Fate: The Winx Saga recently came out on Netflix, and there’s a lot to unpack. This show is based off of a Nickelodeon series, that many grew up watching, called The Winx Club. Both shows are about a group of fairies. The Nickelodeon series is animated and kid friendly, and when I say kid friendly, I mean rated G. This remake is dark and edgy. It’s about a college for fairies where they learn to control their powers to defeat a few monsters, which I will get into later. The rating for the remake is TV-MA, but it’s really designed for teenagers. It’s not the first time Netflix has gotten a rating wrong and it probably won’t be the last.
The series revolves around Bloom, a very powerful fire fairy from the real world, who goes to college in the magic world, or rather the other world. Her human “parents” think that she’s attending school in Switzerland, but instead she’s learning to control her magic since an incident.
Spoiler ALERT: She got mad at the human parents and accidentally set her house on fire giving her mother third degree burns.
There she meets her new suitemates/ friends Aisha, a water fairy; Musa, an empath, or as they call it, mind fairy; Tara, a plant fairy; and mean girl Stella, a light fairy who also happens to be a princess. She also meets Stella’s on again off again boyfriend Sky, who ends up being her love interest; Beatrix, a rebellious air fairy; Riven, a soldier who’s a jerk; Sam, Tara’s brother; and many more.
People who grew up watching the Nickelodeon series were mad at the show for a lack of color, some characters missing, and even the plot. I understand why even though I’ve never watched the original series.
I however loved Fate: The Winx Saga for the stellar acting, the plot, and the themes of the show: friendship, identity and perseverance. I also, maybe, might have, scratch that, I absolutely binged the entire series (even though each episode is about an hour long) over two days, and became completely invested in (obsessed with) this show.
Episode 1: This series begins with a human being eaten by a “burned one” which are the monsters of the series, at least in season 1. We then fast forward to Bloom’s first day of school where the events of season 1 start. Bloom meets her roommates, finds out from one of them, Aisha, that her parents aren’t actually her parents, crosses the barrier with Stellas ring, and loses it when a burned one comes for her. Keep in mind that season 1 all happens within a week which is crazy but it’s also really cool.
Episode 2: Bloom tries to control her powers, but it isn’t working. Stella pressures Bloom into going to get the ring back, and helps her control her powers by being rude. The whole room travels together, and eventually get the ring back.
Episode 3: This starts off with Bloom looking possessed, but she’s really just having a flashback to when she was a baby, and starts her quest to find out who it is. Meanwhile, there’s a small breakdown with Aisha, and a party takes place.
Episode 4: Beatrix, a “villain”, covers up a crime she committed, Bloom continues her quest, and Stella’s mom, the queen (let’s just say Stella gets her attitude from somewhere), visits, thus setting up Stella’s character arc.
Episode 5: Bloom and Beatrix team up to find the woman, Rosalind, who left her with her (I guess you can say adoptive?) parents; Sky opens up about his past, and why he tries to fix everyone else; and the headmistress opens up about what actually went down with Rosalind at the end of the episode.
Episode 6: Rosalind is set free, Burned ones come and attack the school, Bloom transforms and kills them all off. Rosalind gives the headmistress a quick history lesson. Then the headmistress “takes some time off.”
The acting was far more superior than any other Netflix production I have reviewed thus far. Abigail Cowen, who filled the role of the fiery redhead Bloom, had a diverse range of emotion, made her tactics in the show very clear, and achieved her objectives in the end. Precious Mustapha, also known as water fairy Aisha, had amazing scenes, witty lines, and acted as a voice of reason in the show. Eliot Salt who filled the role of Flora’s cousin and plant fairy Terra, proved that just because someone is plus sized, doesn’t just mean that they’re always sweet and insecure, as she plays a fierce, smart, and well rounded character. Elisha Applebaum, Musa, has a major and emotional character. Along with feeling everyone else’s emotions, she holds her own and proves the importance of kindness. Hannah van der Westhuysen, known as the mean girl Stella, has major character development in the show.
Now, this review is titled I’m Mad for a reason. From my review thus far, you might be wondering, “why?” There’s one reason, and one reason only. The ending. I gave the general plot already, but here’s one thing you don’t know. Rosalind is painted as a two sided character. Everything happens for a reason. After her brief history lesson on the burned ones, she does the unthinkable. A hostile takeover. I honestly should have probably expected this, but I didn’t for some reason.
Major Spoiler ALERT: Right after Bloom gains respect and love for her headmistress, Rosalind kills her off after her brief history lesson. Making her float through magic, and snapping her neck the same way. We also learn that Sky’s father isn’t dead, Beatrix is Sky’s half sister, Silva gets arrested for the attempted murder of their father, and the queen has been working with them this entire time.
I’m mad at the show for doing this, but I also want a season 2.
MOOSE PRINTS 