The Plot? A bunch of young offenders get super powers and fail to do anything worthwhile with them. But it’s much, much funnier than that.
It’s outright disgustingly (in a good way) hilarious. It’s just started a third series in the UK - all three of which are available from 4od. There’s only 6 episodes a series so its easy to see them all!
Are there any other fans here? My favourite thing about the show is that it never relies on misunderstandings or other techniques that other programmes use to create a false sense of drama. When weird and crazy stuff happens - they just explain it to the others! No heavy sighing and secrets that end up screwing over the others.
Oh and my second favourite thing is the powers and how they relate to the characters- they’re so appropriate and even the ways in which they’re broken make utter sense.
I don’t want to spoil it for you so I’m not going into details but the first episode pretty much sets up the series!
I started a thread on it last June. I’ve seen the first two seasons now and, I’ll tell you, it’s by far the best SF on TV (and I’m a Doctor Who fanatic).
It’s not just the five main characters getting superpowers; it’s everyone in the area. The show veers from hilarious comedy to heartbreaking drama without missing a step and you’re constantly being surprised, not only by the plots, but by the way things are revealed – and the mysteries always have a big hint that you don’t get until hindsight.
For instance, the first season arc had to do with figuring out what Nathan’s power was. Once it’s revealed, you think back and realize that the practically waved a flag in front of you at one point to tell you what it was, but the story was so well constructed that no one caught on.
It also has some nice character growth and change. There’s one episode where someone sees something that tears her apart, and, at same time, makes her feel very happy.
Series 3 has been a disaster. Just plain crap- Alternative Nazi Reality episode notwithstanding.
It’s just so lazy. Can’t bother with getting a new setting, so they just look for a dumb excuse to get them back into the center. The actor playing Nathan leaves, and instead of retooling the scripts clearly already made with Nathan in mind, just get a new character with, what a coincidence, his exact personality. This last episode with the body swap? They weren’t even fazed to realize that the actress playing Kelly is just unable to speak in a non-chavy accent, so they went with it anyway.
If you haven’t seen series 3, don’t. It will just spoil the memories of two excellent seasons.
Loved the character of Nathan, not a big fan of the neo-Nathan. Just when I thought his douchebaggery could not get any more exaggerated, there he goes again. “This is why people kill you” delivered flat and matter-of-factly may be my favorite line in all of television.
Simon’s arc has been pretty well handled, although it is beginning to seem that Alicia is just a McGuffin with a useful talent at this point. She had such potential in the first series.
Curtis has been a fairly consistently interesting character, although I’m not sure I like the way they’re taking his/her character.
I just have no clue what they’re doing with with Kelly and Seth, although it has potential.
I’ve been devouring all episodes so far for the last month or so. There’s some ups and downs in quality, but so far each episode has managed to surprise me.
And it’s still about twenty times better than most other stuff on TV.
I’ve only seen the first three episodes and have seen little comedy, just whiny post-adolescents. If I want to listen to whiny post-adolescents I’d pay more attention to my children, but I’ll give it another try. As for Nathan’s power (apparently not flying because that was a different Nathan on a different show) I have this theory based on your statement that they were telling us all along:
[spoiler] The powers are given based on what the characters want: Kelly hears thoughts, seemingly only about her, because she is concerned what people think of her; Alisha is irresistibly desirable because she believes her self worth is based on how attractive she is; Curtis wants nothing more than a second chance to not make the drug deal; Simon wants to fade into the background so nobody makes fun of him; Ruth wanted to be young again; and the probation officer really wanted to kill all of the little punks. And who can blame him.
Therefore, based on his behavior, I believe Nathan wants to be immortal so he can come back to life every time he’s beaten to death with a cricket bat. [/spoiler]
By the way, if you can access the “on demand” parts from Channel 4’s website check out the 12 minute online-only video which shows how come Nathan never returns from vegas. I don’t seem to be able to link directly to it and I think you have to actually sign up to “4 On Demand” to be able to watch it but IMO it’s well worth the hassle. It’s called “Vegas Baby”.
You should just use a VPN and watch via www.4od.com This week was pretty damn funny - pregnant Curtis! And in the grossest way possible. Also I wonder how Rudy* got out of the police station so quickly after exposing himself to 8 your old girl…
*I saw another site refer to them as Prudy and Crudy. I think it works well.
After watching the 6th episode of the 3rd season, I’ve got a theory about Rudy:
After his speech and his realisation he’s been an utter dick, AssholeRudy gets so close to KindRudy that his split personality issues are resolved, and he’ll be unable to split again.
I could see that happening. Btw guy’s I don’t know if Hulu put up the online episodes, there was one with Nathan in vegas at the end of Season 2 and there’s one that went up last week about the gang (we need a cutesy nickname for them) finding the guy who does all the graffiti they keep cleaning up.
Really? My friend and I both caught on at that point and complained how ridiculously obvious it was.
The current season is all right. Not as good as the first two, but I still think it’s entertaining enough. I miss Nathan though. And it really bugged me that Curtis’s girlfriend was forgotten so quickly.
I’m guessing it’s the alternative history episode, where Nathan is the only survivor of the youth worker’s attack. In fact, of course, he was killed with the others but resurrected.
Season 3 is watchable but disappointing, the first 2 were better. I have suspected all through season 3 that power dealers dead gf would be coming back, so no surprises there. Rudy is pointless and the powers reboot sucked somewhat too.
I agree about the power swap. It was clearly done for the convenience of the scriptwriters - to give them a new set of powers to work with - rather than arising out of the logic of the fictional world. I can see why Alisha would want to get rid of her old power, and her new power is a good one. Simon is a debatable case, since both his original power and the new one are useful. But Curtis’ power is absurd, I have difficulty in believing Kelly’s swap, and who the hell would switch Nathan’s power? Furthermore, Rudy - who is an amusing character but has an almost useless power and one he hates - has not attempted to swap despite having regular contact with the dealer.
