A group of teenagers have grown apart from one another following a tragedy. When they finally manage to gather together again, they discover a secret that will change their lives.

It’s honestly difficult to know quite what to make of this latest Hulu-based MCU property, because by the end of the first episode, nothing much has happened in terms of ‘superpowers’. Certainly, on the evidence of this one episode alone, it’s difficult to see any connection to the wider MCU, in spite of the claims by the producers that the show is intimately tied in with the events of that wider universe.

However, what it does do is take some time in developing everyone. The question is whether that’s a mistake in the pilot of a show with so many characters. By the time we have been given adequate glances at each of the six teenage leads and their parents and background, the whole hour has been filled with very little out of the ordinary from any teen high school drama.

The crux is that a former member of the group – Amy – is no longer with them. In the wake of her loss, it would appear that this formerly close group of nerds and outcasts have grown apart from one another, each pursuing their own separate path. Alex is the one who thinks it’s about time they all got together again, a normal teenage kid with rich parents who spends most of his time playing videogames. Nico is a goth loner who misses her sister Amy. Karolina is the overprivileged daughter of a new-age style church who is starting to feel a bit like rebelling against her upbringing. Chase is evidently a clever kid who decided to grow some muscles and become a sports jock. Gert is about as stereotypical vision of a young feminist and ‘Social Justice Warrior’ as it’s possible to write and Molly is her idealistic younger (adopted) sister.

The interesting thing here is that the show – for all these trappings like an episode of 90210 – actually deals with some fairly heavy issues, and between these and the explicit language it’s clear that Hulu are aiming for the same audience that watches the Netflix Marvel output. In this opening episode alone, the show deals with attempted sexual assault/rape on two separate occasions, as well as being fairly upfront about Molly’s struggles with experiencing the downside of puberty in the form of a painful first period. It’s not often that a show aimed at the comic book audience is brave enough to stare down issues like these head on, with no allusion or softening of the subject matter, and though it feels a little awkward, it’s to be applauded for trying.

As far as the superpowers go, well there isn’t much here. One member of the group is starting to discover they have powers they clearly didn’t expect, and another would appear to have some sort of special attribute but it really isn’t yet clear what. One of them is also clearly at least attempting to be a magic user, and again I’m not sure how this will fit with the wider MCU and its vision of magic, a la Doctor Strange and (to a lesser extent) Thor.

But mostly what this pilot is doing is giving us a thorough grounding in who the main characters are, how they interact and what their respective lives have been like since the loss of Amy. It’s a bold move, spending the first hour of your comic book show doing very little that’s comic book, and I suspect it won’t help the show resonate with its intended target audience. This is exacerbated by the fact that the reveal at the end, which should be a shock to the viewer, almost certainly won’t be if said viewer has seen any of the promotional spots for the show or even read the summary online.

But it’s also not awful, and there’s enough here to keep me intrigued as to exactly how far the show intends to go with its ideas and themes. It’s no Legion – yet – but on the evidence of this, it may well prove to be as strong as The Gifted has turned out to be, and that’s no small achievement.

Verdict: Boldly directed, dealing with more serious subject matter and at a more sedate pace than the usual MCU audience will be used to, this pilot at least intrigues enough to invite further viewing. 7/10

Greg D. Smith