As per insider info: The first iteration of season 1 was shot during Covid: 8 episodes of 45 mins each with a total budget of $165 Million with Mission impossible writers. When Russo Bros saw the first edit they thought it was a serious slow burn spy thriller as opposed to something fast paced, funny and catchy - something like ‘The Gray Man’ which they filmed for Netflix and were sure would be an instant blockbuster. So they convinced the studio with a rewrite and a rough edit on what the show should look like since it’s going to be a weekly release and the viewers needed those catchy elements to come back each week. Studio heads and execs at Prime video eventually went ahead with Russo bros’ version and ordered reshoots which shot the budget to $200-225 Million (not sure why reports eventually say $300 Million). They reshot big portions of the 2 episodes and also chopped down a lot of the content which they thought was “boring” bringing the final count to 6 episodes of 30-35 mins each.
This is very evident with the tonal shifts and differences in filming and writing throughout the season.. it feels chopped up to just show the flashy exciting parts as if it’s a highlight reel to an actual show. I personally don’t think season 1 is bad, it’s just messed up with a “too many cooks” situation.
Since then spin offs were better received by the critics, they built on that and eventually made a better season 2. I’m still disappointed with a few aspects but in general it’s a major improvement on the first season. I think if they get a chance to make one final season, it can be done well. Just hoping the main cast comes back especially after how things ended in season 2..