It's not a bad show, but one that comes with a lot of caveats. If this were a YA novel, it would be great, but for a ten-episode TV show there's a lot of issues. I love the sheer amount of world-building, but there's too many details that just aren't built up (such as why the biddies are apparently linked to the fort's grounds and why they are required to age; I get the symbolism but still...). Nonetheless, this is a dense show. This needs to decide if it's a show for teenagers or young women. The "lesson of the week" thing doesn't work well with an older crowd but the subject matter isn't suitable for a younger crowd. It feels like it's trying to straddle the two worlds, but not quite working for that. Freeform is definitely earning rep as Lifetime Light; this series is unflinchingly pro-feminist, and it's sort of cool to see a series where the women are in charge but everything is pretty dark and pro-military. However, I always find it amusing that objectification and marginalization of women is bad but it's fine when it's done to men, and that sex is bad unless young women are on top. Also, I'm pretty tired of seeing everyone on a girls' show divided into cliques and the conflicts are primarily between the factions. I'd really like to see the Big Bad be more prominent and the girls acting more like real-world platoons rather than the usual high-school soap opera. I'm sort of split on the Big Bad: The Screed is definitely fun to watch and they are definitely a terror. I love the whole horror movie feel they project. But...they aren't used as much as they should be and they are just so much filler. Throw in some pacing issues (they should be further along in the story by now, but they're still introducing characters and situations), and you have a show that's great if you like dense stories, but everyone else is probably going to be bored.

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