I binged this thing so you don’t have to. Not that you shouldn’t, necessarily, but perhaps it will be more of a thing for you than it was for me. I already posted a video review, and I thought I had a pretty good grasp of the show. Supacell takes place in England, in what seems to be a sketchy neighborhood where gangs exist. The iMDB listing for this supports what I swear I picked up from the audio description, and that was that the five leads are all black. It’s in the plot summary for the show, that a group living in this area develops superpowers, and the only thing they have in common is that they are black. Someone is trying to gaslight me in saying that one of them is not black, but they can take that up with iMDB.
the show feels like it is meant to show this racial divide, much like They Cloned Tyrone, which was the first thing that came to mind. Not only do these five develop super powers, but we see them being watched by some mysterious group.One of the five, Michael (Toison Cole) lives a seemingly normal life, with his impending fiancée, until he starts teleporting. Not just teleporting, but time traveling. He gets to see the future, and he sees the others who have developed powers, and their future doesn’t look bright. So, most of the first season are the five being introduced, learning what their powers are, getting some backstory, and coming together for whatever is to come in season 2.
There’s quite a bit of focus on this gang rivalry, as Taser (Josh Tedeku) develops the ability to become invisible, something that truly helps his plans for Top Boy domination. Of all of the people who develop his powers, he seems the least phased, and the one who has the most control of his powers and what he plans to do with them.
That’s one of the things missing from this series, is that it is kind of a dark series, in terms of themes. People are missing, they have to defend themselves from attacks, there’s violence, they can’t catch a break, etc. One character tries to crash with his mom, who lives with someone who is openly racist, and she can’t have him there. I figured this character was biracial, but what a shit thing to be stuck out in the cold because your white mother married someone who sees you as just another black problem.
The stories resonate, and in this day and age where we have a thousand different superhero choices, when something fresh comes along, I enjoy the perspective. Still, I wish one of these five was at least somewhat nerdy enough to experiment a bit with their powers, or find a way to use them for fun (killing rival gang members doesn’t count). The powers here are time travel/manipulation/teleportation, super speed, super strength, telekinesis, and invisibility. You’re telling me none of these guys want to explore something lighter at all? Our super speedster isn’t curious if he can run on water, and our telekinesis person isn’t practicing to see how much she can move with her mind?
I think there is something here, and I will probably watch the second season, but a bit of levity could go a long way with this show. The audio description by Adrenaline Studios did a nice job of establishing these characters who I swear are all black or biracial. Since they’re making quite a point here, it is important to talk about who is what, since there’s a clear divide. Tommy Sanddune narrates, and I thought his voice was fine for the project. The sad truth about the state of audio description is that a predominantly POC show will have better representation in the audio description than a show with white leads. In those shows, too often defaulting happens, where a person’s ethnicity is only mentioned if it is not white. So, it really isn’t a surprise that the audio description was solid here.
I’m not totally sold on the show, and I’m hoping they can have some fun next season, but I’m not jumping out of my skin for it. that would be a weird and gross power.
Final Grade: C+
