I think all the reviews (from tv critics and the like) are accurate in that the dialogue is a bit flat, and hence its hard to care for the people uttering it. Jordan's prose was, how do I say it nicely without offending, a bit wordy, so, Rafe and his writers MUST do a better job in future (un-filmed/un-edited yet) episodes by making the dialogue both crisp and informative, or else they will lose all of the viewers who have not read the books. As we know, views drive revenue and revenue is what allows series to continue...

My hope is that they are re-writing as we speak.