. The magical characters are more well done, with the fantasy element being elevated, even including better CGI or what-have-you.
The Bad: Some of the acting remains VERY stilted. Oddly, it's mostly the adults who (have worse dialog/writing - the President is written as very stupid, and alongside her husband, notices NOTHING - sorry, what?) who overact (the Avery actor being among the worst), with the kids being more believable. In this first episode, it's extremely jarring that the original cast is utterly absent. If there was going to be a turnover of the main 'friend group' to keep the kids' ages younger, it would make MORE sense to have the OG 'friend group' there to give them some pointers and explain things. Without that natural transition, it doesn't feel like a new season, but a new show. Awkwardly done, badly handled.
That said, Season 3 overall represents an improvement. If they do a Season 4, yes - the adults can be in the background, with a 'wawawa' kind of Charlie-Brown-Peanuts-effect where it's clear they don't matter, but EITHER have them actually making 'wawawa' noises OR give them a touch of intelligence and hire better actors for those parts. Bring back the OG cast so the two groups of kids can meet, at least in the first episode - correct your mistakes. Don't have it be unrealistically PC: the three families are all kind of perfect. Sorry, but in real life, most families aren't - and most Syrian refugees are pretty antisemitic. Show the good, bad, and the ugly - the protagonists are not perfect and neither are their families. If the writers want us to believe that kids can END racial profiling in a town, then show the kids to be the multifaceted people who THEY are. FLAWS and all.
The Bad: Some of the acting remains VERY stilted. Oddly, it's mostly the adults who (have worse dialog/writing - the President is written as very stupid, and alongside her husband, notices NOTHING - sorry, what?) who overact (the Avery actor being among the worst), with the kids being more believable. In this first episode, it's extremely jarring that the original cast is utterly absent. If there was going to be a turnover of the main 'friend group' to keep the kids' ages younger, it would make MORE sense to have the OG 'friend group' there to give them some pointers and explain things. Without that natural transition, it doesn't feel like a new season, but a new show. Awkwardly done, badly handled.
That said, Season 3 overall represents an improvement. If they do a Season 4, yes - the adults can be in the background, with a 'wawawa' kind of Charlie-Brown-Peanuts-effect where it's clear they don't matter, but EITHER have them actually making 'wawawa' noises OR give them a touch of intelligence and hire better actors for those parts. Bring back the OG cast so the two groups of kids can meet, at least in the first episode - correct your mistakes. Don't have it be unrealistically PC: the three families are all kind of perfect. Sorry, but in real life, most families aren't - and most Syrian refugees are pretty antisemitic. Show the good, bad, and the ugly - the protagonists are not perfect and neither are their families. If the writers want us to believe that kids can END racial profiling in a town, then show the kids to be the multifaceted people who THEY are. FLAWS and all.