Welcome back to our TV Preview series! In this half of said series, Emily, Kandis, Stephanie and I will take a look at shows featured in our TV Preview: New Friends post, and let you know what we think you should—and shouldn’t—be watching.
Warning! Possible spoilers ahead.
Inhumans
Premiered: Sept. 29 on ABC (Watch online.)
Twitter Pitch
A group of superheroes who live on the moon are forced to flee to Earth to avoid a royal coup and death at the hands of Ramsay Bolton.
Familiar Faces
Anson Mount as Black Bolt
Iwan Rheon as Maximus
Ken Leung as Karnak
Serinda Swan as Medusa
Faces That Might Become Familiar (If You Keep Watching)
Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon
Isabelle Cornish as Crystal
Ellen Woglom as Louise
Sonya Balmores as Auran
Redeeming Qualities
Kandis: Hawaii?
Mandy: I went into the two-part pilot with low expectations. And when I say low, I mean really low. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting! (It’s still not good, but it’s not as bad as it could be, you know?) Also: There’s a giant bulldog who can transport people from the Earth to the moon. Where can I get me one of those?
Stephanie: Hey, it’s Ken Leung!
It's Not Me, It's You
Kandis: I didn’t expect to like this show. But I didn’t expect to viscerally hate it so much. Are the comics this weird and bad? Everything looks so cheap, from the sets, to the bad Medusa wig, to the giant dog. I barely knew what was going on (or cared) other than, of course, Ramsey Bolton was going to be evil. But that scene where they hold down Medusa so that he can shave her head? Just rapey and horrible.
Mandy: Although we were introduced to the idea of Inhumans in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Inhumans in Inhumans are very different. They live on the moon? They have a monarchy? They have advanced technology? There are inhumans who are literal buildings? I would have liked to get more backstory as to why they were on the moon, how they got there, how long they’d been there, etc. Also, was Medusa named Medusa before she underwent Terrigenesis? Or do the Inhumans choose new names after the get their powers? Was Lockjaw a person, or a dog that accidentally breathed in the Terrigenesis powder? (I should probably read the comics for these answers, as I doubt we’ll get them in the show’s limited run.)
Additionally, the acting was pretty poor, the dialogue stilted, and the plot a little contrived. And I’m really tired of Iwan Rheon playing a bad guy. (He’s so innocently weird, then super hot, in Misfits, guys! He can be a leading man! Or at least not one prone to super problematic treatment of women!)
Stephanie: Opening scene: Island of Oahu, people running in the rain. Me: Ooh, it’s those cool trees from Lost where Kate hid from the polar bear in the pilot! I’m pretty sure that was not the intended takeaway the show wanted me to have, but from the start I was reminded of better told stories than this one. The plotlines were formulaic, the tone was dreary, there was zero humor (one of the best things about the Marvel superhero movies, to counteract the heaviness), and the costume choices were unflattering (the weird purple cutout dress the queen wore? The spray-painted skunk lines on the princess’s hair? So. Much. Black. Leather.). Also, hair that can throw people into walls...what kind of lame superpower is that?
Let's Do This Again
Kandis: Nah, I’m good.
Mandy: I’d like to say that I’ve already called it quits with this show, but … that would be a lie. It honestly could have been so much worse, and I’m a Marvel fangirl through and through. Plus, this show is obviously not long for the world, so I don’t feel bad wasting a bit of time on it.
Stephanie: Nope. The forty-two minute pilot could barely keep my interest, and at one point I tried to fast-forward and Hulu ended up freezing, so I took it as a sign to stop. Peel away the individual superpowers and there is almost nothing original about this show to make it stand apart from so many other fantasies, and ain’t nobody got time for that.
Did you watch? If so, let us know your thoughts below!