Poster for Fate: The Winx Saga, featuring five young women standing in front of a pair of stylized wings

About:

Title: Fate: The Winx Saga (Seasons #1–2)
Released: 2021

Fix: Teen Faeries, Teen Drama, Magical Boarding Schools
Platform: Netflix

Netflix Summary: 

In hopes of mastering her magic, Bloom begins her studies at Alfea—and crosses paths with her curious classmates. Meanwhile, a secret comes to light.

FYA Summary:

Bloom Peters doesn’t know much about who she really is. She knows that there’s something unique about her, and her discovery that she has magical powers leads to more questions than answers. But going to school at Alfea, a secret boarding school for fae in the Otherworld, sets her on a path to self-discovery that’s more unbelievable than her being a fae in the first place.

Familiar Faces:

Robert James-Collier as Saul Silva in Fate: The Winx Saga

Robert James-Collier as Saul Silva

It took me ages to figure out where I knew James-Collier from; I only watched the first season or so of Downton Abbey, and Silva’s so much different than Thomas. He’s actually a nice, caring guy, although he does come across as somewhat cold at times. Guess James-Collier plays to type?

Miranda Richardson as Rosalind Hale in Fate: The Winx Saga

Miranda Richardson as Rosalind Hale

Richardson’s likely the biggest name in this show, and she makes a huge impact as the despised and secretive Headmaster Hale. She’s so striking and fierce, and even when you hate her, you kind of want to get in line so she thinks better of you.

Abigail Cowan as Bloom Peters in Fate: The Winx Saga

Abigail Cowan as Bloom Peters

Cowan previously played the unfortunately named Dorcas on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a character who was extremely underused and seemed to be dealing with a lot of mental strife. Bloom, too, is dealing with a lot, but she’s definitely the main character of the show and the differing roles show that Cowan has a lot of range.

Couch-Sharing Capability: Friends Who Won’t Judge

Fate: The Winx Saga is an adaptation of an Italian Nickelodeon cartoon—Winx Club—that, from my quick perusal of the cartoon’s Wikepedia page, is quite close to the original. It’s also super, super cheesy on a level that rivals the best (worst) of syndicated shows. The mix of childlike fantasy elements and teenage angst works together surprisingly well, but this is not a show you’ll want to watch with the judgy people in your life.

Recommended Level of Inebriation: Wine Drunk

I’m not a drinker, but I feel like this show would pair really well with a whole lot of wine. The cheaper, the better.

Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Good for a Lark

If you’ve read through this entire post to this point, you might think that I didn’t enjoy Fate: The Winx Saga, or that it’s a terrible show. Neither is the truth. It’s actually a lot of fun, in that campy, overly dramatic, CW kind of way. I was actually quite bummed when I saw that Netflix canceled it; the end of the second season isn’t a massive cliffhanger, but there’s certainly more to the story that could have been told. I doubt more folks watching now will reverse Netflix’s decision, but it certainly couldn’t hurt for future similar projects. And the more cheesy teenage soaps, the better, I think.

Mandy (she/her) is a manager at a tech company who lives in Austin, TX, with her husband, son, and dogs. She loves superheroes and pretty much any show or movie with “Star” in the name.