I just finished watching the 3 episodes of Reacher and the final season of Jack Ryan. Which leaves me more confused at the state of show production at Amazon.
Reacher so far has been great, he's not ever belittled or sidelined for a woman to take the spotlight (in fact his nickname is 'the big guy' and a running joke is not to mess with him as he'll hit you like a freight train)
Jack Ryan was more questionable in the beginning, first season was good in proof of concept though that UAV pilot sidestory was unnecessary, 2nd season was weakest with Venezuela. 3rd season really improved from secret Soviet Union plots, using NATO to bait WW3, coup and false flag nukes. 4th season that I just watched would probably be something everyone here would like since the bad guys are NGOs using their fame as cover to run drug, exploitation and terrorist operations with the help of corrupt US officials in Government and CIA. Then we have something like Invincible too which haven't caught the second season yet but heard it's good.
Now I try to counter that with something like Rings of Power or the Wheel of Time and now you get where I'm confused. How can a company that can bring an audience to niche franchises flop SO hard with established well known franchises? The reason I'm MORE concerned than ever is because of this that there finally seems to be movement on a 40k production with Cavill as a producer but if the same people that did Rings of Power are involved, this might be used to bring in the worst thing imaginable: Female space marines..
Is it just which team is working on it as it sounds like after Rings of Power, that team has been largely demoted or how the contracts for adaptation are in place? I've not watched Netflix ever since Cuties was on there but they seem to be sticking a lot closer to the author's intentions with things like One Piece and Quiet on the Western front and been more successful for it so is that the main thing to look out for?
Sorry for long post just TDLR; trying to know how Amazon makes stuff so I know if 40k gets Rings of Power treatment or is actually good.
This.
I was going to write something similar.
It's no different than the first season effect of Netflix shows: put out something good (enough) to lure in fans and then hit them with the wokeness in subsequent seasons.
In Amazon's case, they have a rotation of shows across the spectrum to quell dissent. It gives them plausible deniability amongst the normies so that they can retort, "See, Amazon isn't woke because Reacher isn't woke".
It's the genetic fallacy, and we see people utilise this blinder-behaviour all the time for products or companies they like.
Just like, plenty of people will defend The Boys because some elements are "based" (like Soldier Boy), therefore in the eyes of normies, it's not woke.
Unlike Netflix and Disney, Amazon is being smart enough to boil the frog moderately. Push out crap like Rings of Power or Wheel of time, and then lure back in the normies and fans with Reacher and Jack Ryan. They can keep the see-saw going by pushing out Left-wing propaganda while still keeping their Right-wing viewership.
But make no mistake, even at Amazon, the Overton Window is still decidedly moving perpetually to the Left.