The Season Review
Director: Gina Crowe and Marialy Rivas
Date Created: 2026-06-17 22:38
2.5
The Season Review: Created by Yalun Tu and directed by Gina Crowe and Marialy Rivas, the Hulu series has an impressive cast that includes Jessie Mei Li, Karena Lam, Celina Jade, Toby Stephens, Chris Pang, Justin Chien, Yvonne Chapman, Koki and others. Set against the glamorous backdrop of Hong Kong’s elite social scene, the six-episode drama promises scandal, secrets, power struggles, and revenge.
The Season Review
Hulu series The Season centres on Cola, played by Jessie Mei Li, a young American woman who has found herself entangled in the exclusive world of Hong Kong’s richest people. With the arrival of the boating season comes all the gatherings that characterise summer life, including partying, fundraising charity events, sailing, and other public displays of social prowess. But underneath all the lavishness lies everyone trying to conceal their secrets, ambitions, acts of betrayal, and family feuds.
First of all, what catches your eye is how beautiful it looks on screen. In this case, Hong Kong proves to be a real winner. Skyline, the waterfront locations, luxurious yachts, upscale estates, and the luxurious gatherings make it a perfect background. The pictures look really amazing, and one cannot help but recognise that the producers know how to emphasise the richness on the screen. If you need to have a taste of something extravagant, this show will definitely do.
However, it must be acknowledged that Hulu’s The Season frequently confuses visual glamour with actual substance. In a storyline revolving around secrets and revenge, the plot seems very obvious to me. Many of the surprises which are mentioned in the series could easily have been foreseen by the viewer since the series is always dropping little hints. Rather than developing any suspense, some episodes tend to devote an excessive amount of time to going over the same topics over and over again.
Jessie Mei Li plays the role of Cola very well. The confidence that she exudes through Cola is very evident, and I really liked how well she played the character’s position of being an outsider among this elite crowd. It is obvious that Cola is supposed to be a way for us to relate to this fictional society, and Li definitely does enough despite the weak writing. Nevertheless, she herself was not able to become as multi-dimensional as I expected.
Celina Jade and Justin Chien were two characters who made the greatest impression on me. This couple’s story gives us some of the most moving scenes in the entire series. As opposed to most other parts of The Season, which revolve around schemes and intrigues, this story gives you something authentic. The way they work together is very realistic.
Another character who left a good impression on me was Yvonne Chapman as Madeline, the woman who tries to find her footing within a social circle obsessed with prestige. She faces issues that are much easier to understand compared to the money-related problems faced by others around her.
However, there is more than one other character who seems to be written in very simplistic ways. The character played by Toby Stephens, Christopher Hext, is introduced as the strong patriarch who overshadows everybody else, yet he never becomes more than an ordinary member of a rich family drama. Likewise, the character portrayed by Chris Pang, Andrew, is frequently caught in the same boring routine and remains undeveloped throughout the series.
Yet another problem with Hulu’s The Season series is that the show suffers from an identity crisis. Depending on the moment in time, it wants to be either a revenge movie, a family soap opera, a love story, or even a satire. All of them, taken individually, would fit well together. However, they are all presented so vaguely and superficially that none of them becomes really significant.
That being said, however, I wouldn’t say that this show is completely boring through and through. There will always be something new to unveil, a shift in an alliance, a new conflict. The tempo of the series is enjoyable even when its plot becomes clichéd. While it did not make me want to pause my viewing experience, it also did not make me expect anything extraordinary.
Ultimately, what made me not entirely interested in The Season was the relationships that were developed throughout it. Too much deceitfulness, manipulation and intrigues prevented the characters from becoming at least somewhat interesting and appealing to me. A good soap opera is characterised by outrageous behaviours of its heroes; still, it should involve some characters whom viewers could empathise with.
Hulu The Season Review: Summing Up
The Season features stunning visual effects, an impressive cast list, and sufficient intrigue to provide viewers with mild entertainment. Nevertheless, the show fails to stand out amidst other shows centred around the lives of rich families. Even though Jessie Mei Li and some of her co-stars deliver strong performances, the weak plot and poor character development make it hard for the show to become interesting.
Also Read: Your Fault: London Review: Needless Remake That Repeats Every Mistake Twice
