Jack Ryan Season 3 Repeats Annoying House of the Dragon Problem
Some scenes of Jack Ryan's season 3 were so dark that viewers questioned the quality of their devices.
Viewers can put aside shows for different reasons. Some become boring, some have too many unrealistic characters and plot holes, some go against canon, some undo their own storylines. It is never good for the creators because most probably, the viewers won't return to the series they once decided to stop watching.
Probably, the most absurd reason for the show to get negative reviews is its poor quality in terms of brightness.
Yes, it may sound ridiculous but some shows are hard to watch because of how dark some of their scenes are. This issue was recently raised on Reddit by Jack Ryan fans who found it difficult to watch the beloved show because of its dark scenes.
"Night scenes and especially the hunting scene was pitch black," one of the fans complained.
Apparently, those scenes were so dark that some viewers even thought their devices might have problems.
"Yes, I have a new Sony projector and I thought this. I was worried the projector bulb needed replacing," a fan wrote in the discussion.
Naturally, this color grading made some viewers quit watching the series for good.
"Visually, not very pleasant to watch at all," a viewer explained. "I only made it through a couple of episodes before putting it on my "watch when there is nothing else" list."
This annoying issue is not new for a highly anticipated series. Last year, House of the Dragon made the same mistake and received a backlash from its viewers for some scenes being too dark to see. It was especially evident in episode 7 which featured a steamy sex scene between Rhaenyra and Daemon. While the promotional images of the scene were bright and colorful, the released cut was almost impossible to see.
"I cannot see anything and I'm sitting in complete darkness," one of the fans complained on Twitter.
Director Miguel Sapochnik faced similar criticism in the final season of Game of Thrones for the darkness in some battle scenes. HBO responded to the criticism by saying the dimmed lighting was an intentional creative decision.
A creative decision or not, nowadays with the increased competition between streaming services and high production standards, it seems almost a crime against the audience to release episodes that are physically impossible to watch.