Review: Misfits - 4.08 - "Episode Eight"

The uneven fourth season of "Misfits" sputters to a close with a bit of a whimper. Good news: it seems almost assured that a fifth season is happening and that the writers have a plan and a few plot threads to unravel. Bad news: they kind of had that this season, and other than a few episodes more or less dropped the ball.

It's not that I didn't enjoy Rudy's quest for love. For all of his inappropriate behavior and deviancy, you can't help but feel sorry for him when he comes to grips with the fact that his love interest is more interested in God. Once again, Joseph Gilgun jumps between absurdity and genuine pathos without missing a step. The big positive is that viewers finally gain something of an emotional connection with the terminal jokester, something a bit deeper than his endless stream of scene-stealing one-liners and awkwardness.

However, this main story suffers from its low budget and the fact that the writers had previously mined similar religious territory in their memorable Christmas episode in season 2. Thematically, the two episodes are pretty different (the consequences of greed in season two versus the tragedy of love), but it's tough not to compare in terms of quality. The low budget mostly rears its ugly head with the reveal of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse -- the site of four plainly-lit diminutive figures with oversized black hoods riding BMX bikes with katana blades was a bit of a letdown. If finances were an issue then perhaps villains of that scope would be best served to stay in the shadows, in a 'what we don't see is far more terrifying' fashion.

Elsewhere, Alex gets reacquainted with a returned loved one: his dong. Understandably, his swagger and libido has returned with it, which is unfortunate for Jess. He proves himself not to be such an asshole, and his set-up for next season is done in the typical "Misfits" self-aware fashion ("Curtis told me about this girl he was seeing and she had a heart transplant. She ended up getting a teleportation power and then ended up getting killed by a guy who controlled cheese... What's the chance of it happening again, really?"). Less clear for next season is where Abby goes -- her blank slate character and unfiltered honesty wore a bit thin as the episode went on, so hopefully she discovers her personality early next year.

While the season wasn't up to par with those of the past, "Misfits" remains one of the more entertaining shows on television (or, if you're in the US, on Hulu). I'm hopeful that season four is equivalent to the second season of "Walking Dead" -- slow, with a lot of set-up to get us used to the characters so that we're more attached in the current, pretty damn epic season. Unfortunately, we have a long time to wait and see if this is an accurate assessment.

Final Grade: B