The Wayfinders
Summary
The Wayfinders is a young adult, live action fantasy series produced by Angel Studios. After encountering a seer from another world, three unlikely teens as whisked away into a realm of fantasy and magic.
Assessment
Despite being somewhat tropey and derivative, the show manages to bring in a lot of well-placed Gen Z humor and sass. In addition the cinematography, costuming, and makeup are all top-notch while the acting is mid-to-high quality. The CGI is a bit rough on occasion adding a somewhat cheesy element to the story, but it is used infrequently enough that it doesn’t ruin the entire show.
In terms of cleanliness, this show is fairly clean. There is peril, action, and some blood, but nothing gruesome or grotesque. Additionally is also minimal romance and no sex scenes or nudity. Some cussing may be present, but no F-bombs or other extremely strong language. The only consideration that may be taken into account is the use of and positive view of magic.
For a theological message, the story is not marketed as Christian, so it is not graded on that scale.
Light-o-Meter
Overall — 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Story: 3 out of 7 Little Lights
Acting: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Cinematography: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Music: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Quality: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: N/A
Age Appropriateness — Appropriate for intended audiences of middle schoolers and teens.
Talk
Okay, so, first of all: this first season was a ton of fun and the production quality felt through the roof for this kind of media. I was pretty much immediate sucked into the world and all its strange machinations from the get-go (I think I occasionally forgot I was supposed to be like…watching it to review). It was such a good, fun adventure with plenty of humor without being too comedic.
There were a lot of things that I really liked about this series. The costuming and makeup were amazing, the casting was spot-on, and the worldbuilding (including set design), was really impressive. I think this show’s best quality is how immersive it is; even though it’s a bit derivative and tropey, it has its own unique aesthetic and style that really draws the audience in. Also, it has a really great cast, including several up-and-coming actors to keep an eye on.
The one touchy area of this series for Christians is that it does present magic in a positive light (part of the reason I gave “Story” only 3 out of 7 Little Lights above). Of course, magic and witchcraft are HUGE no’s for Christians in real life, but fiction is a bit of a greyer area. As a Christian who really tries to avoid positive views of magic in her fiction, I will say that this series tripped fewer alarms than others for myself for two specific reasons:
The world that uses magic is not our world. There is an element of space or dimension travel (they don’t really specify, but I think it might be more space travel), so the realm that has an innate magic system isn’t ours. Magic does technically work on “our” world in the series, but it’s not common or widespread.
The magic seems to be a system of weird physics — with a very specific, non-supernatural fuel system (a special kind of rock) — rather than a supernatural witchcraft where the characters are tapping into evil, unknown forces to create false miracles. The mechanics behind the system are almost akin to eating some sugar to fuel your brain and then thinking up a sonnet; not seeking out dark forces to help you write said sonnet.
The only reason the series does set off a few alarm bells is because even with those two reasons, it still has some witchcraft-presenting mechanics. After absorbing some of the fuel source, characters channel its energy into specific “spells” in their heads (sometimes with hand motions or chanting/speaking) that then produce whatever effect they desire. There also things like spell books, although no wands, staffs, or pointy hats. This part of the magic system is much more on the subtle side; they don’t dig into the witchcraft in the same way something like Harry Potter might, buuuuuut it definitely is taking from some pretty witch-y aesthetics.
All that to say, if you’re in camp “its all just fiction” you might enjoy this series. If you’re in camp “I’m picky about the magic in my fiction” then this may or may not be a good fit depending on your personal convictions. If you’re in camp “absolutely no magic in my fiction” then I’d recommend not even touching this series with a ten-foot pole (and if you’re feeling the FOMO, check out some of our other SALT articles for media without magic!).
Where to Enjoy
Stream The Wayfinders now on Angel.com!
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