Misfits

Misfits is the story of what happens if teens who are juvenile delinquents (convicted of minor, not major crimes) get super powers. And as its a British TV show, there's more foul language, rough sex, sharp dialogue,obscenity and eccentricity than it would be if it were an American one. I watched the first one out of curiosity not expecting much, but was hooked. At first (and second and third) glance, the characters are unsympathetic. Kelly- an aggressive version of Vicky Pollard, Alisha- a sexaholic, Curtis a disgraced track star, Simon a kid so withdrawn he's heading into creepy territory, and Nathan the smart-arse whose snark makes you laugh AND want to kill him. A disparate bunch forced to do Community Service under court orders as an alternative to jail. They get superpowers from a freak storm- and then its a thrill ride all the way. Violent attacks, murder, burying bodies..from the action packed first episode its a hair raising thrill ride with some amazing music in the soundtrack. The actors are superb. This is MUST SEE TV!

I hadn't really seen anything about the show before, so I went in blind when I started watching it on Netflix. To my surprise, it was amazing. I loved the characters, especially 'Nathan Young', he was incredibly funny, albeit annoying at times. The rest of the cast had great chemistry, but somewhere along the lines, it just fell apart.

I watched season 1-3, and a few episodes of season 4. But season 4 just ruined everything that I loved about the show. Practically every original character was gone, and I had really grown fond of them, so to see the new faces get introduced killed the vibe.

In my opinion you don't need to see season 4 or 5, as season 3 ended quite good. Horrible, but in a great way, going full circle with everything.

If you want to watch something entertaining, then Misfits is probably for you.

I must admit that not once did I think of 'Heroes' when watching this programme, although now the point has been raised I can see why people would compare the two. What this programme does is show what a fertile ground British TV still is as not only is it very well cast, but the writing, direction and production design match anything that out US friends can do. Along with Skins and The Inbetweeners Channel 4 have now got another great programme that is 'yoof' but also appeals to an older audience. It is very dark, very twisted and quite often very very funny.

Initially I found Robert Sheehan's character 'Nathan' to be really irritating to the point that I thought he would ruin the programme, but as the show progresses he really is the heart of the whole thing and by the end of it I realised he was far and away the best thing in it !

Sheehan is certainly a face for the future, so too Lauren Socha who as 'Kelly' again initially seems like a real 'Chav' before blossoming into a very rounded character who you can sympathise with. Following her work in the Arctic Monkey's 'Scummy Man' promo she could also be one to watch.

If this was US produced I dare say we'd have had a minimum of 12 episodes to season 1, but the six we do get are excellent.

It would be a real crime if this doesn't reappear for a Second Series by the end of the year.

I came to the reviews here to work out whether I should carry on as S4 ep 1 was rough to put it politely. Other reviewers have confirmed that the door should be closed at the end of S3. The loss of major characters and intro of new (less interesting) ones was an error of judgement.

So anyway, seasons 1 to 3 a brilliant ride of madness and crazy adventures, really worth a watch if you like this type of show.

Misfits has been described in a lot of reviews as a cross between Skins and Heroes, however, in my opinion, it doesn't contain the biggest flaws of these shows- pretentiousness or unoriginality. I'm *not* slating these shows, I'm just saying that as quite a comic-book fan, it's difficult to watch or read something about characters with superpowers without ripping it apart- getting irritated by the plot lines that are taken, or 'influenced' from other sources and neither does it have an impossibly good looking set of people living a life you can't help but envy, no matter what drama has unfolded in their life due to partying too hard. Misfits is very unique and while you can guess some plot lines of the show, you can never guess what'll happen next episode.

What Misfits provides is a group of interesting, likable and believable characters involved in well thought-out stories that are not over-complicated but still challenge the audience.

To complete the show, the episodes are also full of thick, dark humour.

Overall, it is an excellent show.