In a world that preaches abstinence and morality at every turn, a world whose most spouted ideals are along the lines of improvement and hope for the future, it’s refreshing to see a show look those ideals square in the face and say, “Screw that!” Misfits celebrates the ignorance and unfortunate foolishness of youth as it is, nothing added or taken away from the whole picture. The end result is a show that glories in teenage stupidity without shoving a morality message down your throat.
Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend this show to just anyone. It contains a high amount of violence, nudity, and miscellaneous disturbing situations and concepts, in reaction to some of which I had to pause for a minute and ask, “Really? Did they really just…?” Yes. They really did. But for all of that, it manages to be unexpectedly sweet and genuine in the strangest of ways.
For example, the character Nathan is by far the most crude, abrasive, and blatant example of the stupidity of youth theme, yet under all that he possesses a strange fragility, an inkling that there’s really much more underneath his shocking front of vulgarity. Late in the first season, there’s a scene in which he visits his father after years of denying his very existence and there’s a moment of tense silence…which Nathan succinctly breaks by punching his father square in the face. Afterwards, when asked why he did that, he has a moment of adorable confusion, simply saying, “I didn’t know what else to do!”
Okay, so now we know the essence of the show, but what is it about? Well, imagine, if you would, what South Park would be like if it was live-action. Now mash that with Heroes and maybe a little bit of Supernatural and you have your general, run-of-the-mill episode of Misfits. Five troubled teenagers (by name Nathan, Curtis, Simon, Kelly and Alisha) are sent to community service after committing some minor offenses. One freak thunder-and-hail storm later, our heroes now each have unique powers, some super, some decidedly not. Figuring out what they are and how they work will take up a good portion of the episodes. The main characters, however, are not the only ones effected by the storm. Their supervisor Tony ends up with some unexplained evil powers most likely fueled by his anger issues. When he goes on a rampage after the kids, they end up killing him in self defense. The rest of the season mainly revolves around trying to hide their crime, even if it means committing more along the way.
But let’s talk more about these characters and what they can do. Curtis, the Olympic-bound athlete recently caught with possession of cocaine, has the power to rewind time when feeling immense regret. Simon, the quiet, nerdy kid that no one seems to notice or remember, can become invisible when he’s feeling especially left out. Noticing a pattern yet? All of these powers are centered around the kids’ flaws and deepest desires but, in this case, taken to the extreme. Let’s not forget Alisha, whose self-confidence issues are reflected in her ability to send anyone into a sexual frenzy just by touching them. Kelly, constantly afraid of what people are thinking about her, gains the power to read minds when she thinks people are judging her, though this tends to be most of the time in her case. Smart-mouthed Nathan is the only one seemingly unaffected, though his powers are eventually revealed to be immortality and an unexplored connection to the dead. As this reveal contains many spoilers, especially for the season finale, that’s all I’m going to say about that.
So why should you watch Misfits? Because it’s unique, hilarious, and one of the best drama series I’ve ever seen. Simple as that.
10/10 for Acting
With a show as vulgar as this, it would be easy for the lines to sound contrived and ridiculous, but these actors manage to pull it off as something so natural you soon forget that this isn’t how they act in real life. Special mention goes to Robert Sheehan as Nathan for bringing such a colorful and utterly ludicrous character to the screen. Bravo, sir.
8/10 for Story and Writing
Honestly, in regards to story, this is the only area that I think the show suffers a little. The writing is top-notch and very believable, but the story tends to drag in some places, especially near the middle of the seasons. On a graph, it would be something of a valley shape, if you will.
10/10 for Visuals and Sound
The quirky shooting and soundtrack really brings an extra level to the themes of the show. Plus I didn’t think a live-action TV show would ever have an opening to compete with some of my favorite animes.
9/10 for Entertainment Value
This would be a 1000/10 in my opinion, but I do have to factor in the opinion of the masses. This show isn’t for everyone, but the people that it is for would most likely agree: quirky, hilarious, with just the right about of genuine drama and emotion.
8/10 for The Feed Factor
A couple of things to mention in this category, but not too much. The creator Howard Overman is best known for his work on the scripts of Hotel Babylon, Hustle, and Merlin, unfortunately the last of which is the only one I can vouch for, having never seen the first two. Recently he is working on the screenplay for an upcoming adaptation of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency simply titled Dirk Gently. The main cast are all highly talented up-and-coming young actors such as the previously mentioned Robert Sheehan and successful Welsh actor Iwan Rheon.
45/50: Good score, great show.
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