The Nevers - reaction and review

[flow]

The Nevers will finally drop on HBO in the US (Sky Ticket in Germany, Sky Atlantic in the UK) on the 11th of April 2021 (17th of May in the UK).

Who will be on board for a group watch? This is the place to discuss our views and opinions on the show.

flow

[Stoney]

Definitely! Although, I'm a bit put out that I'll be a month behind everyone talking about it. So, I won't really be a part of the group watch but waving from way behind. The UK with the second wave.

[StateOfSiege97]

count me in...

[flow]

Only 11 days left until The Nevers premiere! Who else wants to join us?

flow

[Priceless]

I don't have any streaming services so I won't be able to join the group watch, but I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's reviews. I really hope it's good

[SpuffyGlitz]

Me too! I'll love reading thoughts on it here in the group watch. I've been looking fwd to The Nevers.

[MikeB]

ALL CAUGHT UP


All said regarding writers, producers, actors, directors, viewers, readers, etc. are what I remember, my opinions, etc.

What’s said in this post/comment is what I remember, my opinions, etc.

AtS = Angel.

A&F = Angel & Faith

AtF = After the Fall






* I hope Joss Whedon got a hefty severance package and/or payout. He was seemingly fully 'thrown under the bus' so that The Synder Cut could be better promoted. Charisma Carpenter was probably looking for a settlement or payout. Her complaints had been known for well over a decade and she wasn't going to be second lead in AtS S5 given the only reason David Boreanaz himself was getting a higher salary than James Marster is because of SAG rules at the time.

Warner Brothers did a rush job with the Justice League to try to play 'catch up' with Marvel. They had Joss turn a 4-hour movie into a 2-hour movie and to try to make the movie more 'Joss-like'.

Joss's alleged cheating on his wife and his alleged mean behavior and his alleged demanding behavior all amounts to not at all warranting Joss's being cancelled.


* If anything, the Joss stuff has gotten some hefty publicity for The Nevers and there seems considerable interest in this series.

It looks okay from the trailer. I'll probably watch it.

HBO is slowly making HBO Max a real competitor.

The Marvel stuff stopped making sense after The Avengers. Disney cannot sustain itself forever on Marvel movies and Marvel TV shows.

[BtVS fan]

New Article by Rolling Stone
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-r...o-1149933/amp/

[Stoney]

The Nevers' Amy Manson Explores the 'Madness' of Maladie - https://www.cbr.com/the-nevers-amy-m...ladie-hbo-max/

I had a glance through and thought it was an interesting interview and liked the sound of the character. A lot of 'you'll see whys', which wasn't a surprise really and did work to make me want to find out what she is talking about.

And there's this one, that I haven't had a look at yet...

The Nevers: Laura Donnelly and Ann Skelly's Friendship is the True North of the Supernatural Series - https://www.syfy.com/syfy.com/the-ne...elly-interview

[Synch]

The Nevers' Amy Manson Explores the 'Madness' of Maladie - https://www.cbr.com/the-nevers-amy-m...ladie-hbo-max/

I had a glance through and thought it was an interesting interview and liked the sound of the character. A lot of 'you'll see whys', which wasn't a surprise really and did work to make me want to find out what she is talking about.

And there's this one, that I haven't had a look at yet...

The Nevers: Laura Donnelly and Ann Skelly's Friendship is the True North of the Supernatural Series - https://www.syfy.com/syfy.com/the-ne...elly-interview

Manson's character is by far the most mysterious and the most intriguing IMHO.

True & Adair friendship, on the other hand, I love it in every episode. Mrs Adair is the new Willow-Fred-Kaylee-Jemma.

[Nebula1400]

I'll try to remember to login here for the premiere (and beyond). I do miss the group watches on Whedonesque.

[Stoney]

It'll be great if you can join us. If you think anything else is coming up that'd be worth a group watch you can always suggest another show.

[BtVS fan]

The Guardian has reviewed the Nevers
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...oss-whedon-hbo

[Stoney]

Wow, that is not a positive review. I can't help but wonder how much the issue of the problems with Joss tainting it aren't going to be an individual problem though as everything that has come out about him I truly don't think is going to affect how I view The Nevers. That aside, the criticisms of the show may be just subjective. Although, 'boobs for boobs sake' made me cringe a little.

[MikeB]

All said regarding writers, producers, actors, directors, viewers, readers, etc. are what I remember, my opinions, etc.

What’s said in this post/comment is what I remember, my opinions, etc.

AtS = Angel.

A&F = Angel & Faith

AtF = After the Fall




* A review based on Joss Whedon's being 'cancelled' and that he should have been 'cancelled' isn't going to have much weight with me.

And it's infuriating to have Charisma Carpenter and Ray Fisher as sources for Joss Whedon's being 'cancelled'. The CC thing was essentially around nothing we didn't already know and the Ray Fisher thing was also around nothing. It would have been fine for Joss to cut Cyborg completely out of the movie. Cyborg is generally a Teen Titans character and Cyborg isn't even popular.

I didn't hear much complaints about how Cyclops is treated in the X-Men movies even though Cyclops is the leader of the X-Men, is a very competent leader, and he's much more important to the Marvel multi-verse than Wolverine.



* Dollhouse is arguably the worst of Joss's TV projects and that show is mostly weighed down by the lack of Eliza Dushku's acting range. But, let's be honest, it's not as if David Boreanaz is a good actor and it's not as if Sarah Michelle Gellar wasn't propped up with her chemistry with David Boreanaz and James Marsters.



* History will likely look favorably on Joss because his work speaks for itself and these Marvel and DC movies and TV shows will have a shelf life.



* I'm not even sure it's a good idea for AT&T to try to distance Joss's association with The Nevers. Why would people watch this instead of some other superhero, supernatural, magic, etc. show?

And, not for nothing, but it seems telling that progressive media such as The Young Turks hasn't responded to the Joss stuff as far as I'm aware.

Joss can be a mean and demanding boss. Joss can play favorites. Joss can consider some characters more important than others. Can can consider the Justice League actors as possibly lesser than The Avengers actors. Should almost ALL bosses be cancelled? Should almost ALL creators be cancelled?

And the Joss cancellation is because geeks and nerds wanted 'The Synder Cut' because Justice League wasn't a good movie. And they blamed Joss for the problems of The Avengers 2 even though those problems aren't Joss's fault. And I don't consider it problematic for Black Widow to consider that she may be a monster in order to be an assassin, she gave up the ability to have children. Joss made Black Widow much more important because he made her a Hulk whisperer. He gave a storyline to Hawkeye.



* Anyway, most of 'cancel culture' isn't really 'cancelling'. But some of it is. And Joss Whedon is perhaps the prime example. And that Teen Vogue thing is a huge problem.

Heck, it'll be a problem if some of us who post on Boards get cancelled in the future because of things we write on forums and on R____t and such.

[Skippcomet]

The comments about the show's "infinite budget" compared to his past work on broadcast TV, and the description of the character Primrose ("10 years old and 10 feet tall") that sounds uncomfortably close to Giant Dawn, sound suspiciously like his work on Season Eight. Now his comments towards the end of that series (about getting caught up in the lack of restrictions put on him and losing what made the audience care about BtVS in the first place), in hindsight, sound like him just trying to appease the complaints about Season Eight.

[Nebula1400]

I had to watch this twice to get what was going on, but that's not a bad thing. It's an intriguing steampunk sci-fi fantasy. and quite good. It has a lot of potential. Without getting too spoilery, it's kind of like Victorian Buffy meets X-Men, but not exactly either. It has some character types we've seen before. There's a Buffy (Amalia), Willow (Penance), Drusilla (Malady), and giant Dawn (Primrose), as well as other quirky characters. It feels wrong to appreciate it as much as I do, but I'm really looking forward to this series now.

[BAF]

Just wanted to mention that I did watch the first episode of The Nevers Monday morning on HBO Max.The problem for me is Sunday night,I'm packed with shows..Batwoman at 8pm,the Walking Dead Shows at 9pm and I had Pennyworth too.Add on The Nevers and that was three shows at the same time.A a result,I decided to save The Nevers for HBO Max the next morning(Watched the season finale of Pennyworth after Batwoman and than the mid season premiere re-airing of Fear The Walking Dead after that).

Overall I liked the pilot episode.Steam punk X-Men seems like a good description and I like the two leads in Amalia & Penance. Pip Torrens does a great baddie.Loved him as Herr Star on Preacher and found Maladie to be very creepy. The show has lots of Joss's tropes and i can hear his voice in it.Will be curious to see if that changes post episode 6(where he stepped down).

I'll be continuing with the show but plan to catch it on HBO Max the next morning due to the other shows I watch Sunday nights.Pennyworth is finished for the season but beginning May 2,DC Legends Of Tomorrow will be starting its 6th season at 8pm with Batwoman moving to 9pm.Meaning I'll have Batwoman,Fear The Walking Dead and The Nevers on at the same time.It's just easier for me to watch The Nevers the next morning.

[redtent]

I just finished watching the first episode and it was good. I'll probably have to watch it again to fully understand what's going on. So far Amalia is the most interesting character to me. Maladie was scary but also intriguing. I want to know her story.
Some characters are a little cartoonish, like the giant girl and Hugo Swan, maybe they'll get better later on.

[Josh]

I'm gonna keep watching... But. But it was much 'on the nose' for me:

The representation of power structures and crumbling hegemony, the hidden layers of patriarchy and feminism inside the supernatural setting. It felt like something written by someone who picked Gender Studies as his/her major in college and not someone who was supposedly a pioneer for feminism in the nineties.

[Stoney]

Quick admin aside, if you can reload your avatar that'd be great. I increased the size they appear which made the thread copies' quality drop. If you don't still have the file I could take a grab from your profile & upload that?

[Stoney]

I'm gonna keep watching... But. But it was much 'on the nose' for me:

The representation of power structures and crumbling hegemony, the hidden layers of patriarchy and feminism inside the supernatural setting. It felt like something written by someone who picked Gender Studies as his/her major in college and not someone who was supposedly a pioneer for feminism in the nineties.

Do you think there was any feeling that it might dig into becoming more complex and it was all just about a clear, early set up?

[Josh]

Do you think there was any feeling that it might dig into becoming more complex and it was all just about a clear, early set up?

It absolutely might... I just feel like there was more work to be done on those areas. Joss was absolutely going for that and while it felt somewhat weak and obvious in the pilot, his work gets better as you go along.

Despite everything that happened with him, I somewhat hoped that this show would be his return to form as this glorified storyteller and that the pilot would be a clear statement of that... I was disappointed when it wasn't. It was just ok.