Netflix has been increasingly craven in its corporate mentality, jacking up its prices for no reason and treating its beloved shows with the heartlessness of a landlord. This is not particularly unique when looking at the behavior of most streaming giants in today's capitalist hellscape, but there's some inexplicable extra level of personal insult when it comes to Netflix's cancellations. For a service that seemingly built its brand on catering to what audiences proved they wanted, they have a surprising amount of fan-favorite skeletons in their closet. When looking at their mass grave, the one that personally hurt me the most was their burying The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, the prequel show to Jim Henson's cult classic film The Dark Crystal. It was a visually sprawling yet narratively tight epic that made the world of Thra feel more alive than ever before and could have been Netflix's version of a Game of Thrones-type franchise, were it not for the harsh realities of getting the show made.
How Does 'Age of Resistance' Build Off 'The Dark Crystal?'
Set some time before the film, the series follows three different protagonists as they all embark on their own journeys in the mystical world of Thra. The world is ruled by the Skeksis, large vulture-looking aliens who are essentially evil incarnate (think Sauron or Emperor Palpatine). Rian (Taron Egerton) is on a quest for revenge against the Skeksis after witnessing them use their all-powerful Crystal of Truth to kill his partner, Mira (Alicia Vikander), by draining her of her life essence, which the Skeksis plan on using to extend their lifespan for ultimate power. Brea (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a princess who finds a symbol in her castle that she feels she must investigate after becoming suspicious of how much fealty her family shows to the Skesis. Deet (Nathalie Emmanuel) is a member of an underground clan and is specifically chosen by the Sanctuary Tree to save Thra from the Crystal's inevitable corruption of the world with its dark energy. She must prove herself as more capable than she ever thought possible. The winding paths these three take will show them vastly different sections of the world, allowing each to uncover new secrets and learn more about the history of the places they thought they knew as home.
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The show is smartly structured and paced so that each subplot takes on its own genre, so it never feels too repetitive or meandering from an entertainment perspective. Deet's narrative is arguably the most formulaic, being your standard hero's journey arc: a promising young person told that they're the special person who can save the world, so they must grow up and leave home to unlock their full potential. Rian's journey feels more like an espionage tale, one filled with action scenes and sneaking around enemy areas, making connections with allies and plot twists where we're not sure if those allies made it out of situations alive. Brea's story dabbles between the realms of detective fiction and political power struggles as she follows a trail of clues to uncover dark family secrets and learns to maneuver with deception to fool the people she's loved and trusted her entire life. These three strands are spread out far enough, yet still so equally integral to the larger overarching plot of stopping the Skeksis' reign that when they finally all cross paths later in the story, it's one of the most fist-pump-worthy moments I've ever had watching a television program. That fist-pump was earned largely off the back of the incredible character work that went into making its large cast feel vibrant and connected, courtesy of both its insane voice cast and muppetry work.
The Special Effects and All-Star Cast Bring the World to Life
Following in the spirit of its predecessor film, Age of Resistance brings all of its characters and creatures to life through the handcrafted muppets of the Jim Henson Creature Shop, each minutely detailed and expertly manipulated to feel full of life by their puppeteers. While the series benefits from extensive CGI, mostly for green-screen environments and touching up the characters surrounded by said CGI, along with removing the wires and human operators, the bulk of the characters' interactions are fully in-camera. Watching the show feels like the pinnacle of the magic that Jim Henson pursued his whole career, where the "special effects" that were the Muppets become so integrated into the real world that you forget they're not humans. The effect is elevated by how textured Thra feels in its world design. If The Dark Crystal is a lovingly illustrated and cozy storybook, then Age of Resistance is an Avatar-esque thrill ride that gets your blood pumping and gives you the childish sense of wonder you thought you'd lost long ago. The CG artistry on display takes Henson's vision for the film and expands it in a way that feels like the full flourishing of what practical sets could only dream of achieving in 1982. Nothing ever feels too much like a green screen, and the cinematography does an exceptional job of immersing you in the immediacy of what's happening by constantly moving in a way that complements the realistically janky motion of the muppets.
Fortunately, any potential motion-induced breaking of disbelief is alleviated by a disgustingly stacked voice cast. The multigenerational allegiance to the legend of Jim Henson is at full power here because we have a cast that crosses every age and demographic range, proving how much everybody secretly wants to be a muppet. Our main gelflings are current young stars like Taron Egerton, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Nathalie Emmanuel, and key supporting gelflings include the likes of Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Caitriona Balfe, Harris Dickinson, Mark Strong, Hannah John-Kamen, and Helena Bonham Carter. For the comic relief Skeksis, we have a murderer's row of thespians and clowns, including Jason Isaacs, Awkwafina, Keegan Michael-Key, Simon Pegg, Ralph Ineson, Benedict Wong, and Harvey Fierstein. The cast is rounded out with smaller roles for the likes of Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Lena Headey, Toby Jones, Eddie Izzard, and Sigourney Weaver. It makes no sense how a prequel series for a cult film from nearly 40 years prior could pull a cast list that needs the Saturday Night Live announcer to properly convey the awe of its scale, but that is the level of talent in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Given that all of these actors were only ever in recording booths and never together on set, it's a miracle that they're all on the exact same page, all so funny and so earnest and so gross and never condescending to the traditional fairy tale material. The price for that miracle may have been too high, however, as it wasn't enough to save the show from an ignominious demise.
Netflix Ended the Show At the Peak of Its Success
The show officially aired on August 30, 2019, where it was met with rave reviews from critics and presumably a healthy viewership (Netflix didn't release their viewer numbers at the time, funnily enough). The show's creators were quoted saying they had multiple seasons' worth of ideas and had a clear ending in mind that would "talk" to the original film. On September 19, 2020, it won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program, and then the very next day, Netflix announced it was officially cancelled. While Netflix didn't specify why they cancelled it, it was public knowledge that they always compared the cost of a show to how many people watched it and how many new subscribers came over after a show premiered. Since the show cost about $98 million, it's plausible it was too much of a niche favorite for Netflix to justify it.
Even if it brought Netflix a bonafide hit that gave them their much-desired mainstream accolades, the numbers seemingly didn't make enough sense to justify a second season, which is an abject shame. It can't be denied that the budget would have always been a problem, especially if Netflix allowed the Henson Company to make the show the way they had made season one, with painstaking practical puppetry. But it's a risk they should have taken, as they could have had their own fantasy franchise, one in much safer creative hands than the likes of The Witcher or Shadow and Bone. Given the prequel nature of the material and the preparedness of the showrunners, they had so much runway to use before being obligated to end the show with the original film. Once again, capitalism won the day over wonder, numbers swallowed magic, and the world was denied the truth about how to prevent it from succumbing to darkness. Maybe we'll be luckier in another world, in another time.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is available on Netflix in the U.S.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
TV-PG
Fantasy
Animation
Adventure
- Release Date
- August 30, 2019
- Cast
- Nathalie Emmanuel , Taron Egerton , Mark Hamill , Natalie Dormer , Caitriona Balfe , Lena Headey , Helena Bonham Carter , Eddie Izzard
- Main Genre
- Animation
- Seasons
- 1
