Finished the series today -- thank the comic gods I already read that it had been renewed for season two or I would have been really pissed with the cliffhanger ending.
Actually, I am a bit still annoyed... do we really need season cliffhangers anymore? It's frustrating because the season long arc you have invested in has no satisfying closure and the characters (who are all great) are so dysfunctional that whatever growth they experienced feels for naught. In other words, the final episode pay off is unrewarding.
Despite this, an enjoyable season. The producers have kept many things about the characters and the world they inhabit purposely vague, so there is lots of room to grow and explore. Their version of the Dark Phoenix trope (as was Buffy btw) was better executed than in movies. In fact, this show plays with many tried and tired comic tropes, trying to give them a fresh spin. In some areas they succeed, in others they fall short. I think the series might have felt more energizing if it had been more oddball and fantastical, instead of going the more grounded reality route.
The winning element of the series is of course the soundtrack and musical numbers. They are wonderful. Honestly, I kept hoping the characters would break out into song and full on La La Land style dance routines.
I would give this freshman season a 7, but the music bumps it up to an 8 out of 10 for me.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrJOiROcH04&list=RDhrJOiROcH04&start_radio=1[/video]