Of late, I’ve been watching episodes of a British comedy-drama called “Misfits”. Well, Misfits is essentially Heroes without the big budget and more street cred, but trust me, it is among the most entertaining shows out there. I guess it takes full advantage of the British Censor Board’s comparative lenience, as there are copious amounts of bloodshed, nudity, language and boy, the controversial themes. But that is a post for another time.
You see, when you’ve got a bunch of youths (who are forced to do community service, no less) with superpowers, it is rather hard to suspend your disbelief. As perhaps all engineering undergrads out there, I have the unfortunate tendency to over-analyse what I see. But damn, did the writers do a fine job of sketching out the powers of their title characters! Every single one of them has a superpower that has something to do with how they actually are. It could have been a train-wreck, with tripe like X-ray vision or I dunno, fire/ice breath?! But thankfully, it’s not. Let’s have a look. (Warning: potential spoilers ahead).
Nathan, the lead character in the first two seasons is an obnoxious git, a nuisance to society and a narcissist. Now what better for a guy who only looks out for himself than to never die? We’ve seen him falling off buildings, pummeled to death, impaled and (rather hilariously) blown his brains out! The guy just wasn’t going to leave us anytime soon! And it was a good thing, as he is essentially the comic quotient of the show, leaving minor inconveniences like storyline development (!) to the other characters.
Simon is an outcast, socially awkward and incapable of maintaining a conversation. In fact, perhaps the best thing about this show is his transformation from the ‘weird kid’ to the cool Superhoodie. (By the way, in episode 1 of season 2, we see him recite all the names that he’s been called by Nathan and the others. I haven’t a clue how one won’t burst out laughing then.) But I digress. For a guy who is so awkward and just keeps embarrassing himself, the power of invisibility is a master stroke! It’s got him out of many an escapade.
Alisha is your resident hot chick, one whom men can’t keep their eyes off. What does she do then, when men who touch her skin suddenly go into a frenzy! Now, I’m not sure how exactly this is a good thing to have as a power but then you’ve got to credit the writers here. Not many would buy the concept of a hot bimbo who can fly or beat the crap outta people all of a sudden. Oh, wait. 😛 (Hope that it’s not interpreted wrongly.)
Curtis is an athlete who’s got a holier-than-thou attitude and who gets caught for possession of cocaine. If only he could turn back time and prevent this from happening…wait a minute, he can actually do that now! This is perhaps the most important ability in the first two seasons, with him undoing a lot of scenarios which could have seen the gang finished. He does go back in time to prevent his gear dealing shenanigans but as they say, you don’t mess with time travel, and he realizes the dire consequences of his actions, before correcting it.
Kelly is a hard-nosed, rough accented, tough girl, who’s been called a chav for her horrible dress sense and what not. The only problem (or is it?) is that she can actually hear them think it, and other things too! This leads to a number of comic moments especially when she hears Nathan thinking about her, but it has also come in handy, most importantly when she listens to Nathan ‘knocking one out’ in his own coffin!
Rudy replaces Nathan as one of the gang from the third season onwards. He’s got, for lack of a better term – a split personality. The antics that ensue when his other personality actually gets out of him are awesome, to say the least. I may be in the minority here, but I’m one of those who prefer Rudy’s character to that of Nathan’s. True, Nathan does put in some classic one-liners, but Rudy just has to turn up on screen to send viewers into peals of laughter.
Seth, the dealer of powers plays a more important role in the third season. Formerly a dealer of gear, he makes a lot more cash in his new dealings. Add his high powered body guard and we’ve got a lot of potential storylines there.
Even the villains we’ve seen in this show have got some pretty apt powers, be it the comic book fan who can virtually create events as he sees fit, the girl who can freeze time, the psychotic probation worker, the old lady who wants to be young again, girls who want to heal the world and make everyone behave alright and the list goes on and on.
I can’t emphasize enough how good the writing and the acting in the show is and am eagerly waiting for the next season. Too bad it’s in December 2012! Damn.
Any how, if YOU were in that electric storm, what power would you get? Worth a thought.
Cheers!
(Picture Credit – tvrage.com)
The Sunny Narrative 