Initially the only thing that made me watch was the relationship between Paul, Max, and Jay...I found the fades subtext pretty horror-lite and boring. Plus that whole, 'With great power comes great responsibility' cliché it looks like they were building up to was a turnoff.

Damn that changed halfway through, and the mythology they built into the world suddenly got MUCH more complex and less black and white. It was a dark ass show and that ending (horrible cgi aside) was pretty complete AND ominous enough that you want to know more.

Reading the OP it looks like a different director handled each half of the season and it showed. Just great stuff and im all in; I hope we get more seasons.