MISFITS

I was just talking about this show in the last post but I wanna talk about the series in more detail. The image above is the moment when these unlikely people receive their superpowers. This show is about a group of 5 young delinquents who are sentenced to having to do court ordered community service for various offences they'd each done in the recent past. The main cast is

Iwan Rheon as Simon
Robert Sheehan as Nathan
Lauryn Socha as Kelly
Nathan Stewart Jarett as Curtis
Antonia Davis as Alisha

There was a 6th member to their crew but he was killed by their original probation officer. The 5 go on to kill their original probation officer because he also gained abilities during a freak thunderstorm (eventually revealed to have given several people special abilities or powers) that caused him to be seek violent justice against troublemakers that he ends up basically babysitting for his job. Simon gains the ability to turn invisible. Kelly, a young woman with a bit of an aggressive streak gains the ability to read minds. Curtis is a young but disgraced track & field star that's in court ordered community service because he's being made an example of by the authorities after being busted for participating in a drug deal. Alisha is a young party girl that gains the dangerous ability of causing anyone that touches her to immediately want to have sex with her. The person touched doesn't remember what happened after Alisha moves away from him or her. Finally, there is Nathan. He seems to be unchanged by the storm but eventually it's revealed that he is immortal. He soon learns that he can also communicate with and see the recently dead.

The writing and acting of the main cast is pitch perfect. They are 5 people that would never have come into contact with each other if it wasn't for their forced community service. Each of them has a distinct personality. Curtis, a disgraced pro athlete is nonetheless still very goal oriented and interested in working hard (despite also being a bit of a womanizer) Nathan is also a womanizer except he's much more arrogant. It's ironic that the one guy that is most likely to get on everyone's nerves with his smarmy humor will possibly outlive the rest of the group. Simon is initially a textbook introvert. He also murders their second probation officer after she manipulates him into thinking that she wanted to be in a relationship with him. She was only looking to find out what happened to the original probation officer (revealed to be her fiance). After he does this second murder, the audience might think that Simon will have a villainous future. Instead, he's revealed to eventually become something like a superhero. Alisha is a party girl that was potentially already sexually destructive with her body. Kelly is someone that regularly got in physical fights with other women. This creates humor with her character because she'd get angry when hearing people's thoughts about her. She'd react the same way as if she'd heard someone actually say something negative against her. Alisha and Kelly both learn to be more caring through the friendship (and further criminal activity) shared between the 5 of them. Alisha also learns that she's fated to have a loving relationship with Simon (because she meets a future version of him). All of these story progressions and details could be thought of as ridiculous. Smartly the writers acknowledge this. Thus the characters come across as more believable because of this fact. Acknowledging the tropes of sci-fi & fantasy shows & movies before it provide a welcome wink to the audience regarding any similarities or influences MISFITS might have with or taken from other shows or movies.

The show is also incredibly efficient in utilizing guest characters for maximum effect. It's apparent from the first episode. The quick murder of the 6th member of their forced community service crew and their shared act of committing the murder of their first probation officer (who tried to kill them) are good examples of guest characters used for very few episodes. The first probation officer isn't seen again until the episode detailing the implications of Curtis' power of rewinding time. He can change the past, albeit with the possible limitation of having to be personally invested in a situation to reverse time. However, I think that Curtis can go back in time regardless of personal investment or not. He just doesn't think that it's ethical to travel back in time without a personal stake. He alters the past to spare his ex-girlfriend from having to serve jail time. This first series episode focused on Curtis also reveals his series 2 love interest for the first time as well. Curtis knew that he had to pursue a relationship with this woman named Nikki once he finally met her in present day. This relationship also mirrors the relationship between Alisha and the future version of Simon. She & Simon later pursue a relationship in the present day time as well. Nathan's secondary ability to have conversations with the recently dead is revealed in an episode where he meets his half brother for the first time. Naturally, Nathan's brother is eventually killed in the course of the episode where he was also introduced. The half brother introduces himself to Nathan by revealing their father tied up in his car trunk/boot. The brothers then proceed to bond over all the ways that their father is a disappointment and how they've both done many things that would disappoint any parent. Both brothers are really funny and entertaining in their own respective ways. I became so invested in Nathan's brother through the course of the episode that by the time he was killed at the end of the episode it was heartbreaking. Curtis' series 2 girlfriend also gains her abilities through a heart transplant from someone caught in the storm that day. This revelation is interesting because it gives a plausible secondary way to gain powers without introducing a character that can transfer powers. This makes the recent second series ending Christmas special even better because in it they finally do introduce a character that can drain and reinsert powers into anyone. The introduction of this character also has given the writers a way to expand the amount of powers available to members of the small main cast. It also provides a plausible source for explaining a rise of superpowered villains if they choose to go down that route. I've only scratched the surface with the storylines introduced thus far.

Did I mention that there have been only 13 episodes produced and aired in total so far. The amount of story and character detail put into the two 6-7 episode series/seasons of MISFITS so far put story and character progression in most North American TV Dramas, Comedies, or Dramedies to shame. Check it out. You won't regret it. The only thing that might put off some people from the show is the sometimes excessive sexuality. Just a warning. Even the sexual encounters help in maintaining the believability of the situation in the show overall.