Raising Dion. Season 1. Review.

This family targeted Netflix show in concept could go either way A single mother tries to raise her 8-year old son as he is manifesting different superpowers 2 years after his father (Michael B Jordan who also serves as a producer) was killed by a supposed supernatural force. Despite some good elements this was a frustratingly mediocre season. The central characters are all very likeable (especially Jason Ritter as the Dion Godfather) and and Alisha Wainwright is absolutely superb in the central role. The writer’s certainly know how to pull off an effective cliffhanger to keep you invested and in general (despite it’s problems) the show is a very easy watch. As someone with CP myself I absolutely loved seeing authentic representation for a disabled character in one of Dion’s schoolmates. For all their problems the writer’s room deserves a huge amount of credit for this
That said some of this credit has to be taken away when you realise the writing very quickly defaults towards cliches and heavy-handed moralism. It’s clearly written with love and understanding of the superhero genre but if you’re familiar with the beat of these kind of stories there will be nothing here that you haven’t seen before.
Then there’s the ending which is one of the most disappointing I’ve seen close out any Netflix season. I don’t have a problem with the ending conceptually as I think the initial twister that reveals the end game of the season is quite effective. It just requires a certain amount of character assassination and doesn’t feel set up across the season in the slightest. It’s a very unsatisfying ending to what had been a rough around the edges but promising season.
Raising Dion shows some promise in this first season but the writing and general execution are far too all over the place for to recommended beyond saying it’s roughly at the quality you expect from a mid level Netflix series. It’s getting a season 2 and well there’s always an outside chance it could pull an Agents of Shield i’m approaching future seasons with caution.
5.5/10