The Season Season 1 Review: A Poorly-Executed Attempt at Revenge

Warning: This review contains spoilers for the entirety of The Season.

The Season tells the story of Cola as she travels to Hong Kong and settles into her new internship, hoping to end the summer with a job offer, or, at least, that’s what she wants everyone to think.

Cola is really there to get revenge on the Hext family, who are responsible for putting her father in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.

Now, if you have watched a little show called Revenge, this premise will feel very familiar to you.

On Revenge, Amanda Clarke re-invents herself as Emily Thorne and moves to the Hamptons with the singular purpose of making the Graysons pay for what they did to her father. When she was a girl, her father was framed for a crime he did not commit, and he died in prison with the whole world thinking he was a terrorist. 

The two shows are similar enough that if you, like me, have watched them both, your brain will naturally compare the two. Unfortunately, this comparison only hurts The Season because Revenge did the “daughter avenging her father” bit a lot better.

In The Season‘s defense, it is only working with six episodes and not twenty-two, which is nowhere near enough time to get us invested in this tale of revenge. The show should’ve known that and scaled down other aspects of the show to really highlight Cola vs. the Hexts.

There’s too much going on. It is impossible to develop the storylines, characters, or relationships enough.

This results in things being rushed. Some plotlines feel pointless because either the show never gets the chance to make them relevant, or there are too many other things that could’ve used more screentime.

It’s also pretty clear that Cola is no Amanda Clarke.

She doesn’t do a great job at concealing her identity, nor did she really think through her plan to take the Hexts down. She went to school, got a degree, and decided to take an internship in Hong Kong to infiltrate the Hexts’ friend group and stumble her way into getting her father out of jail. 

Perhaps there is more to it than that, but the show doesn’t take the time to explore that. All we see is this not-quite-foolproof plan.

Cola does pull off a couple of good schemes and manages to ingratiate herself with the Hexts and their social club quickly. But, as she finds out, if you’re going to take down someone with the power to put an innocent man behind bars, you need to prepare a bit more. 

The Hexts also never come across as awful people. Yes, they are rich and privileged, but aside from Cola’s father getting beaten up in jail, most of the crimes that we witness are them gossiping and being rude to people.

Perhaps the intent is for them not to be these villains that we want to destroy, and for this to be a more nuanced tale where Cola learns that nothing in this world is as simple as good and evil.

However, not sharing this hatred that Cola has for the Hexts means that we aren’t all that invested in her quest for revenge.

We don’t, as an audience, have a stake in this story, making it difficult to care whether she succeeds or not. We’re along for the ride, sure, but we aren’t rooting for the Hext family’s demise.

Overall, the revenge aspect of The Season leaves a lot to be desired. And, unfortunately, the setup of the conflict that the second season would explore doesn’t fully work either.

Now, maybe I am just not petty enough, but it feels as if Carrie is overreacting.

Cola’s dad has been in jail for years, and all Cola did to Carrie was lie about her true intentions in working for her and sleep with her boyfriend. Cola definitely should be groveling for forgiveness, but a full-scale takedown seems a bit much.

Despite its flaws, The Season does do some things well. The setting of Hong Kong is gorgeous, and there are some decent twists throughout the season.

The show’s biggest strength is its characters. The people who make up the Hexts’ social circle are entertaining, and some of them are very likeable.

Some of their storylines are more successful than others — the couple with the vodka company should have been cut from the show entirely — but for the most part, the side-storylines and dramas plaguing the friend group manage to hold our interest.

Prior to their falling out, Carrie and Cola’s relationship is a highlight of the show.

Their relationship allows us to see more of a human, non-revenge-seeking side of Cola. Aside from when she tries to get in front of Christopher, Cola does her best to help Carrie out, personally and professionally. It’s not hard to believe that Cola respects Carrie greatly.

The Season Season 1 is a very bumpy ride, but some good things come out of it. If it gets a second season, will you be watching?

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What did you think of The Season? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

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PCCW Media and SK Global’s The Season is now streaming exclusively on Hulu in the US.

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