This is a good show...but for the way Nova is so poorly written
So I am half way into the 1st season and I do enjoy the show : it's well produced (the cinematography/photography is gorgeous) and quite well acted. But I am getting more and more frustrated with the way Nova's character is so poorly written. Especially since I've started the show thinking she was the main character (based mostly on the gifs I saw on Tumblr, I haven't read the book), and I was so happy for Rutina to (finally) have gotten some good tv role/work, after her character had been so badly treated in True Blood. But it's also all the more disappointing, after reading more about the book, since Nova is a character created ex nihilo : from what I read she didn't exist in the book, she was added as the third sibling, and the eldest, which created that specific family/sisters dynamics. And Rutina is trying and doing such a good job with the little she's been given. So why is she so badly written?
Like I get that it's Charley's story and so everybody else is secondary character/arc/storylines to her/s. But it IS possible to write deep and interesting secondary characters (see: Empire). But Nova here looks too much like a caricature to me : afro-centric voodoo priestess/healer, angry hypocritical self-righteous SJW, lesbian homewrecker, bitter, irresponsible and selfish/self-centered sister. It feels like she only exists to be put in contrast to Charley (with some pretty unsubtle colorist issues), and be her resident foil/frenemy, occasionally spouting some "woke" #BLM PSA to echo RL contemporary issues.
Not that she's the only one being a bit of a stereotypical character. Pretty much every other character is a stereotype. Charley's being the main one. But the difference is, since it's Charley's story, she is given more screen time, character development, depth : we get to see more context to her actions, more sides of her, more nuances, etc., so we are able (and encouraged) to sympathize with her plight and somehow understand her behaviors. We get none of that for Nova : we only see her flaws (which are somehow magnified) but very few of her nuances. One glaring example is how in the 1st episode we got to see Charley and Ralph Angel directly inter-act with their father but never Nova. She's also the one who doesn't live in St Josephine and is the less connected to the farm.
Even her relationship with Calvin is somehow half-assed written : he's very passive, only appearing to get (rightfully) lectured by Nova about his white privilege, otherwise is completely disconnected from the rest of the characters, and we never get to know his motivations. Ralph and Darla's relationship has more depth and roots than theirs. If not for the chemistry between the two actors, this would be a total fail...
So yeah, I am frustrated by how Nova's character is treated which is kind of ruining the show for me a little bit. I am still interested and invested but quite disappointed too...