This was a weird experience. Did I get this serial because 1) it was free and 2) Julia Whelan? Absolutely. The first 7ish episodes were delightful: spooky and a bit weird, with some magic and some mysteries, with a nice little teaser of some dramatic altercation in the near future.

But then it got weird and just kept getting weirder. Bradley was terrifying in a "white power militia" way, in a "scifi TV shows are actually a conspiracy that were canceled by the government to keep regular people from learning secrets" and then his part in the story is over (like... Whaaat?) and there are like 4 different factions of Magicians who all hate each other and have been at war for all eternity (what? What does this have to do with Tess?) and there's some secret therapy group that we never learn anything about (what?) and then we hear about Tess and it's all so normal (and sad).

For Tess being a main character, I feel like we needed more of her. Or maybe less? There's not enough balance. If she's the most important (which I think she was?) then I need more of how she fits in this magical battle or whatever is going on in the background. Or more of the other characters. I don't know.

But I do love Julia Whelan. She's phenomenal.