Welcome to my review of the first season of Fate: The Winx Saga. If you haven't seen the show yet, read at your own risk. There will be many spoilers below.
A bit of context: So, I believe the audience of this show can be divided up into three categories. The ones who’ve never seen Winx Club. The ones who have either recently watched seen Winx Club or just have a very good memory. And the people like me, who watched it as a kid but now barely remember any details. And I do think that your experience of this show is wildly different depending on which category you are in. I was obsessed with Winx Club as a kid (dolls and everything) but haven’t watched it in 15ish years. So my memory is a bit hazy. Something to keep in mind while reading this review.
Not okay: Let’s start with the heavy stuff. There are a lot of changes from the original show, I’ll discuss a lot of them here but there is one that I can’t get past. The whitewashing. There was a lot of uproar online surrounding it when the trailer was released, but it’s been surprisingly quiet since the episodes were released. I’m probably not the right person to talk about this, but not mentioning it at all seemed wrong. They went from a main cast where half were women of color, to a main cast with only one woman of color. They tried to cover up Flora’s whitewashing by changing the name (apparently the original casting said “Flora”) and mentioning the cousin Flora. But for Musa… no explanation. This was kind of a major red flag for me. This is something they easily could’ve avoided. It pisses me off that they didn’t.
First impressions matter: While I’m still on a roll, let’s talk about my second biggest issue with the show. Stella. Or more specifically, the need for the writers to create drama between two characters that should be close friends but aren’t because of boy drama. Her personality didn’t help either. I hated that they created a love triangle that did not exist in the original show just to create extra drama. The main focus of this show is supposed to be friendship, not romantic relationships. But that was not the case in those first few episodes. And I’m not saying they should’ve instantly been friends. I know that’s not realistic. But the way Stella was written, so completely different from the original version, really bugged me. I instantly disliked her and while her character did grow a lot over those 6 episodes, my opinion of her, unfortunately, didn’t change much after that. I was expecting a show about female empowerment, but I don’t feel like that’s what I got.
The vibe: I know it may seem like I hated the show. I actually didn’t. A lot of people complained that the show was too dark. I didn’t mind that. In fact, I liked that it was darker, more serious. The scenery and setting were great. I really like how they did the special effects. Wings would’ve been fun but might have been caused some practical issues so I understand why they didn’t include them. It’s an adaptation from a kid’s cartoon to a teen/adult show. I expected the tone shift. It would’ve been different if the adaptation had been directed to kids (like a Disney Channel show). The fashion could’ve been better, though. But overall, the vibe and aesthetic (am I saying that right?) was okay for me.
Favorite storyline: I have to say that I’m very intrigued by Bloom’s backstory. Her character was definitely my favorite (and not just because she burst into flames every now and then). I just found her to be very relatable. And I think the actress did a good job with the role. I was surprised that she confessed everything to her parents, and that they took it relatively well. I’m curious to see how things will go with the shift at the school. I was also really starting to get into her relationship with Sky (even though I still think he’s too pretty).
Favorite villain: What can I say, Beatrix won me over from the start. Her character is definitely one of the better changes that the show made. She’s incredibly powerful. But I’m guessing Rosalind has been manipulating her from a very young age. I’m sure there’s a lot more to her backstory than we know. I really enjoyed her interaction with Bloom. I wonder if eventually, she’ll end up changing sides.
Biggest surprise: I wanted to dislike Terra because of earlier mentioned reasons. But I just couldn’t. She’s genuinely a likable character. I actually wish I was more like Terra. I loved it when she stood up for herself and held people accountable, even her own dad. I’d like to see more of her powers in the future. I feel like we only got a glimpse so far.
Haven’t decided yet: And then there are three characters where I haven’t decided yet whether or not I like them. Musa has really grown on me throughout the season. I’d like to see her a bit more front and center, though. I feel like she was hiding in the background all season. The same goes for Aisha. I feel like out of our five main characters, she’s the one we got to know the least.
What’s next: The thing about this first season is that I feel like it was mostly set up for the next one. With only six episodes, it’s not possible to push in a whole lot of storyline when you also still have to introduce the audience to the world. There’s still a lot we don’t know, like Bloom’s backstory, Beatrix’s true nature, and what the hell Rosalind has planned. Even the burnt ones have become a mystery of their own. I do hope the second season (and I don’t doubt that there will be one) will give us some more answers.
That’s it for this review. I hope this review came across as at least a bit coherent (since I still haven’t fully made up my mind yet how I feel about the show). Let me know in the comment what you thought of this first season.
Please be respectful in the comments, any unnecessary rudeness isn't welcome.
