finished last night. i'd say after episode 5, this starts to get really captivating. the breakdown and frailty of the clans of gelfling is a strong subplot that carries the next few episodes, until they unite against the skeksis. the battle sequences are extremely well crafted, balancing the puppetry with CGI FX.
it wound up being a lot better than i was expecting when i first saw the trailer months ago. i've seen some "dark crystal" purists on social media dismiss it, but none of the ones who have disliked it have watched the entire 10 episodes. some couldn't get past the pilot. if you can withstand the exposition in the beginning, and the complexity of the world, i think you'll find it a satisfying fantasy epic.
my only two gripes would be: the heretic & mystic's "opera" full of meta jokes that i thought didn't belong and were over the top; and, the one drawback of puppetry is...there isn't much of a way of showing emotion or reaction in a character's face. sometimes a contortion due to an emotional outburst is necessary, and that doesn't come through with these effects. it leaves it kind of stilted and sometimes even silly.
but overall, i really enjoyed this, better than i remember liking the original movie (which i now want to re-watch, of course). and i look forward to it continuing. i've heard it's being renewed for a second season.
out of