The Order: Season 1

March 10, 2019 9:25 AM - Season 1 (Full Season)

Out to avenge his mother's death, a college student pledges a secret order and lands in a war between werewolves and practitioners of dark magic. (Netflix original)

Den of Geek - Spoiler Free review: The Order pits a campus-based secret society of magic users against werewolves in a story that takes a few episodes to really heat up.

Decider.com - Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Order’ On Netflix, A Horror Series About A School’s Secret Fraternity And A Whole Bunch Of Dead Pledges

With An Accent.com review - "While I’m a sucker for supernatural dramas starring pretty people, I can’t help but feel like I just dedicated ten hours of my life to a bargain-rack knockoff of The Magicians. Don’t get me wrong, I love bargain racks. It’s my first destination whenever I walk into a store. But when it comes to my TV, I prefer the designer labels."

The Verge - Netflix’s dark fantasy The Order is an absurdist match for What We Do in the Shadows

posted by oh yeah! (9 comments total)

I watched all 10 episodes over the last few days, and I've got mixed feelings. I enjoyed a lot of the individual scenes & performances (seeing that Matt Frewer was in the cast was what made me give it a try), but there's an awful lot of idiot-ball-carrying for the plot to move along, and it definitely has a 'The Magicians: The Knockoff' aura. There's an unevenness to it, especially in the powers/morality of the Order members, as it veers back and forth between them being Evil To The Core, or just 'Neutral Organization With Baddies', to keep Alyssa on 'team good guys'.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:50 AM on March 10, 2019 [5 favorites]

"The Verge - Netflix’s dark fantasy The Order is an absurdist match for What We Do in the Shadows"

Narrator: It isn't.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:41 AM on March 10, 2019 [8 favorites]

If this was supposed to be a satire of the "secret societies" genre, they needed to lean into that way harder. I could go no further than episode one.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:14 PM on March 10, 2019 [3 favorites]

Yeah my feeling about this was basically The Magicians Lite. I stayed in it for Matt Frewer, Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps and American Mary), and Jewel Staite (Kaylee from Firefly). They make the show watchable, but I can't help but feel sad they are in such a sub par show in terms of the writing. They deserve much better material.

I am also sad Sam Trammel was killed off so early as I quite like him.

On another note, this show makes me appreciate Buffy even more because every other minute these kids are drinking. And yeah I know college students drink a lot (although I didn't) but its like "Can we get through 5 minutes of show WITHOUT a drink? Just five?"
posted by miss-lapin at 12:15 PM on March 10, 2019 [3 favorites]

While The Verge article is overly generous, I agree with the basic premise: when the show is trying to be funny, it mostly works. I think I'd actually like a horror comedy version of this.

When the show is trying to be serious, it's just someone's boring LARP. I did laugh at the review line here, because it's dead on:

...their intrigues play out more like a Vampire: The Masquerade live-action role-playing game than a conflict with real stakes.

posted by mordax at 12:20 PM on March 10, 2019 [3 favorites]

"... when the show is trying to be funny, it mostly works. I think I'd actually like a horror comedy version of this."

Right. I agree. That Verge piece is why I gave this a chance (I'm halfway through). It turns out, though, that that approach accounts for no more than 20% of the show -- it's taking itself seriously most of the rest of the time. And in a very humdrum by-the-numbers way.

I've made it further through this than I've managed to get through Sabrina, which is a bit weird because Sabrina feels much more original and interesting to me. Maybe that's why it didn't work so well as a "turn off brain, kill some time" show and this somehow does, at least partly. Sabrina isn't mediocre, but it just doesn't quite work. The Order is mediocre. I admire Sabrina for what it was attempting, and see it as a worthwhile failure. The Order annoys me because it's almost but not quite enjoyable and, worse, within it is the possibility of a much better show. And yet I'll probably finish it.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 1:08 PM on March 10, 2019 [3 favorites]

The main young cast needed better writing and/or direction to save them from blandness. The veteran supporting actors didn't get enough screen time. I watched the whole series, but I'd rate it generously as a 6/10, tops.
posted by Pryde at 5:53 PM on March 10, 2019 [2 favorites]

I've only seen the first two episodes, but I find the show pretty funny. The violence isn't at all scary or realistic, and I appreciate that they keep us guessing with Jack's height. He seems to be fluctuating between about 10cm in either direction of Allysa's, depending on the time of day, mood, etc.
posted by Literaryhero at 7:19 AM on March 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

So when people said this was a "Magicians knockoff" I somehow heard "spinoff" and I thought this tied in somehow. And there are a few crossover actors who play similar characters and uh. I did not at any point figure it out. Not even when the werewolf lore conflicted.

It definitely doesn't compare well.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 5:34 PM on April 12, 2019