[7.5/10] I think we all went into this expecting a medieval fantasy version of _Futurama_, but this show is something quite different (and a million miles away from _The Simpsons_). It's attempting to tell a big story and it seems that it's decided to do some world building before getting into things. It's fair to say that things start out a little uneven, maybe even rough. It feels directionless and we're thrown introductions to these characters that feel a bit forced. It's hard to know what to make of Bean, Elfo and Luci to begin with. Bean is the most interesting and feels like the most fully developed: a drunken princess dissatisfied with her place in the world and feeling a lack of respect from her father. She's also determined and brave through her bad attitude, and I found it easy to like her. Elfo and Luci are more difficult, partly because their voices don't quite fit with the character designs. Luci in particular seems to feel like forced comedy most of the time, with his comments rarely raising a chuckle. Elfo does better in this respect, and as the series went on I began to warm to him a lot more (and season end spoiler: [spoiler]I actually really missed him later when he wasn't around.[/spoiler]) Background characters like King Zog, Sorcerio and Pendergast also become much more fun to watch as episodes go by. It's only the second half of this opening season that things really begin to come together. Stronger storytelling, better jokes and much more emotional moments. It starts to almost feel like this series is leaning towards being a drama with comedic elements rather than the other way round. There are a lot of moving parts here and I get the feeling that Matt Groening and his team are attempting something pretty epic; the show may indeed be a different experience when you go back and watch it a second time and understand everything that's going on. I love the look of the show. The backgrounds are gorgeous, and while the characters lack detail in comparison they do mesh together pretty well. The animation is of a similar style to _Futurama_ and modern _Simpsons_, with a lovely mix of 2D and 3D models and what has now become the trademark Groening look. It's not quite great yet and sometimes it's not even good, but there's enough here to keep me coming back and have me very interested in where things are going. The writing is good but the jokes need to have a bit more quality over quantity. If you gave up after only a few episodes I'd encourage you to keep watching if you have the time (episodes 8 and 9 really cemented the season for me). The show is attempting to create a fascinating world, but is just struggling to give us the best introduction to it.

The second half of this season is so booooooooooring

I have to admit, this grew on me until I was actually enjoying it. It starts slow, and a bit crap but picks up pace about halfway through the season. I watched the first few episodes then benched the series, only going back to it a few months later out of pure boredom of not finding anything else on Netflix. I am glad I did as it has turned out pretty good by the end of the season. my advice, stick with it!