Genre: Science fiction; Drama; Dystopia; Contemporary thriller
Developed by Raelle Tucker and Naomi Alderman and Sarah Quintrell
Written by Sarah Quintrell, Claire Wilson, Naomi Alderman
Based on The Power; by Naomi Alderman
Starring: Toni Collette, Auliʻi Cravalho & John Leguizamo.
Music by Morgan Kibby
Executive Producers: Raelle Tucker, Jane Featherstone, Naomi de Pear, Naomi Alderman, Claire Wilson
Producer: Sarah Wheale
Production location: United Kingdom.
Cinematography: Colin Watkinson, Ollie Downey, Carlos Catalan, Giulio Biccari
Editors: Beverley Mills, Fiorella Santaniello, Stephen Evans
Production Company: Sister, Disobedient Productions, Angry Annie Productions, Amazon Studios
Distributor: Amazon Prime Video
Plot: Suddenly, teenage girls mysteriously develop a special power that allows them to electrocute people at will.
Season 1 of The Power was surprisingly very good.
Pros: I was surprised how they created a show based on a simple concept of “How will the world to react people having powers” and how to react to them. All the acting is so good. It does show so well how other people reacted to changes happening around them. Drama surrounding the Lopez Family were my personal favourite and the finale helped set up possible consequences going into season 2.
Cons: There’s a few storylines that felt like they were just there to continue into next season. At times the dialogue can be hard to understand. A lot of scenes featuring Allie and a group of girls felt like too much like embarrassing empowerment fantasy, and the storyline invoicing Zrinka Cvitešić’s character were my least favourite.
Casts & characters:
Main:
- Toni Collette as Mayor Margot Cleary-Lopez, the mayor of Seattle and a mother of three including Jos
- Auliʻi Cravalho as Jos Cleary-Lopez, Margot’s daughter
- John Leguizamo as Dr. Rob Lopez, Margot’s husband
- Toheeb Jimoh as Tunde, an aspiring video journalist from Nigeria with big dreams
- Ria Zmitrowicz as Roxy Monke, the illegitimate daughter of British gangster, Bernie Monke
- Halle Bush as Allie, an adoptee into an American Bible Belt couple
- Nico Hiraga as Ryan, Jos’s friend and love interest
- Heather Agyepong as Ndudi, Tunde’s close friend
- Daniela Vega as Sister Maria, a Nun from the Sisters of Christ convent that took in Allie
- Eddie Marsan as Bernie Monke: a feared London crime boss
- Archie Rush as Darrell Monke, Bernie’s son
- Gerrison Machado as Matt Cleary-Lopez, Margot’s son
- Pietra Castro as Izzy Cleary-Lopez, Margot’s youngest daughter
- Zrinka Cvitešić as Tatiana Moskalev, the wife of the Moldovan president Viktor Moskalev
Recurring:
- Adina Porter as the voice in Allie’s head
- Josh Charles as Daniel Dandon, the governor of Washington State and a “constant thorn in the side” of Margot Cleary-Lopez
- Rob Delaney as Tom, a host of a shockjock news show
- Alice Eve as Kristen, a host of a shockjock news show
- Edwina Findley as Helen, Margot Cleary-Lopez’s highly competent and trusted advisor
- Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Ricky Monke, Bernie’s son
- Avital Lvova as Liat Monke, Ricky’s wife and Bernie’s daughter-in-law
- Sam Buchanan as Terry Monke, Bernie’s son
- Juliet Cowan as Barbara Monke, Bernie’s wife
- Simbi Ajikawo as Adunola, Tunde’s on-again/off-again girlfriend
- Ashley De Guzman as Yuki, Jos’ classmate
- Ana Ularu as Zoia, Tatiana’s sister
- Reese Alexander as Frank
- Alexandru Bindea as Viktor Moskalev, Tatiana’s husband
I highly recommend this series to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
Rating: 8 out of 10 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident TV reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe.