Genius

Season 1 does justice to the series' title. Portrays Albert Einstein in an interesting perspective and combines many elements of his scientific work along with his personal life. I rate season 1 as 9/10.

Season 2 portrays Pablo Picasso. I guess the idea was that the "genius" tag should not be solely reserved for STEM people, but artists should also be praised for their revolutionary contributions to their field. Although some same good actors from season 1 were included, this season significantly lacks the spark of the first season. On the other hand, Antonio Banderas adds significantly with his quality. 7/10.

Season 3 portrays Aretha Franklin and really makes you wonder if you have actually changed series without noticing. What an admittedly great voice has to do with "genius" still remains puzzling to me. On top of that, the season rather revolves around the US civil rights movement than actually presenting the character's virtues that stood them apart from the rest. Even the pace has changed and compared to the previous two seasons feels absolutely boring and at times even painful to watch. Dropped watching mid-season. 4/10 and only assuming that this was actually a different series. Nothing to do with the "genius" concept.

Unfortunately, it seems that the series has been a victim of the current trend of the film industry on its anti-racism campaign and promoting diversity which has resulted in it losing its identity. It has been also announced at the time of writing that a season 4 has been developed portraying Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Note here that Dr King was also briefly portrayed in Season 3 - thus the next season revolves around the same period, the same concepts, the same characters as season 3. Where the genius is on that, remains definitely elusive.

I was so hoping that this series would have continued on the same path as season 1 and showing the lives and achievements of distinguished scientists and how they revolutionized human understanding of nature. In that case I think I'd rate the series as one of my all time favorites. Instead, it is now in my list of the most disappointing ones...