Misfits is a new show on BBC’s E4 network.  The premise is that a group of young adults (it’s never really clear how old they are) who have been given community service get struck by lightning during a freak storm.  Slowly they discover that they have powers, like superheroes, only these kids are anything but.

 

The show has aired 2 episodes and I’ve managed to watch them both and I have to say I really enjoyed it.  Misfits is a show that’s rough around the edges stylistically, yet manages to seamlessly combine a number of genres into a show that I think even non-genre fans can enjoy.  Your first thought upon reading the premise is that this is going to be some sort of british version of “Heroes”, but it’s completely different (there’s actually a pretty decent dig at “Heroes” in the first episode).  In fact in the first two episodes the powers aren’t used very often at all and the sci-fi/fantasy aspect of the show is really downplayed by focusing on the characters and what they are going through instead of what they can do.  These aren’t people who want powers and they’re not really putting them to use, not that they know how to control them anyway.

 

Speaking of the powers, I’ll just run through them real quick.  First there’s the girl who gets the ability to read minds. Next there’s the disgraced track star who can reverse time. Then there’s the shy guy who can turn invisible.  And finally there’s the sexy girl who whenever she touches a man they go insane with lust for her.  Also there’s another member of the group who as of yet his power is unknown.  He was in the storm but nothing has manifested itself.

 

The first episode plays like a horror movie and besides setting up the main premise, also sets up a plotline that will probably play out all season (or series as the brits refer to their seasons).  You see when the storm hit our main characters were with their probation officer who was also affected.  He turned into a psycho killer.  That’s why the episode plays out like a horror movie.  It’s bloody, violent, and the tone is definitely horror.

 

In the second episode we learn other people were affected by the storm as well and we meet two of them.  This episode gives us more of a comedic vibe than the first, although there were laughs there as well.  As much blood as there was in the first episode there’s nudity in this episode.  I don’t know anything about british tv channels but I’m assuming E4 is a cable type channel that’d be like an HBO here in the US.  Please clarify for me in the comments if you know better.  But this show contains a lot of cursing, nudity, gore, violence, pretty much everything you don’t show on standard television here in the US (unfortunately we’re horribly repressed).

 

Anyway back to the episode.  It turns out one of the two people we meet in this episode affected by the storm we actually met in the first episode: one of our group’s mom’s boyfriend.  The group finds him naked in an alley.  Later we learn more about what’s going on with him but I’m trying to keep this pretty spoiler free.  The other character is an attractive young woman who has a secret.

 

We don’t see any of the athlete’s powers in this episode, only invisible boy, mindreader girl, and sex girl.  And none of them are really actually trying to use their powers, although there is a invisible boy in the locker room scene.  Also we’re introduced to a new adult figure, the woman who runs the community center that they work out of.  The second episode of Misfits also introduces a little bit of a mystery element to the show.  There’s mysterious instant messages and someone is leaving notes in our gang’s lockers.

 

Anyway I highly recommend this show based on it’s first two episodes and think that most people will find it enjoyable.  It’s aimed at a young adult demographic, maybe 18-30, and if you like genre type shows you’ll probably more readily embrace it.  But give it a shot even if you don’t fit those parameters.  It’s a nice take on a weary story.

 

Misfits airs Thursdays at 10pm on E4 in England.