So... yeah, in case anyone was wondering, as far as adaptations go... The Spiderwick Chronicles series is really bad. Not even the same story. Like... major plot points changed, it was unnecessarily dark (literally and figuratively... seriously! Can we please just stop filming movies and shows so that you still struggle to see after turning the screen brightness up the whole way?), characters were added for no reason at all, a romantic side plot was added for no reason at all, how people were related was changed for the sole purpose of adding extra drama... there were no goblins or hobgoblins (ya know... a pretty major part of the plot). The target audience is wrong. I see "Spiderwick" and want to share the wonder and whimsy of my childhood with my children. I do not want a dark gritty retelling that I can't show them until they are practically an adult and couldn't care less what I'd like to show them from my childhood.
*Please note: I'm not saying it wasn't entertaining to watch. It was alright. It had some decent effects and nice creature design. Thimbletack was very cute! I doubt I'll rewatch it, and I probably won't recommend it to many people. What I am saying is that it is a bad *adaptation.* This was not an adaptation. This was an alternative universe fanfiction that feeds off of nostalgia without actually understanding what people are nostalgic for. It was cool to see a free streaming company pick up a series like this and try their hand at it, and as I said, they did a good job in some areas. I hope they can learn from both the good and the bad and do better in the future.