I absolutely LOVED this show, don't get me wrong. The skill of these florists and their work is inspiring. However, the way the competition is set up, some of the eliminations are predictable and in other ways, I feel they tried to compensate for that predictability by eliminating contestants that by no means should have gone home. So, by the time they got to the finale, there were contestants that I was baffled at the way in which they were able to fly under the radar even though they didn't quite have the skill set to stand up to earlier eliminated contestants. Again, these are just my opinions coming from a reviewer that could never put together a bouquet regardless. Additionally, I loved that even though this was a competition it wasn't toxic, you could tell the competitors were inspired by each other, and HBO didn't create drama for the sake of drama. I could watch another 5-10 seasons of this. So, I just hope the creators adjust how they do eliminations and maybe end the team challenges earlier on as to let the competitors' solo work speak for itself.
16 Reviews
Really good, unique competition show
codyrodgers9229 April 2021
Full bloom is a very good and unique competition show. There are very touching stories throughout and a lot of talent on display, but it was about 4 episodes too long. If they do a season 2, they should lessen the amount of competitors or cut a couple contestants each episode.
Season 1 is meh/sucky. Season 2 is amazing.
rockstar-3167813 September 2021
Wow, Seasons 1 and 2 could not be more different. All the issues I had with Season 1 were
(1) bad structure of competition. One of the contestants placed first several times, but she was eliminated because her teams didn't do well in the group competition. This is dumb. It means they penalized her basically for being successful individually. And naturally she was very upset being eliminated. Rightly so and not fun to watch or fair.
(2) the judges asked really awkward questions about how contestants feel that are pretty obvious. Like someone will be crying and they judge will be like "how does that make you feel?" and it's pretty obvious how they feel. It's like they were doing things just for TV drama. Like why ask a contestant "who do you think should be cut from the show"? Unless you want a cut-throat show, that's just unnecessary. The contestants clearly like each other. So there's no need to put them on the hot seat. No one wants to say "Take me, kick Adam off" and kind of unfair to expect them to do that.
(3) I like when contestants show emotions, but sometimes it got a bit stale. Perhaps this is partly the judges' fault. Would have felt more natural if it had been more human instead of cold. I personally blame the directors. The contestants were overall very compelling. There had to be a way to keep that, but make the show feel more entertaining. More natural empathy would be better instead of like an interview.
But WOW season 2 did a 180. They fixed all those things. So rare. Rarely do shows admit they screwed up and fix the issues, but they did just that.
Season 2 is amazing and I loved it.
Contestants still super compelling, but now it's competitive in a good and fair way. They also stopped asking for contestant advice on who to send home.
I'd say
Season 1 = 4/10 Season 2 = 9/10.
(1) bad structure of competition. One of the contestants placed first several times, but she was eliminated because her teams didn't do well in the group competition. This is dumb. It means they penalized her basically for being successful individually. And naturally she was very upset being eliminated. Rightly so and not fun to watch or fair.
(2) the judges asked really awkward questions about how contestants feel that are pretty obvious. Like someone will be crying and they judge will be like "how does that make you feel?" and it's pretty obvious how they feel. It's like they were doing things just for TV drama. Like why ask a contestant "who do you think should be cut from the show"? Unless you want a cut-throat show, that's just unnecessary. The contestants clearly like each other. So there's no need to put them on the hot seat. No one wants to say "Take me, kick Adam off" and kind of unfair to expect them to do that.
(3) I like when contestants show emotions, but sometimes it got a bit stale. Perhaps this is partly the judges' fault. Would have felt more natural if it had been more human instead of cold. I personally blame the directors. The contestants were overall very compelling. There had to be a way to keep that, but make the show feel more entertaining. More natural empathy would be better instead of like an interview.
But WOW season 2 did a 180. They fixed all those things. So rare. Rarely do shows admit they screwed up and fix the issues, but they did just that.
Season 2 is amazing and I loved it.
Contestants still super compelling, but now it's competitive in a good and fair way. They also stopped asking for contestant advice on who to send home.
I'd say
Season 1 = 4/10 Season 2 = 9/10.
The Judges are a joke!
sdunn-823835 July 2021
It's just so frustrating to watch because the contestants are amazing, however, the judges seem thirsty for drama and cut some of the most talented people early. The talent is amazing but the judges seem out of touch with reality and over the top. HBO could do way better.
Contestants amazing judges are garbage!
phishav20 June 2021
I have never watched a competition show that gets rid of the most talented people faster. Just be in the middle and you last forever, top three and your on the chopping block. I stopped watching not because the show is not cool but I could not watch another top contestant be eliminated. I seriously hate these judges!
Judges Should Be Eliminated
sunnysand-3010627 June 2021
The contestants - and the floral deliciousness they created - were inspired and inspiring! It gave me such joy to see what the contestants could imagine and bring to life with flowers and other plant materials given the out of the box judging scenarios. Having said that, the judging was heavy-handed and figured way too prominently. Maurice, particularly, had obvious favorites and he gave them specific help to give them an edge during judging. Please, please focus more on the contestants and the flowers in future seasons.
Should have been a parody show
rytrav5 July 2021
The show feels like a parody of reality shows. It would only need minor tinkering to become an awesomely comedic parody. The hosts feel like SNL skit characters who are badgering serious contestants. HBO could have had a comedy hit on their hands if they hadn't insisted on being serious.
Show needs more objective metrics to measure performance and dramatic changes
jessehleung7 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Judges have an inherent bias towards some contestants. The fact that Schentel was eliminated in the first season made it clear. She was objectively one of the best florists in the competition.
Another odd decision is the team challenge. I'm not sure this is representative of the real-world at all (e.g. Artists have time to develop their concept and hire vendors to execute in the real-world). It would have been more opportune if they had 2-3 concept challenges instead to allow for florists to showcase their full talent and take risks, like how the Great British Bake-off is laid out.
Another odd decision is the team challenge. I'm not sure this is representative of the real-world at all (e.g. Artists have time to develop their concept and hire vendors to execute in the real-world). It would have been more opportune if they had 2-3 concept challenges instead to allow for florists to showcase their full talent and take risks, like how the Great British Bake-off is laid out.
Ugliness
drtee-3710514 November 2021
The talent is evident, the judges are delusional.
jon50002 July 2021
I really wanted to like this show as I love most competition reality shows. Especially those about artists. The more niche, the better. This is as niche as it gets, but I was intrigued. I loved the artists and what they created. Sadly, the judging is absolutely absurd. In every single episode they actually cut the most talented one and keep the one who should have gone home in the first weeks. It's so stupid I don't even know what they were thinking. It is not worth watching. Unless you like to see the arrangements that win get worse and worse over the weeks becsuse they cut the best ones early. This has so much potential. But, they really need to fix their judges.
What kind of garbage are we watching now??
rpmedic26 July 2021
Contestants are great, Worst Judges Ever
thankyoutaco25 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This show could be really wonderful to watch and a brilliant show of artistry if they changed two things:
1) Get all new judges. They ruined this show, honestly. Even if they didn't make the absolutely dumbest judging decisions ever, they are still try-hardy, arrogant, obnoxious a**holes who can apparently deliver not a single piece of constructive criticism beyond Maurice's inane "you ruined this piece for me", the high-pitched squeal of her majesty the Queen's personal mustache servant saying "I don't like it", and token tattoo lady who just cries and probably lets Maurice intimidate her out of every decision anyway. Maurice and Simon also have this repulsive habit of attempting to pit the contestants against each other in really blatant and spiteful ways during judging. The contestants are such awesome folks that they refuse to give in, holding on to the bonds they have with each other, which could be more interesting to watch than the massive amount of screen time given to the smug faces of the judges.
2) The format. Don't have a floral competition segment where it's set in stone that someone goes home based on a team activity or leadership skills. That's so incredibly dumb, I don't think I need to say more.
I wanted to love this show but I couldn't. I realized how stressed out the judges made me feel when Schentell was unnecessarily eliminated when she was one of the best designers there. I turned it off and wrote this review when they eliminated Kristen.
1) Get all new judges. They ruined this show, honestly. Even if they didn't make the absolutely dumbest judging decisions ever, they are still try-hardy, arrogant, obnoxious a**holes who can apparently deliver not a single piece of constructive criticism beyond Maurice's inane "you ruined this piece for me", the high-pitched squeal of her majesty the Queen's personal mustache servant saying "I don't like it", and token tattoo lady who just cries and probably lets Maurice intimidate her out of every decision anyway. Maurice and Simon also have this repulsive habit of attempting to pit the contestants against each other in really blatant and spiteful ways during judging. The contestants are such awesome folks that they refuse to give in, holding on to the bonds they have with each other, which could be more interesting to watch than the massive amount of screen time given to the smug faces of the judges.
2) The format. Don't have a floral competition segment where it's set in stone that someone goes home based on a team activity or leadership skills. That's so incredibly dumb, I don't think I need to say more.
I wanted to love this show but I couldn't. I realized how stressed out the judges made me feel when Schentell was unnecessarily eliminated when she was one of the best designers there. I turned it off and wrote this review when they eliminated Kristen.
The judges are the worst and the second season is so bad
singing_trees4 January 2022
Don't even bother it's the worst the flowers are pretty but nobody is happy and all of the contestants are put down by Maurice who wants all of the attention on him ALL OF THE TIME. The structure of the show changed and is so wrong the judges help who they want to win and ignore the others. The first season they got rid of the weakest person and now they keep them till the bitter end and let them win? What I know? The judges were completely unprofessional and biased at all times. And in this was mostly second season, which was awful they changed the format from a contest to what ever what a bad show.
Terrible!! Why not use sustainable methods?
maria-466252 September 2022
First, did we just step back to the 90's or why are the judges so mean? Makes this show feel so nasty with this very outdated approach (for better examples of how to behave better think Glow up, Queer Eye, etc)
Second, and what makes this show feel even more out of touch: why is there absolutely NO effort to create these floral installations using sustainable methods? Regular people might not know that the green floral foam used en masse in this show is terrible for the environment, full of toxins and doesn't decompose in hundreds of years. It is a huge problem in the floral industry and for the world/environment as a whole. This is something the florists and producers of this show must be aware of but choose to ignore.
Second, and what makes this show feel even more out of touch: why is there absolutely NO effort to create these floral installations using sustainable methods? Regular people might not know that the green floral foam used en masse in this show is terrible for the environment, full of toxins and doesn't decompose in hundreds of years. It is a huge problem in the floral industry and for the world/environment as a whole. This is something the florists and producers of this show must be aware of but choose to ignore.
Judges aren't
mj-774883 June 2022
Great concept, beautiful arrangements, bad execution.
All the other subpar reviews mention the judges, and I have to agree. They were my least favorite part of the show. Questionable decisions and clear favoritism.
My second least favorite part of the show was how eliminations came from whatever team lost the group challenges. This often lead to more deserving competitors going home premature.
All the other subpar reviews mention the judges, and I have to agree. They were my least favorite part of the show. Questionable decisions and clear favoritism.
My second least favorite part of the show was how eliminations came from whatever team lost the group challenges. This often lead to more deserving competitors going home premature.
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