Misfits 1 & 2 - the Ecstasy & the Agony

Misfits, Series 1 blew my mind but Series 2 broke my heart. The ecstasy of series 1 and the subsequent agony of series 2 has left me to this day, deeply scarred and wondering what went wrong? The writer/creator didn’t change, the directors didn’t change and none of the main characters left.  The kind of pain that Series 2 inflicted is not usually experienced till after Series 3 when the writers run out of fresh ideas and/or the characters leave school. (A series that starts in school, should stay in school. Watch Buffy  if you don’t believe me)

So Misifts, is about teens, I am horribly addicted to teens but especially Brit teens (As in Shameless & sometimes Skins) as they are always doing more sex, drugs, and swearing (in better accents)  than their clean and shiny Yankee counterparts. Plus the soundtrack is bound to be better. So 5 teens shoved together doing community service is tasty enough BUT struck by lightning and given freakish super powers, then my cup overfloweth!

My particular faves, the obnoxious pretty boy.                               

Bad Sweater but look at that skin, that hair, those eyes.

And the tough chick who won’t take any shit but is an inner softy.

And there was  more than the token black person. Alas there was no token gay boy but such was the brilliance of Series 1, I didn’t care. If you know me, you know this is HUGE !!! I consider it a prerequisite that at least one person (of either gender) is gay. And in an ideal world two, not including love interests and randoms.I know, I know, I’m living in a dream world…

               Alisha               Curtis                    Kelly                    Nathan                  Simon

All the characters on Misfits 1 were damned appealing because they were hapless and real and unheroic. They had great cast chemistry & tension even without their superpowers. The powers themselves were erratic, weird and mostly unfun. Misfits 1 stayed away from the superhero clichés, there was no big baddie to overcome, no creepy government organisations to elude, no world saving, no media coverage, and no cheesy time travel. (Time travel was exceptionally uncheesy)
It brilliantly mixed Sci Fi/Action with Drama/Comedy. It was dark, tense, crass, touching and fucking hilarious in a way that has never quite been done before. And maybe (*SOB*) never will be again.


And then came series 2  (Drumroll of doom and Spoiler Alert)
The whole thing went down the toilet. Cheesy world saving, naff heroism, naff time travel, naff media coverage & even a naff super hero costume joke.

 

Unlike the first season which explored each character and their powers more deeply in a single episode, Series 2 just has a different ‘baddie of the week’ and it becomes (excuse my bad pun) increasingly weak. The group becomes separated from the “real” world. Killing by accident or in self defence, no longer has any consequences so much of the tension, humour and believability (Is that a real word? ) is lost.

Kelly & Curtis just stagnate. Nathan becomes so obnoxious he ceases to be likeable or even pretty. He becomes a gross out caricature (which would be fine but this is not The Inbetweeners) and loses his vulnerable side.  In one “amusing” (NOT) episode twist, he thinks he’s in love with a boy. I should have been over the moon at this faux gayness but I didn’t even enjoy it a little bit coz by then, Nathan  is beyond the pale. See pic below..

Not even a little bit sexy.

Sexual tension that had been set up between  Kelly & Nathan goes nowhere AND sexual activity with future cool hero Simon and party girl Alisha comes out of nowhere.

So there is a now a Future cool Simon + a Present day nerdy Simon  which =  naff heroism and  naff time travel that makes my brain hurt. And when future Simon has to go, hotstuff Alisha falls for weird present day Simon which is totally unbelievable. Plus they miss a massive opportunity for humour and disbelief from the rest of the gang, it is just blithely accepted. Alas they are no longer much of a gang, as less time is spent on the group dynamic and more on their separate & lame storylines. By the Xmas episode, I was weeping into my gin, I mean tea. But I might as well have downed a whole bottle of gin for all the misery Series 2 caused me.

And series 3 is still to come. Part of me hopes that it could rise again like a phoenix from the ashes  (hey it happens, look at Greys Anatomy) but more likely it will drop to new lows especially as Nathan aka Robert Sheehan aka the pretty white boy is departing for a big movie career.

I don't hold out much hope for his career, as he was in this AND it was SHIT ! And he was SHIT in it! And don't be fooled by the suggestive poster, it’s about as raunchy as an episode of  Gilmore Girls. In fact Gilmore Girls is dead sexy when compared to this movie. (Rupert Grint was OK though, so fans of his need not be worried about his post HP career, he will be alright.)






But will I be alright after the further agony that is Misfits Series 3? I can't not watch it. That would be like turning away from a car crash (actually I find it quite easy to turn away from car crashes I am very squeamish) but not TV programmes that I used to love. Exhibit A -  I watched ALL of Skins 5 which was total and utter shit ! The demographic of 16 - 25 years olds were driving away in droves but not me, I hung on through 8 epsiodes with barely a glimmer of light in the hope of these two tortured and beautiful characters hooking up.

Franky and Matty

Matty and Franky

And they did. They fucking did! Exquisitely so !!

So what have I learnt from this?
NEVER watch anything live. Always, always always be able to use the fast forward button.
And that I will hang in there with any series even if it is on a downward slide into pantsville if there is one or two beautiful pieces of eyecandy. Even more so if that eyecandy is going to hook up. I am a sucker for the angsty eyecandy. (Not a sucker of, coz that's just getting weird...)