Now the cancellation has been confirmed by Netflix, I thought I'd rework my review of season one of "Daybreak" a little, to post it here. I have a lot of mixed feelings about "Daybreak". There were elements that I liked, elements that I didn't. . but I did watch all of it and I think I'd have watched more, if a second season had been produced.
Following a nuclear/dirty bomb apocalypse that leaves all adults transformed into braindead blood-hungry wraiths, the teenagers of Glendale form themselves into groups based on their social traits or interests and battle for territory. Into this terrain steps outsider Josh Wheeler (Colin Ford) a Canadian student who transferred to the school and as such has no social circle, but he did have a girlfriend, Sam (Sophie Simnett) and he begins a quest to reunite with her.
As I said, there were elements of the show I really liked. It reminded me a lot of the Xbox game "Sunset Overdrive", the mutated humans, the wild gangs of kids with OTT gimmicks, even the skateboarding felt like it might have been a nod. I enjoyed the 4th wall breaking narration and the nods within that to the other films that utilise that device. I thought the visual effects were really good, the CGI work especially is good. My favourite aspect though was how quickly "Daybreak" began playing with the form of the show, passing the narration on to other characters, changing how flashbacks worked and how deceptively intelligent it was with foreshadowing. Another key factor, and the one that probably got me through the run is that I actually liked the characters and was interested in what would happen. There are a couple of romances, a few switched allegiances and some twists along the way.
Where it's less successful is tonally, it is a bit all over the place. There's an episode towards the end that explains the true nature of Sam and Josh's relationship that, whilst making a number of valid (if perhaps a little dated) points about present day social conformity and prejudices - feels wildly out of place in a series with its' Ronin warriors, mutant squirrels and cannibal villains. Some characters earn their redemption arcs whilst other seem to have it foisted upon them with a quick flashback. Also, a few bits of the story disappear without a trace and are never explored or explained.
So yes, kinda wayward and I understand the people that dropped it after a couple of episodes as it does take a bit of getting used to but it had enough for me and if the second season had come to fruition, I'd have been back.
