User Reviews

I've got to hand it to Whedon: he always sets up thought-provoking speculative fictional worlds with just the right amount of social commentary. Placing this story in the dawn of the 20th Century England adds a revisionist angle that can either fall flat quickly or be developed intelligently. I'll this few more episodes to see where it's going. I'm hoping for the best.

Color me a fan, right from the first episode. So many characters, and not a single one of them uninteresting.

The first five episodes were filmed in July and August of 2019, before the necessity of post-Covid production rules, so they could "film large," with big sets and big crowds. So the first episode is a bit of a showoff display of Steampunk Sorcery, and I loved it.

I know it's not fashionable to still love Joss Whedon now that he's joined the ranks of men who have been accused of being...well...men, and thus being either consciously or unconsciously abusive in work situations in which they're the boss. But I'm a writer, so I still love his unique way of writing dialogue. I knew I was "in good hands" when I heard this early scene, as the women (and one male doctor) of the Touched debate what to do now that they have been openly attacked. Amalia is the effective leader; Penance is her #2, and she's kinda the MacGiver of the group, creating cool steampunk inventions:

Amalia: "We need to bolster our security. All entrances, windows bolted or blocked." Penance: "I could rig up a few surprises, as well. Nothing lethal, but very discouraging." Amalia: "Everyone signs in and out. Time and destination. No one goes out alone or after dark." Mrs. Haplisch: "I've been showing the girls a bit of scrapping." Amalia: "You'll show them all." Penance: "But not using their 'turns'." Mrs Haplisch: "Well, there's plenty you can do with what's at hand. It's about confidence, as my mum used to say, if you can look a man in the eye, you can stab him in it." Amalia: "Smart woman." Penance: "But also, don't do that."

It was Penance's "But also, don't do that" that grabbed me, made me laugh out loud, and made me thankful that Joss has finally stopped wasting his talents on comic book material written by other people.

No more details, because that would spoil it. Definitely stick around after the episode for a what-to-expect-in-the-series trailer, and a very fascinating making-of clip of what it was like to film the opera scene.

Two thumbs up, here. Accompanied by a big sigh of relief that finally I have at least *one* TV series to actually look forward to for the next six weeks of lockdown.

High production value and intriguing plot leaves you wanting the next episode. Gives you enough to get hooked, the two female leads are great so far but a real stand out performance from Amy Manson keen to see where she takes the character need a great villain and so far Amy has hit it out the park was captivated during her scenes. Just wish HBO didn't play the what's next on the nervers after the episode the behind the scenes stuff was cool to see but the extended trailer after that seems to me anyway gives a fair bit of the overall plot away. Just a piece of advice stop at the credits or after the behind the scenes stuff. Can't wait for the next episode here's hoping for a great series.

This episode is good enough to let me continue this show..the cast is so beautiful and tha story is interesting.

This was an amazing pilot. It instantly got me sucked into the universe and I couldn't wait till episode 2. It has the feeling of an HBO show with the ensemble cast mixed with a period piece. I love the fantasy elements and the mystery of why these characters have powers.

There is so much going on under the surface. The character development is so perfect, with each actor so well fitted in the role that you fall right into the Victorian steampunk world that Joss Whedon has created. It is obvious that much research has been done for the costuming with authentic patterns and fabric choices.

The introduction is soft and mysterious, formulating questions that I hope will be answered in just as thorough a matter.

The production is well done with only the standard HBO gratuitous nudity to break the spell. Do not be put off by online haters.

Watching the beginning after watching the ending is beautiful, you get to see how each character that was touched gained the abilities accordingly, the show still have a lot of explaining to do but if done right this could be great. Also the two main female characters are so beautiful i don't understand how an actual man would dislike it, the other reviewer is probably unaware he likes man. This was a strong pilot with rewatch value and many different cool elements to absorb. Good casting and acting also.

Looks great but tries to fit way too much in and it all ends a little bit jumbled and confusing.

Let's try episode 2 and decide from there.

Many familiars pieces, nice premises, feeling about chance to be more than feminist manifesto, wise use of the expectation of viewer , well crafted characters and the impression of chees game beginning. Spectacular , cocktail of misteries and Victorian atmosphere, magic and not far by political delicate points. So, encouraging.

OK, let me make one thing clear, before I continue with the review. Regardless of what you might read in other reviews, "The Nevers" is obviously not a woke show. This episode was written and directed by Joss Whedon. Joss Whedon was fired after the Rey Fisher debacle, when it became public knowledge that he had the habit to abuse actors and use racist insults towards minorities. Joss Whedon is a straight white nerd without a single original bone in his body, but with a very strong fem-dom fetish. Regardless of what many people believe, Whedon has never really been a feminist - if he were, he wouldn't abuse the actresses he worked with (yeah, ask Charisma Carpenter about this) and wouldn't blatantly take advantage of women. All of this becomes clear within the first few minutes of the episode.

OK. So, this is simply X-Men in a different setting. That's all there is. Just as the mutants in the X-Men franchise were an allegory for the racially oppressed, while conveniently having awesome superpowers, the Touched here are an allegory for the socially oppressed, while, also, conveniently having awesome superpowers. Charles Xavier here is a woman, though, and so is the potential Magnetto, and the setting is Victorian England. The setting itself doesn't matter at all and, to be honest, I suspect Whedon chose it simply because he wanted a reason to have hot girls fighting while wearing Victorian dresses and for no other reason reason whatsoever. And yeah, you have hot girls fighting while wearing Victorian dresses all the time - which is a problem, although not because of the reasons that many people have to be unhappy with this. You see, one of my martial arts instructors was a woman. I know plenty of women who can fight well, and I have no problem with seeing women beating men up. "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Atomic Blonde" are among my favorite recent action movies. Why? Because Charlize Theron is awesome. Because she is strong and athletic and can perform fight choreography like a master. The actress playing Amalia True, though, looks like she doesn't even know how to make a fist properly. Literally. She is just unconvincing. That's it. Everything is unconvincing. There is a scene where a woman casts cogwheels out of iron - while wearing her Victorian dress, of course, and without even tying her hair properly. After she's done with this, she barely needs to wet her face with water to get perfectly clean. Ugh. This is why I said Whedon has a fem-dom fetish. Because he doesn't show women being strong. He shows women being sexy while looking strong. There is a difference.

And then there is the other problem - Whedon's writing. As I said, he doesn't have a single original bone in his body. Setting X-Men in the past has been done before. There are a few scenes that were blatantly stolen from other productions. Showing women outdoing men at every step has also been done to death already. (And way too many writers who have the habit to do this turn out to be really sexist, including Whedon - which is not surprising one bit, to be honest.) And then there are Whedon's dialogues - you know, his greatest strength, according to many people. When I was in my teens, I actually thought he was the greatest dialogue writer in the history of Hollywood. Then I grew up and realized that punny and pseudo-witty dialogues are extremely easy to write, especially when all your characters talk in the same way and the only real difference comes from the acting performances. Add to that the random bursts of cussing, nudity, and gore, which contrast rather unpleasantly with the show's childish tone, and, well... You get the point.

Despite everything I've written so far, though, the story has a lot of potential and I'm looking forward to the next episode. The show is visually nice, the acting performances vary between good and great, and the mystery is promising. I just hope it will get better.

Plot: it's just the first episode and there are some stretched parts, but in general it was not that bad.

The setting is good.

I really like that the main characters are two women, it's good to see some feminism power around!

Actress and Actors & Acting: I haven't find something particular bad or good on this side of the show. Sincerely there is more good than bad.

Soundtrack: very good and perfect for this setting.

Visual Effects: high level, very pleasing for the eyes.

Conclusion: it's just the start, but maybe it's a good one that will takes you to the end of the show. Let's how it will be true!

Joss Whedon acquired something of a reputation of a progressive who nurtured feminist kickass talent in shows such as Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.

A reputation that took a jolt prior to the release of this pilot. Some actors who Whedon worked with in the past have been less than complimentary about his behaviour.

Whedon brings strong feminist roles in The Nevers. It is a Victorian Steampunk set X-Women.

The pilot was heavy going. A stodgy pudding. There were too many characters and no central premise.

It just did not seem very original and there are too many shows that are set in the same period with a similar setting.

I watched the first episode of The Nevers followed by Netflix's The Irregulars. They might has well been the same show!

A well-made pilot with great production value, marvelous acting, more than good VFX and a befitting score, but dismally lacking in smooth flow. The writers don't know or think they know what to do with the storyline whereas it's just a messy eye-pleasing sets of scenes with some soporific moments.

Hope it'd improve, but by the feel of it, it'd seem to have the same mind-numbing (action) scenes in subsequent episodes, but with different plots.

Remember, acting and production value alone will never save a production if the screenplay is weak and messy in its core.

Looking forward to smoother vibes and flow.

There is a lot to like here, from the visuals to the soundtrack, and at least some of the acting. But it is muddled together in a script that desperately wants to emulate recently successful TV formats, focussing on characters while telling an epic that spans the whole world. That works if your characters are kings and queens, and they travel across the continent, maybe even on dragons. It also works if your characters are stuck on an island and that island itself is the mystery.

It doesn't work when the change you are about to bring, the epic fight you are fighting, is a social revolution, and of course the fledling struggle for gender equality. Which did happen - but they didn't need superpowers. They didn't need heroes. They did not need spaceships. They needed unions and solidarity and (access to) knowledge, which is indeed power. Not a single fireball was thrown.

It doesn't work if your characters are mostly stuck in a garage or backalleys or even a conference room, talking about how important the things are going to be that are happening or did happen somewhere else.

And it doesn't work if you use flashbacks at their worst, breaking up the pacing and intentionally confusing the timeline of events. I already get bored only thinking about all the backstories I will have to wade through to stretch out the actual story that way because ever since goddamn LOST that's the law.

It's also hard to not have the creator's recent PR-desaster in mind when you watch his female characters acting out yet another fantasy. Which is borderline tragic, because all the ingredients are great. But what Whedon cooked up here is barely edible.

If the only thing you can praise are the technical aspects, you have failed as a storyteller. I can't even tell what the story is about or who the characters are (so many of them!) without reading a synopsis. This pilot doesn't want to make you watch the rest of it.

It can not entertain or attract the viewer. The characters are very simple, as if the film is just moving. The film is dry!!

Ok, at.11:32 the horsmen go after her. Why didn't they get around her while she was fighting?!? Why were they waiting for the fight to finish?!? Oh yeah, I know why - because it was so obvious that it was not real that probably the director will be ashamed if this gets noticed. I can't believe the BS this early in the series...