Misfits premiered in 2009 and ran for three seasons. It follows a group of young offenders who get sent to community service after being caught with drugs. They are given a task to clean up local parks. What they don’t know is that a lightning storm hits during their first session, and each of them gains a strange power. The show is a mix of horror, comedy, and science fiction, and it leans heavily on character development rather than spectacle.
Trailer, via Hulu.
The Lightning Storm
The premise is simple. Five people get caught with drugs, and instead of jail, they are sentenced to community service. They are assigned to a park to pick up litter. Then the storm comes, and everything changes. Nathan gets super strength. Simon can travel back in time. Kelly can control electricity. Curtis can make objects move without touching them. Everyone else gets nothing.
The show doesn’t explain why the storm happened. It doesn’t need to. The characters react to their new abilities, and the consequences follow them through every episode. The storm is a disaster, and the people who survived are paying for it.
Curtis and Kelly
Curtis is the heart of the show. He’s a petty criminal, a thief, and a liar. But he’s also loyal, funny, and genuinely kind underneath. His power lets him move objects with his mind, and he uses it to help the group. He’s the one who figures out the rules of their powers, and he’s the one who tries to keep everyone safe.
Kelly is the opposite. She’s a teenage girl who has been used and abused her whole life. She controls electricity, and she uses it to hurt people. She’s angry, violent, and often cruel. But she’s also scared, and she’s the one who wants to understand what happened to them. The contrast between Curtis and Kelly drives much of the drama in the first season.
Simon and Nathan
Simon is a quiet, awkward kid who can go back in time. He uses this ability to fix problems, to redo conversations, to change small details. But he can’t change the big things. He can’t save his father from dying, and he can’t stop the storm from happening. His frustration builds over the course of the series.
Nathan is the loudmouth, the bully, the one who thinks he’s better than everyone else. He gets super strength, and he uses it to beat people up. He’s the leader of the group, even though he doesn’t deserve the position. He’s also the one who gets in trouble the most, and he’s the one who learns the most about himself by the end.
The Third Season
The third season is the best of the show. It’s darker, more political, and more mature. The group faces a government conspiracy, a secret organization, and a threat to their lives. The writing becomes more ambitious, and the characters face harder choices. The finale is one of the most talked-about endings in British television history.
The show also introduces a new character, a young boy named Rudy, whose presence changes everything.
Comedy and Horror
Misfits is a show about young people with strange powers, but it’s not a superhero show. It’s a show about people who are damaged, who have made mistakes, and who are trying to survive. The comedy comes from the absurdity of their situations. Curtis figuring out how to use his power without drawing attention. Nathan getting stronger while still being a jerk. Kelly using her electricity to fry food.
But the horror is just as present. There are monsters, there are deaths, and there are moments of genuine dread. The show doesn’t shy away from the dark side of its premise. The lightning storm was a disaster, and the people who survived are paying for it.
The Cast
The cast is excellent across the board. Robert Sheehan plays Curtis with warmth and menace in equal measure. Emily Browning brings a cold intensity to Kelly that makes her terrifying and sympathetic at once. David Tennant is perfect as Simon, a man who can’t fix the things that matter. Danny John-Johnson plays Nathan with a sneer that never goes away, and he makes the character likable despite his flaws.
The Legacy
Misfits ended in 2011, and it has been praised ever since. It influenced other shows, and it has a dedicated fanbase. The show is available to stream, and it remains a cult classic. The critical score is 7.6 out of 10.
| Season | Focus | Tone |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introducing the powers | Comedy-drama |
| 2 | Dealing with the consequences | Darker, more mature |
| 3 | The final confrontation | Political, tense |
The show is not perfect. Some episodes drag, and some plot threads are left unfinished. The pacing isn’t consistent, and the middle season suffers from filler. But the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. The characters are memorable, the ideas are original, and the execution is confident.
“You think you’re special. You’re not.”
That line, spoken by Kelly to Curtis, sums up the show’s philosophy. These people are not heroes. They are survivors. They got lucky, and they have to live with that luck. Misfits is a show about fate, about responsibility, and about the people we become when we can’t control our own lives.
It’s a show that rewards attention and that stays with you after you’ve finished watching. It’s not for everyone, but for those who connect with it, it’s a masterpiece. Misfits is a show that understands that the worst things happen to the people who need them the most.
Misfits is a show that deserves its reputation. It’s a show that anyone interested in character-driven science fiction should watch. It’s a show that proves that horror and comedy can coexist in the same hour. It’s a show that is better than its premise suggests it could be.
The score is 7.6 out of 10.
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