Views from the Reading Room

Obviously I'm not the target audience for this, as it first ran on BBC3, but as mentioned in a previous post on this topic, I decided to try the first series and report back.

The last episode is a big improvement (some of the others are a real slog), but doesn't make the whole series worth it imo (and doesn't stand alone). The kids become less stereotyped by the end, but that's by adding more detail; I didn't feel it was deconstructing the stereotypes or anything. In fact, it affirms some of them, but that's getting into spoiler territory.

Each of the Misfits gets an episode or half an episode, but the series overall seems to be mostly Nathan's story; are we supposed to like this guy? He's a prick. OK, he has a "broken family" background, boo hoo. He's still a prick. Oh yeah, and the rape culture thing? Still present and incorrect.

Also, the end is nasty. It must be some people's nightmare, and I've seen it played as such in another series, where you could say "If this sort of thing gives you nightmares, this isn't the series for you". Here, it's played as ironic or something - the presumed audience must be so blasé. I guess it succeeds in making me want to know how the writers get out of that (I can see possibilities), but with any luck it will have worn off by the time the next series starts. Not a good use of my time, I think.