The Spiderwick Chronicles (TV series)

The Spiderwick Chronicles
Release poster
Genre	Fantasy
Created by	Aron Eli Coleite
Based on	The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi Holly Black
Showrunner	Aron Eli Coleite
Starring	Lyon Daniels Noah Cottrell Mychala Lee Joy Bryant Jack Dylan Grazer Christian Slater
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Aron Eli Coleite Tony DiTerlizzi Holly Black Ellen Goldsmith-Vein Jeremy Bell D.J. Goldberg Julie Kane-Ritsch Kat Coiro
Producers	Grace Gilroy Bruce Dunn
Production location	Vancouver, Canada
Running time	45 minutes
Production companies	Lightbulb Farm Productions The Gotham Group 20th Television Paramount Television Studios
Original release
Network	The Roku Channel
Release	April 19, 2024 (2024-04-19) – present (present)

The Spiderwick Chronicles is an American fantasy television series loosely based on the book series of the same name by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. The series stars Joy Bryant, Noah Cottrell, Lyon Daniels, Mychala Lee, Jack Dylan Grazer and Christian Slater, and follows the Grace family, who move into their ancestral home and unravel a dark mystery about their great-uncle, who discovered the parallel and secret world of fairies.

The Spiderwick Chronicles consists of eight episodes and premiered on the Roku Channel on April 19, 2024, to mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its visuals and Slater's performance, but some criticism for its writing, pacing, character development and deviations from the source material.

Premise

Helen and her children, 15-year-old fraternal twins Jared and Simon and their sister Mallory move to their ancestral home, Spiderwick. Jared discovers a boggart and realizes that magical creatures are real. The only one to believe him is his great-aunt Lucinda who implores Jared to find the pages of her father's field guide to magical creatures and protect them from the murderous Ogre, Mulgarath.

Cast

Main

• Lyon Daniels as Jared Grace
• Noah Cottrell as Simon Grace
• Mychala Lee as Mallory Grace
• Joy Bryant as Helen Grace
• Jack Dylan Grazer as Thimbletack
• Christian Slater as Mulgarath

Recurring

• Momona Tamada as Emiko
• Alyvia Alyn Lind as Calliope
• Hunter Dillon as Hatcher
• Charlayne Woodard as Lucinda Spiderwick
• Albert Jones as Arthur Spiderwick
• Aria Mia Loberti as Valentina
• Mellany Barros as Bree Kent
• Dylan Bruce as Tanner Kent
• Arlene Duncan as Melvina

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Welcome to Spiderwick"	Kat Coiro	Aron Eli Coleite	April 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
In the prologue, Dr Dorian Brauer meets with the orge Mulgarath to secure the release of his daughter Calliope. However, Calliope has been replaced by a changeling. Brauer is devoured by a troll and Mulgarath assumes his form and identity. In the present, Helen Grace and her teenage children Mallory, Jared and Simon Grace relocate from Brooklyn, New York to their ancestral Spiderwick estate in Henson, Michigan following a divorce. Helen seeks mental health treatment for the troubled Jared, who has oppositional defiance disorder. While adapting to their new home, the Grace family particularly Jared experience several unexplained incidents including the disapperance of Simon's pet mice and Mallory's sword being damaged. Mallory is rejected by her sword training instructor Valentine. Helen visits her Aunt Lucinda at Meskawki mental health hospital but the latter experiences an apparent psychiatric breakdown. After Jared encounters the brownie Thimbletack in the attic, his disbelieving mother takes him for an urgent meeting with "Dr Brauer."
2	"The Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You"	Kat Coiro	Aron Eli Coleite	April 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
Jared begins counselling sessions with "Dr Brauer" while Calliope befriends the Grace children. Aunt Lucinda flees from Meskawki hospital, prompting Helen and "Dr Brauer" to organise a search. During the search, "Dr Brauer" takes the opportunity to ingratiate himself with Helen, who is bitter towards her ex-husband Richard. While hiding in a supermarket, Lucinda encounters a fairy. Meanwhile, Jared attempts to convince his skeptical siblings and Calliope that there is a boggart inside the Spiderwick mansion by using a surveillance system. Jared is blamed after an unseen force ties Mallory's hair and kills Simon's pet mice Lemondrop and Jeffrey. Simon and Jared later encounter Aunt Lucinda and Thimbletack in the late Arthur Spiderwick's study. She tasks Jared and Simon with recovering her father's Field Guide before Mulgarath can recover it. Shortly later, Helen and "Dr Brauer" arrive to bring Lucinda back to the hospital. While driving back to the hospital, Lucinda reveals that she knows that "Dr Brauer" is actually Mulgarath and that Calliope is his accomplice, who framed Jared. Mulgarath seemingly kills Aunt Lucinda, who disintegrates into flowers.
3	"I Will Survive"	Michael Patrick Jann	Dennis Saldua	April 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
The Grace family organize a funeral for Aunt Lucinda, who is believed to have died of a heart attack. In secret, Calliope has impersonated Lucinda's corpse following her disintegration. Mulgarath, in his "Dr Brauer" form, tasks Calliope with keeping the Grace family at the Spiderwick estate. Jared and Simon continue the search for the pages of Spiderwick's field guide, enlisting the help of Brauer's patients Emiko and Hatchet. Jared uses Lucinda's favorite music to unlock a fairy door containing a page of the field guide. Calliope also ingratiates herself with Simon. Mallory convinces one of Valentina's students Bree to be her sparring partner but discovers that Bree is conspiring with Valentina to eliminate her from an upcoming competition. Following an argument with Helen, Lucinda's estranged sister Melvina destroys the field guide's page in a fit of rage. While attempting to contact Thimbletack, Jared sustains a broken arm and is admitted to Meskawki hospital. He serves "Dr Brauer" cookies laced with iron, exposing him as Mulgarath.
4	"Tastes like Chicken"	Amanda Row	Jasmyne Peck	April 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
Bree's father Tanner leads a protest calling for the closure of Meskawki mental hospital, claiming the patients are dangerous. Helen, whjo has become the hospital's librarian, defends "Dr Brauer" after Tanner assaults him. Emiko protects Jared by claiming responsibility for vandalizing Brauer's car with graffiti. Helen also learns that Meskawki hospital was built in honor of the indigenous Meskawki tribe, who saved settlers from a mass hysteria eating frenzy caused by the demonic Mulgarath. The Grace twins, Emiko and Hatchet capture Thimbletack and form a truce to collect the pages of Spiderwick's field guide. While attempting to summon Lucinda from the spiritual realm, Jared accidentally summons a mushroom sprite. Jared strikes Simon following an argument, damaging the brothers' relationship. Hurt, Simon attends dinner with Calliope and "Dr Brauer." Meanwhile, Mallory attends a ball at the Spiderwick estate with Bree and her boyfriend Chris. There, she confronts Bree about her duplicity. Mulgarath infects Henson's water supply with a sleeping spell, causing several teenagers at the ball including Chris to fall unconscious.
5	"A Midsummer's Daydream"	Rachel Raimist	Jenn Kao	April 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
6	"1028 Teeth"	Charles Randolph-Wright	Hannah Ahn & Charlie Paulin	April 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
7	"The Field Guide to Jared Grace"	Aron Eli Coleite	Aron Eli Coleite	April 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
8	"The Wrath of Mulgarath"	Maurice Marable	Jenn Kao & Aron Eli Coleite	April 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)

Production

On November 12, 2021, it was announced that a television adaptation was in development for Disney+, with Aron Eli Coleite serving as writer and showrunner. The series would be a co-production between Paramount Television Studios (whose film division distributed the 2008 feature-length adaptation of the books) and 20th Television. Work on the series began by February 2022. In May 2022, Kat Coiro joined as an executive producer and director for the first two episodes.

Christian Slater joined the cast as Mulgarath in August 2022. He is reportedly set to appear only through the first season. Later that month, Lyon Daniels and Noah Cottrell were added to the cast. On August 30, Joy Bryant joined the cast as Helen Grace. Mychala Lee joined as Mallory Grace in mid-September.

Principal photography began on September 12, 2022, in Vancouver, Canada, and was scheduled to conclude on January 27, 2023.

Release

The series was released in its entirety on April 19, 2024, on the Roku Channel, consisting of eight episodes. It was previously set to release on Disney+ consisting of six episodes, however in August 2023, Deadline reported that the series was no longer moving forward at Disney+ due to cost-cutting reasons, despite having been already completed, and would be shopped to other networks. In October 2023, Roku had picked up the U.S. exclusive rights to the series.

In New Zealand, the series was released on TVNZ's streaming service TVNZ+.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 40% of 10 critics gave the series a positive review, with an average rating of 4.5/10, earning it a "Rotten" score. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 48 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Arezou Amin of Collider gave the series a positive review, awarding the series 7 out of 10 stars. She praised the showrunners' decision to do away with the episodic format of the source material in favour of serialized storytelling, which made it easier for viewer unfamiliar with the original novels. Amin also praised the performance of the cast members particularly Christian Slater and Joy Bryant as Mulgarath and Helen Grace. She also praised the series' character development of the three Grace siblings and the incorporation of their sibling dynamics into the main story plot. However, Amin was also critical of the drawn-out nature of the Grace family conflict. She described the show's visual effects as "remarkable and realistic." Amin also observed that the series chose to emphasize horror over its fantasy elements, but criticised the inconsistent tone of the horror elements throughout the series.

Caroline Siede of The Daily Beast gave the series a critical review, criticizing the series for downplaying the fantasy elements of the source material in favor of contemporary issues such as teenage mental health struggles and family drama. Siede observed the lack of fantasy adventure elements such as fairies and goblins, which she attributed to budgetary restrictions rather than artistic choice. While critical of the series' fractured subplots, she praised the performances of Slater and Woodard.

Aramide Tinubu of Variety gave a predominantly critical review, stating that it "lacks the excitement and adventure" of the source material. While she praised the TV series adaptation for highlighting teenage issues such as dark thoughts, ostracization and perfectionism, she criticized its stalled story spacing, humdrum tone and the "unimaginative and lackluster" fantasy elements. Tinubu was also critical of the showrunners' decision to age the Grace brothers from preteens to teenagers but praised the series for exploring the dynamics between the Grace siblings and Alyvia Alyn Lind's character Calliope.

Emma Stefansky of IGN gave a critical review, stating that "this updated version of the beloved book series only captures traces of the magic." She was critical of the showrunners' decision to age up the main protagonists into teenagers and to de-emphasize the fantasy elements in favor of focusing on real-world issues such as absentee parents, dead relatives, and mental issues. However, Stefansky praised the incorporation of both modern American and international cultural references not found in the source material such as plantations, redlining, South American Manchineel trees, Nazar amulets, and Native American Wendigos.

External links

• The Spiderwick Chronicles at IMDb