Netflix’s ‘Fate: The Winx Saga’ Season 2 was released on September 16th. The first season had received average to negative reviews. However, the trailer of the second season increased curiosity among the fans owing to the appearance of the beloved fairy Flora (Paulina Chávez) who was not introduced in the first season. So is this season better than the first one and worth a watch? As all things are, it’s complicated.
The series starts with the characters continuing their life at the magical boarding school Alfea. There has been a change in leadership at the school and Rosalind Hale is leading the school her way. One thing that doesn’t change is how shabby the story feels. The cliched plot and teen romances only make it worse.
The camaraderie between Bloom and the other fairies played a huge role in the animated series becoming such a massive hit. The group was charming, funny and above everything else, the group seemed so organic in their interactions. And that is what the makers of ‘Fate: The Winx Saga’ still don’t get right, even in the second season. The story is in such a hurry to go on that the characters just don’t get the space to grow.
So is the writing a total deal breaker? Not really. The characters are a little more well-developed. While all of them have their moments, how it is shown is so forced and one-toned that it just doesn’t make you feel for the character. Beatrix may be one character besides Bloom and Musa who is given a good role and the actor (Sadie Soverall) shines as she did in the first season. The rest of the characters are just there, present and saying very predictable dialogues sometimes even borderline cringy. This can’t be attributable to the actors but to the story that just doesn’t give them their opportunity to perform.
On the bright side, the action choreography especially of the specialists is worth a watch. The visual effects are also impressive for the most part but at some moments especially to the last, the wings seemed amateurish. It is no easy feat to show them in a live adaptation as they were in the animated series, but if the makers couldn’t get the depiction right, they could have just let them be wingless fairies. There are lots of deviations from the original series and this would have been another one.
While the second season introduced a lot of new characters but it just doesn’t get any better. Among the new entrees to the show, Flora was good and so was Grey (Brandon Grace). While Miranda Richardson as Rosalind did as best what she was given, others like Sebastian (Éanna Hardwicke) just don’t register as interesting despite having huge relevance in the grand scheme of things.
So that comes to the question? Is ‘Fate: The Winx Saga Season 2’ dismissable? Depends on how much of a fan you are of the series. The season has teased a lot of things including a potential Musa and Riven relationship. The series is strictly an average one and that is being generous. But it hasn’t gotten any worse than season 1 and if the makers take all the suggestions constructively, maybe it does have a chance. If you’re a Winx Club fan, throw away all your expectations and watch, and at the end, hope the next one if any, is better. If you’re not a fan, this is a missable well-packaged TV series that has lousy writing not worth your time.
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