Raising Dion review: The show gets better as the season goes along

The latest Netflix Original Series Raising Dion was released this weekend and you may be wondering if you should give it a chance. Here’s our review.

Raising Dion has been highly anticipated since the short film that was used to promote the comic, by Dennis Liu, was released. The film made waves and was quickly scooped up by Michael B. Jordan. Jordan then partnered with Netflix to bring the story to life, and several years later it is finally here.

Though it may have lost some steam nearing the release, there is no doubt that people will flock to the show if word of mouth is strong. There was a prior familiarity with the story even if that fervor went away. There was some disappointment online with regard to the casting change from the short film to the show and you have to wonder if that is also a factor in the buzz slowing.

The question you want answered, though, is if you should be watching.

Rough Start

For anyone that is about to start the show, I will tell you that Raising Dion gets off to a rough start. In the pilot episode I was worried about Ja’Siah Young’s ability to carry his weight as Dion. There are a few scenes where I could tell he was acting and if it kept up over the course of the show it spelled certain doom for the potential adult viewers. Whereas perhaps younger viewers might not mind as much.

At the same time I felt that Alisha Wainwright (Shadowhunters), who plays Dion’s mother Nicole Warren, was a bit hard to read in her role as well. Because the short film showed us a strong single mother, it was hard to watch how much Nicole was struggling in episode one.

The third issue is Dion’s powers as they seem to start out of nowhere, but they are many and they are completely out of control. It feels like he is well on his way to destroying the planet if he isn’t reigned in soon. Then, we get a huge teaser about Jordan’s character, Mark Warren, at the very end of that first episode. It was enough for me to keep watching and I’m glad I did.

The Mystery

At the very start of the second episode, I was quickly roped into the mystery aspect of the show. Raising Dion does a great job of giving you little pieces throughout the show that give you some of the answers without putting you in position to figure out the root of the mystery.

The key questions that are posed early on are:

How did Dion get his powers?
How did Mark die?
What in the world is this lightning monster?
What were those ghosts at the end of the first episode?

I feel comfortable adding those last two because they are shown in the trailer as well. There are additional questions that are raised throughout the series and we do get answers to all of the four questions above by the end of season one. People love a mysterious show, but they also love answers.

The Kids

I mentioned earlier that I was worried about Ja’Siah Young during the pilot, but I am glad to report that he won me over in later episodes. Once he was placed in a setting with other kids, you could tell that he was more at home in the role. He is a smart 8-year-old who asks a lot of questions and doesn’t know how to sit still. He loves his mom and misses his dad. Dion also struggles with fitting in because he’s into things the “cool kids” aren’t and that is also typical for his age.

Raising Dion touches on some serious subjects with the kids that I won’t get into here but there is one in particular that I’ve seen people complain about. I won’t say any more than it involves an interaction between Dion and a teacher at his new school. This scene makes me wonder what other subjects the writers may try to address if the show is renewed.

The scene-stealer among the kids is Sammi Haney’s Esperanza. Esperanza uses a wheelchair and smaller than her classmates in stature. Her character has a very big personality. She is the first person to take Dion’s side and is nice to him even when he isn’t nice to her (because he wants to be a cool kid and Esperanza isn’t cool to him.)

Esperanza is strong, smart, funny, and a joy to watch in every scene she appears in. Sammi Haney is an impressive young woman off the screen as well and I encourage you to check out her website where she sells t-shirts for people with disabilities and their supporters.

The Pacing

One thing that I was most impressed about Raising Dion is the pacing. Nine episodes is the perfect length for a superhero series. Netflix seemed to learn this lesson with its Marvel shows. The longer seasons were loaded with filler episodes. Raising Dion does not have that issue.

There were several times where I had to stop to confirm that I had gone to the next episode because they flow right into each other. It definitely encourages binge-watching.

Alisha Wainwright

Going back to the concerns I had in the first episode, I have to admit that Wainwright won me over as well. Raising Dion does a great job of giving her character depth and not making her entire life about Dion. She has love interests. We learn about her passions, and we watch her try to find her way back to a career. Of course, Dion is a large part of her life but he isn’t everything and the show is more whole because it allows Nicole to be her own person.

Michael B. Jordan

At first, it wasn’t clear how much of Jordan we would get in the series. Everything we read seemed to make it appear we would get brief flashbacks or old videos of him but we got way more than that.

Jordan plays Dion’s father Mark Warren who we know passed away a few years before. For a character that is no longer with us, he has ample screen-time and clearly dedicated himself to this character. For anyone that assumed he simply attached his name to the cast list to boost the show’s profile, that does not appear to have been the case.

For anyone on the fence about the show, or even if you watched the first episode and gave up, I encourage you to give it at least three episodes. That’s about two hours of your time or the length of a movie. If you aren’t in by then there is a chance the show isn’t for you. I can honestly say that Raising Dion gets better with each episode though so if after three it is growing on you any then power through to the next.

If you’re wondering about Stranger Things vibes they are only slightly there. Dion is a younger kid so he isn’t capable of getting into the things the kids from Stranger Things get into. Only the season finale really gave me strong Stranger Things vibes as our main characters come together for a big showdown with the adults and kids working together.

The season ends with one story being resolved but does tease what’s to come. We’ll be waiting for news of a renewal.

You can watch all 9 episodes of Raising Dion on Netflix now.

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Netflix’s Raising Dion gets better as the season goes along

By Michael Bibbins | Oct 6, 2019