‘The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself’ Review: Magic and Witches with a Bit of British Flavor
Halloween is truly the time of witches and magic, so it makes sense that so many streaming services get ready to release TV shows and movies that go accordingly with the season. The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself is a new show on Netflix that does exactly that. It introduces a world where magic users are divided into two sides and where fear dominated the lives of every single individual in the story. Halloween is a time to feel fear, but that feeling can truly twist someone’s life beyond just serving as a tool for survival.
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself is a TV show developed by Netflix and created by Joe Barton. The series is an adaptation of the novel titled “Half Bad” written by Sally Green. The series stars Jay Lycurgo, Nadia Parkes, Kerry Fox, Paul Ready, and Emilien Vekemans. The series tells the story of Nathan, the son of one of the worst criminals in the world where the story is set. His father caused war and ended the lives of countless Fairborn Witches by being a Blood Witch. Now, nearing his 17th birthday, everyone fears that Nathan might become the same.
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself feels very familiar when it comes to delivering a fantasy show where factions are ready to go to war. This premise isn’t exactly new, actually, you could say that the show is basically doing the same thing Harry Potter did with his main character. Nathan feels ostracized by the community of witches and even his own family for something that happened way before he was born. Something terrible, of course, but something he had nothing to do with.
These parallels to Harry Potter and many other stories bring a sense of familiarity to the tale, and for some, this might feel too much of the same old thing. However, the series manages to separate itself from Potter and other stories by its tone. The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself is definitely darker and more violent than anything in Harry Potter, and it really turns some aspects of the story on their heads. For example, the “good guys” here behave more like the death-eaters in Harry Potter than anything else.
This darker angle definitely makes the story a different edge to it. There are also some truly violent and bloody scenes, which is to be expected as one of the titles for one of the factions is Blood Witch. The series also tackles things like mental health, bullying, and more current topics for the youth. Thankfully, the story never becomes edgy for edginess’ sake, and this stays grounded most of the way, even when the characters start doing very crazy magic around them.
Like every other show nowadays, the series also tackles the theme of sexuality. Nathan and most of the main characters are very young, and so they are exploring that part of themselves. There are a couple of plots here and there that mainly focus on this aspect of the story. It is very cool, but for someone who wants more focus on the story and the lore of this universe, these parts might become a bit boring. Fortunately, the series has an amazing cast of actors.
The cast is amazing and Jay Lycurgo shines in the main role, which is quite challenging. The role of Nathan asks for an entire spectrum of emotions, and Lycurgo is able to manifest them quite nicely. The rest of the cast also pulls off their weight. We do have the main trio, just like in Harry Potter, and Vekemans and Parkes do a great job filling those roles. Both actors are likable and truly bring their characters to life. By the end of the season, you will be happy that they name themselves allies to Nathan.
The plotting is also quite nice, some aspects might be too conventional, which makes everything feel a bit predictable, but the execution is great. So even when you already see what is coming, the scenes have enough power to make you enjoy them. The story could have gone into more interesting and shocking ways but what we have is good enough that the series feels worth watching.
On the visual side of things, The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself has that visual look that certainly identifies every single shot that is being done in the UK. It is great that this region of the world has its visual aesthetic, but it is strange that it appears in every single show and movie. Those that managed to avoid are few and far between. This washout/overcast look makes the show feel like it is definitely British, but it makes you wonder if a more stylized look would have worked better for this fantasy show.
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself is great at what it does. It introduces some great characters and executes well on a story that while predictable has that edge that makes it stand out from others. The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself presents itself as an excellent option for Halloween, and let’s hope it is successful enough to see more stories developed in this world. There are more books in the series, so we expect more seasons.