Genre: Sci-Fi | Comedy | Drama
Directors: Tom Green, Tom Harper
Created by: Howard Overman
Written by: Howard Overman
Cast: Robert Sheehan, Lauren Socha, Iwan Rheon, Antonia Thomas, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett
Discs: 2
Running Time: Approx. 276 minutes plus bonus features
Aspect Ratio: 16×9 Enhanced
Summary:
Written and created by Howard Overman (Merlin), Misfits took home the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Drama Series and continues to earn international acclaim. The provocative show GQ called “outstanding” proves that superpowers, hormones and court-ordered community service are an entertaining mix.
Kelly (BAFTA-winner Lauren Socha), Nathan (Robert Sheehan, The Borrowers, Season of the Witch), Curtis (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), Alisha (Antonia Thomas), and Simon (Iwan Rheon) are five unruly teenagers forced to do community service as payback for their crimes. But when a freak electrical storm hits their town, strange things begin to happen to the gang as they discover that they have each developed a superpower, one that reveals their deepest, darkest insecurities. Though they just want to finish their community service and get through the challenges of everyday teenage life – relationships, friendships, parents, and sex – fate has another task in store for them: they must save their town from the evil that has descended upon it. With abilities ranging from invisibility to hearing people’s thoughts, these young malcontents are going to learn that having great power sure can get in the way of having a great time.
This show is so much better than the publicity for it. So. Much. Better. The summary above has been provided to us. Here’s my summary:
Misfits is about 5 teens who are sentenced to community service for a wrong they each committed. They are strangers to each other, and share only the fact of their sentence and the fact that they don’t quite fit in – Misfits, see? – just like nearly every other teen on the planet. As a result of a freak storm that hits early on in the first episode, they – and others – suddenly have some new and unique-to-each abilities that reflect something that’s going on in their lives. It isn’t always a good thing, and it cannot usually be controlled.
This is not a romp, nor a soap, nor a superhero show. It’s a horroramady, with the comedy being mostly incidental. It is alternately scary, sad, sweet, funny, edgy, dramatic, tense, off-putting, and ultimately, addictive.
At the beginning of the series, none of these teens are people with whom most of us would want to spend any real-life time. By the end of the 6-episode first season, we care about each of them, both because they evolve personally and because we learn more about them. We still wouldn’t necessarily want to spend any time with most of them, but we care about them. And that’s one of the things that’s brilliant about this show. They are in trouble and we are given a reason early on to want to see them prevail. When that is combined with well-written multidimensional characters, we end up pulling for them with all their faults.
The show reminded me a great deal of The Fades (though I expect that if I saw Misfits first it would be the other way around), a series that I absolutely loved. This age group is the same or just a bit older, but the style and setting look and feel very similar. The Fades has the upper hand for me, partly because the emphasis of that series was on the mythology, partly because I genuinely liked the main characters without reservation, but this series is a nice healthy second, and happily has made it beyond one season.
The setting of Misfits does a great deal to enhance and support the story. According to one of the bonus features, a decision was made to have the location not be suburban but rather “edge of urban,” and they’ve found a place that works perfectly. A little cold, a little empty, a little stark, but bits of beauty. Almost everything everywhere is gray, except for the orange jumpsuits each of the main characters has to wear during community service. Speaking of that, they’re each there under an ASBO (Anti Social Behaviour Order), a term you’ll hear from time to time.
(Which leads me to one more incidental mention – one of the characters has a really strong accent that isn’t always crystal clear to American ears, so if you find it insurmountable, subtitles in English only are an available option on the main menu.)
The direction also does a lot for the look of the series – a lot of handheld cameras and interesting angles that add motion and weirdness that is absolutely perfect for this show. The music is subtle, the editing seamless, all of the effects are professional, resulting in a completely insular, spare production that supports the dialogue, action and storyline deftly.
Other than being distracted by how very much Lauren Socha looks like her brother Michael, who plays young werewolf Tom on the UK version of Being Human, and recognizing Iwan Rheon as the face of Misfits in most of the publicity, I was unfamiliar with the principals of the production and easily believed each of them to actually be their characters. Yes, they are that good. It was interesting to see Michelle Fairley in a small role in a contemporary setting, since I mostly know her from her portrayal of Catelyn Stark (the mom) in Game of Thrones, but she’s of course an excellent actor so it was more an interesting note than a distraction. A very strong cast overall, and terrific performances throughout.
Before moving on to the actual physical DVD, I just need to reinforce how unfortunate the marketing of this series was for me. The only thing I knew about the series, other than the fact that it’s extremely popular in its native UK, was from the press releases and the clips, which were taken completely out of context and are seemingly only used to get 13-year-old boys to watch. I was in fact kind of dreading watching the DVDs, figuring it would be one interminable eye-roller for me. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s like they were hiding the show from me. Yes, there’s a lot of sex in the series – it isn’t one that teens will want to watch with their parents in the room, and vice versa – but taken out of context, the clips make the show look like some insipid, trashy, lowest common denominator, parents’ worst nightmare kind of show, when in fact it has so much more to offer. It’s sad for me to think that is what The Powers That Be think everyone wants to see, and that they’re going to somehow trick us into watching what is in fact a much richer, so much better show.
Moving on. The packaging for the DVD set is a standard keep case inside a slipcover, with two swing-trays inside, one for each of the two discs. Disc One contains episodes 1-4, and Disc Two contains episodes 5 and 6, and the bonus features (which the viewer should save until after watching the entire season, to avoid spoilers):
Interviews: Nathan, Alisha, Curtis, Simon, Kelly, Tom Green – director; Tom Harper – Director; Petra Fried – Executive Producer; Tom Bowyer – Production Designer
These are fairly brief, and are primarily interviews of each, about their characters and about the show.
Simon’s Films:- Not Aquaman; Girl Talk; Stoner; Area 51
These are the full versions of videos shot by the character Simon, and they’re great. The last part of the last one is hilarious.
The Making of Misfits: Ice Storm; Roof Stunt; Finding Our Misfits
The first two are making-of featurettes on two special effects; the last is about the cast. Although I didn’t time them, I’d say each of these featurettes is probably about 10 minutes long.
The first season of this series is terrific, and watching the episodes straight through in a row is definitely a recommended way to spend a day. I am now a fan, enough of a fan that I’ll have a rewatch soon, and that rewatch may even bump it up a level on the scale. I can’t wait to check out Season 2.
I give Misfits: Season One Four Out of Five Stars.
Misfits: Season One is available to order now! Here’s the link:
[AMAZONPRODUCT=B0083VOUFO]
