Light as a Feather shows that giving YA novel adaptations more time to develop doesn’t mean you’ll get a better product. Network Hulu Creator R. Lee Fleming, Jr., Zoe Aarsen Noted Cast Violet Haley Ramm McKenna Liana Liberato Olivia Peyton List Candace Ajiona Alexus Alex Brianne Tju Henry Dylan Sprayberry Trey Jordan Rodrigues Marc Alex…
Read our Editorial Guidelines regarding how posts are written and rated and our use of affiliate links.
Light as a Feather shows that giving YA novel adaptations more time to develop doesn’t mean you’ll get a better product.
| Network | |
| Hulu | |
| Creator | R. Lee Fleming, Jr., Zoe Aarsen |
| Noted Cast | |
| Violet | Haley Ramm |
| McKenna | Liana Liberato |
| Olivia | Peyton List |
| Candace | Ajiona Alexus |
| Alex | Brianne Tju |
| Henry | Dylan Sprayberry |
| Trey | Jordan Rodrigues |
| Marc | Alex Lange |
| Gabby | Leah Lewis |
Images and text in this post may contain affiliate links which, if a purchase is made from those sites, I may earn money or products from the company. Most affiliate links contain an upward facing, superscript, arrow.
Summary
Thanks to a girl named Violet, four friends, McKenna, Olivia, Candace, and Alex, have been cursed. Why? Well, similar to the movie Truth or Dare, Violet was compelled to play a game, in this case, Light As A Feather or else she’d die. If not her loved ones if she refused to play. Thus dooming the four girls, who didn’t do anything to deserve to die, being used as pawns so Violet and her grandmother can stay alive.
Highlights
The Flashback to How Violet Got Involved Came Off Like A Better Show
Episode 9 is the best episode of the show and it is all because the cast which takes up the rest of the episodes are downgraded – sans Violet. Meaning, we barely get any McKenna, Alex, Henry or Trey. Instead, we get Violet, her boyfriend Marc, the girl who cursed them both, Gabby, and characters who actually seem interesting. Which, before the show’s finale, seemed like a really bad move. For it makes you take a look at the 8 episodes which precede this one and makes you feel a certain type of way.
Mostly in the form of wondering, between the casting person and writers, why couldn’t we get what is seen in episode 9, in the other 9 episodes? That is, equally compelling characters, a cute couple we are pushed to care about, and some sense of desperation. For McKenna seeming exasperated all the time just drains the emotion out of every episode. Thus leaving you with this uneasy feeling for it would be one thing if all 10 episodes were meh or bad, then you could say it just is a niche kind of show. However, episode 9 pushed the idea things could have been better. Leading you to want to play the blame game and start taking note of who, or what, probably is the reason this show never lived up to its potential.
Low Points
It Seemed To Cut Off Its Nose & Lips To Spite Its Face When It Killed Off Characters
With the killing of Olivia and Candace, it left us with the neutered Alex, McKenna, Henry, and Trey. The boys on this show, from the present anyway, are boring as hell and don’t amount to much beyond being love interests for McKenna. Then with McKenna, I want to say she is meant to be an everyday girl in a strange circumstance. Hence why she is made to be so bland that anyone can step into her shoes. Problem is, her being so generic, yet still pushed to the forefront, takes this show down several notches.
Mind you, this is even when they bring her twin into play, her mom being an alcoholic into play, as well as he dad showing up. Nothing done with McKenna doesn’t lead you to question why was Liberato selected to play the lead despite it seeming she wasn’t ready to do so? Which I mean in the kindest way.
On The Fence
Alex Was Wasted
I still very much believe in Brianne Tju. To the point I see this being her Secret Life of the American Teenager
The Characters Aren’t As Interesting As You Sometimes Wish They Were
For a good part of the show, it seemed like maybe there was more to McKenna, Candace, Olivia, and Alex than meets the eye. Alex mentions she and Olivia once did some shoplifting which pushes the idea these girls may be reformed. Add in Alex being a bit of a drug addict and so begins you coming up with ways maybe these girls wronged Violet and this is all revenge.
Come to find out though, it wasn’t. She met them all over two years ago, they had the right number to play the game, so they were a safe bet. There was no big revenge plot, these girls were never that interesting, it was all just foolish optimism.
Violet Lost Her Luster Eventually
Violet often would have a deadpan delivery which made moments funny. Especially after she set up situations to make the girls hate each other. Something which, considering she wasn’t trying to exact revenge, it wasn’t clear what purpose she had in making them hate each other. Unless it was just to speed up them dying. But, getting back to the jokes, Violet, having an almost Willy Wonka, if not European/Australian deadpan humor, was the saving grace of the show.
Problem is, there comes a point where you grow tired of her. You fall back in love when she comes back from the dead, and episode 9 provides another adrenaline shot, but then the finale leaves you right back in a place of complacency. Making it appear Haley Ramm tried her best, but she can only do so much with who and what she has to work with.
Overall: Negative (Niche Show) | Reconsidered: Mixed (Stick Around)
With us all inundated with so much to watch, it makes Friday seem like a buffet as new programs are made available and we get a swath of choices. I decided to watch this over The Haunting of Hill House because I’m used to horror productions featuring young adults so I figured I’d enjoy it more. That The Haunting of Hill House was perhaps too slow for me. Well, now I regret not dumping this and just working my way through that. Learning to appreciate as I did Ozark with time. For truly, there isn’t much here to justify watching this show. Yeah, with it being a half hour, you’ll get through it quickly. However, you won’t get much out of it.
Hence the negative label. With Handmaid’s Tale over till next year, I wasn’t planning to reactivate my subscription to Hulu. But I did for this and even with the special my account is on making it $6 a month, I feel like I wasted my money. So, do yourself a favor, don’t waste your money, your data plan, your lifespan, none of that.
Has Another Season Been Confirmed?: Yup
Follow Wherever I Look on Twitter, Like us on Facebook and Subscribe to the YouTube Channel.
[ninja_tables id=”27327″]
Alex Was Wasted - 75%
It Seemed To Cut Off Its Nose & Lips To Spite Its Face When It Killed Off Characters - 69%
The Flashback to How Violet Got Involved Came Off Like A Better Show - 85%
The Characters Aren’t As Interesting As You Sometimes Wish They Were - 70%
Violet Lost Her Luster Eventually - 74%
75%
With Handmaid’s Tale over till next year, I wasn’t planning to reactivate my subscription to Hulu. But I did for this and even with the special my account is on making it $6 a month, I feel like I wasted my money. So, do yourself a favor, don’t waste your money, your data plan, your lifespan, none of that.
Follow, Like and Subscribe
While I think you have very valid points and I am interested in your opinion, your article could use a read from a copy editor. Sentence structure, punctuation, grammar issues and run-ons are distracting. Good luck!
So I’m getting the impression you didn’t like the show. 😛
I wanted to, but everything that seemed like it could have made this show good and interesting was sadly ignored.
Fair enough. I only started watching for a girl that got killed off in the second episode so I wasn’t that thrilled by it either. The show wasn’t too bad though. I’m kinda curious to see where the story goes if they decide to continue it.