Misfits has over the last three years, asserted itself as easily the finest superhero show ever to come on television. The key to it all? Making them all rubbish.
Misfits core concept still stands as an incredibly brave thing to do by its creators. Think about it, what are the principle factors of superheroes? They’re good, honest individuals who gain powers to help them fight justice. Now, how many of those apply to any of the Misfits lot? Absolutely none of them.
Heroes tried to be serious, with characters with the typical, useful powers. While it worked at first, the bandwagon soon fell over. Smallville tried and never truly captivated with its tale of a young Clark Kent and while Arrow shows definite promise to lead the serious pack, even its first few episodes didn’t make the same impact as E4’s amazing show.
By making its characters flawed, rounded and slightly selfish youngsters all given powers that barely help them keep out of trouble, Misfits offered something totally new.
While so many times we’ve seen heroes with the power of flight or super-strength, we’ve never seen powers such as dairy manipulation, taking away people’s hair and the ability to swag gender at will. Instead of plot points, Misfits uses its powers for the punch lines to fantastic effect.
It’s a vein of humour that runs throughout the entire show, as nearly every other line of dialogue is a fantastic joke. Be it Kelly’s fantastically earthy language and cracking put-downs or Nathan and his replacement Rudy being as crude as humanly possible, the show’s trademark is its fantastically tuned funny bone.
Misfits also made one crucial decision, make the show about the characters and let the story follow. It’s a trick often used by the brilliant Joss Whedon and lets the show feel wonderfully alive and free from constraint. Misfits has never felt the need to brush over character development to move some grand story ahead, actively taking the opposite route entirely.
It’s all made possible with the show’s fantastic cast. Robert Sheehan in the first two years of the show was an absolute revelation as Nathan, the gobby, highly inappropriate and utterly hilarious member of the original group. Lauren Socha as the straight-talking Kelly and Iwan Rheon as the quiet Simon were also phenomenal throughout their time on the show.
While we all wait to see if Misfits can maintain the magic following the departures of all but Curtis from its original cast, the introduction of Rudy (the amazing Joseph Gilgun) last year gives us hope that the show’s writers can still come up with brilliant characters.
If newcomers Jess (Karla Crome’s taking over TV this year) and Finn are even half as good as their predecessors, our favourite young offenders are in for another stellar year.
Misfits Series 4 starts this Sunday at 10pm on E4.
FemaleFirst Cameron Smith
Tagged in Heroes Misfits Iwan Rheon