This Underrated 5-Part British Drama Is ‘The Magicians Meets Skins’

2 weeks ago 19

As wild as it may sound, there is a UK sci-fi drama that basically blends The Magicians with Skins, and it remains shockingly underappreciated in the US. Inspiring later shows like HBOMax’s The Nevers, The Magicians did a lot to ensure that the Syfy show was more than just a mother magical school series. Although loosely based on the book trilogy of the same name by author Lev Grossman, the show altered a lot of details from its source material.

However, even The Magicians couldn’t match the edge and maturity of the UK’s earlier cult hit Misfits, an underrated classic about a group of teen delinquents who gain superpowers while doing community service. Essentially a blend of The Magicians and Skins, Misfits began in 2009 and ran for five seasons. The show starred future blockbuster stars Iwan Rheon and Robert Sheehan and obtained stellar reviews early in its run, but never quite managed to win over US viewers.

Despite Running For 5 Seasons, Misfits Still Deserves More Attention

The cast of Misftis season 5, including Joseph Gilgun as Rudy, the replacement for Robert Sheehan's Nathan

Misfits begins when its central quintet of characters, Kelly, Curts, Alisha, Simon, and Nathan, are trapped outside a community center while completing their shared community service. A supernatural thunderstorm grants each of them superpowers, making Misfits one of the first R-rated superhero shows long before The Boys and Invincible brought the subgenre mainstream global acclaim. From Simon’s ability to turn invisible to Curtis’s ability to turn back time, the group seems like straightforward superheroes.

However, this is where Misfits gets interesting. The superpower of each lead character is actually derived from their greatest insecurity, with Kelly gaining the ability to read minds precisely because she is constantly judged by others. Alisha’s comfort in her sexuality results in a power where anyone who touches her is driven into an uncontrollable feral frenzy, while Simon’s sense that he goes unnoticed by others results in his invisibility.

This inventive spin on classic superpowers makes Misfits an ingenious blend of dark, edgy teen drama and playful superhero show. Borrowing from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and British kitchen sink drama in equal measure, the show balances compelling character development with a mile-a-minute twisty plot that is never short on gore, R-rated shocks, or genuinely unpredictable revelations. However, there was one thing holding Misfits back from mainstream acclaim, and it is an issue that has plagued many similar hits from the 2000s and 2010s.

Misfits Nearly Got A US Remake

From its laser-focused deconstruction of chav and ASBO stereotypes to its dry, deadpan sense of black humor, Misfits is extremely, quintessentially British. Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, best known for their work on The O.C., Gossip Girl, and Marvel’s three0-season Hulu hit Runaways, once attempted to mount a US remake of Misfits, but the project fell apart when Freeform was unable to get past the pilot in 2012.

While the pilot’s script was developed around 2012, three years into the critically acclaimed run of Misfits, the show’s pilot itself didn’t come together until 2016. Freeform’s shift to family-friendly content made a show-accurate remake of the original series, which featured plenty of nudity, violence and inventive swearing, impossible. However, it was really the unique cultural specificity of Misfits, and its odd blend of The Magicians and Skins, that ensured this proposed US remake could never have worked.