Monday, January 7, 2013

Misfits Season Three, Episode Five



The misfits are approached by Sean to do some gardening at the hospital.  Before they leave, Seth shows up.  Nathan, Curtis and Simon see Seth first and immediately worry that Seth is at the community center to take their powers. In a rather buffoonish way, Rudy attacks Seth and the struggle is broken up by Kelly, who wants to know what is going on and why Seth is there. It seems that Kelly only wanted to ask Kelly out for a drink. In the bathroom, Kelly clarifies that Seth wants an actual date and then agrees to go out with him. As Seth is walking away, Kelly asks about Shannon.  Seth replies,"you were right, she was not coming back."

The Misfits are working and of course, Rudy has to be an ass. He wonders whether Seth will take Kelly's powers if they have sex and then encourages Kelly to make Seth wear two condoms.

In the hospital, Jenn who is a coma victim is being visited by her boyfriend Dom. He is clearly sad and lonely and missing her.  Finally, Dom stands up and says that he cannot do it anymore and then kisses Jenn goodbye.  The moment Dom walks out of the room, Jenn's monitors start buzzing. Kelly walks in the room and see the monitors going berserk.  Kelly touches Jenn's hand asking if she needs anything, then Jenn and Kelly change bodies.  I get that this had to happen for the plot of this episode to occur, but this is one hospital I wouldn't want to be in.  You would think that with all of the sounds the machine is making that a nurse would at some point think that it's a good idea to check out what's wrong.

Jenn rushes out of the hospital hoping to catch up with Dom but he drives off too quickly.  Jenn then finds a mirror to check herself out in Kelly's body.  Satisfied with how she looks, Jenn goes back into her former hospital room and apologises to Kelly, who is now in a coma in Jenn's body.

Back at the community center, Sean tells Rudy that there is an anger management counsellor waiting to see him and then walks off. Rudy tells Simon that he is on community service because one of his alters trashed a car after breaking up with a woman.  Rudy then heads into the office to see Claire, the therapist. He is disappointed when he learns that treatment involves talking and not breaking things. Rudy blames the full moon for his actions. Claire then asks him if he wet the bed as a child because apparently, it is often linked to anger issues in adults. Rudy then excuses himself and heads to the bathroom, where his other half pops out. It seems that at least one of the Rudy's was a bedwetter.  They cannot agree on going back to talk to Claire.

Later as Claire leaves the community center, she is on the phone and is clearly upset.  When she gets into her car and start to cry, Rudy approaches her and asks if she needs help.

Jenn heads off to see her boyfriend in Kelly's body and claims to be a friend. Dom explains that though this has been very difficult, he has had a lot of support. Dom gets upset and asks if it's okay for them to do this another time and then Jenn reveals that she has taken over Kelly's body. Dom is shocked and so Jenn starts telling Dom about their relationship and about how she heard everything he said to her while she was in a coma, in order to prove her identity.

At the bar, Seth is waiting for Kelly, but of course, she does not show up because she is lying in a hospital bed.  Seth calls Kelly's cell and asks that she inform him, if she isn't really into him.

Jenn and Dom are exchanging pleasantries and it's very awkward between the two of them, so Jenn suggests takeaway and then leaves the room to put on her old clothing. When Dom enters, the two start to kiss.  I have to pause to point out that even though Jenn consented to sexual activity, Kelly most certainly did not.  This is yet another in a long history of Misfits playing fast and loose with consent. Afterwards, Jenn admits that she knows that this is weird, but says that this is the only way for them to be together.

The next day, the misfits are back at the community center and Rudy is concerned because his other half did not return last night.  Alisha points out that Kelly is missing as well and so of course, Rudy has to suggest that Kelly is sleeping with his other half. Sean enters and says that all of the misfits except Rudy are to head to the hospital for work detail and then informs Rudy that he has another counselling session.  Sean notices that Kelly is missing and so Simon tries to cover for her by saying that she has menstrual cramps.


The next day, Jenn wakes up and is startled when she looks in the mirror and sees Kelly's face staring back at her.  At the community center, Curtis arranges for some privacy and shifts into his female persona in order to masturbate.  In the office, Claire sits down next to Rudy and starts to give him a handjob as he says, "I love therapy."  Curtis' masturbation session is interrupted by Alisha who accuses him of being weird.

Rudy leaves the office and tells Sean that Claire is an amazing counsellor and that he cannot believe that the council pays for that kind of thing. When Rudy walks into the bathroom, he finds his other half and is not impressed to see a love bite.  When he admits that he got a handjob from Claire, his other half is not impressed.  Apparently, one of the Rudy's sees Claire as his girlfriend and so a fight quickly ensues.

Back at the hospital, Alisha notices Jenn walking in and assumes that it is Kelly.  It turns out that Dom is visiting Jenn's body.  Dom does not believe that what Jenn has done to Kelly is right and so Jenn threatens to take Kelly off of life support to force him to be with her.  Dom walks out in disgust and tells Jenn that he does not want her like this. Jenn attacks Dom but when the misfits enter the hospital, they assume that Dom is the one attacking.

Rudy walks back into the office and thanks Claire for the sex and the handjob.  He tells her that they are through because she is quite old and cries too much.  In the locker room, Alisha asks Jenn what's wrong but Jenn says that she does not want to talk about it.  When Jenn leaves the hospital, she is confronted by Seth who wants to know where Kelly was last night.

The other Rudy walks into the office and tells Claire that he has booked a table at a restaurant. Claire believes that Rudy is playing games with her and so she slaps him across the face.

Seth rushes into the community center and asks Alisha and Curtis what is going on with Kelly.  When Alisha mentions that Kelly had a fight with a guy in the hospital, Seth is concerned that Kelly might be seeing someone else.  Curtis suggests that Alisha use her new power to find out where Kelly is right now. Alisha flashes to the hospital where Jenn's mother is crying. In the meantime, Jenn is outside of Dom's apartment knocking on her door.

At the hospital, Seth, Alisha and Rudy ask for Kelly and since she is trapped in Jenn's body, the hospital has no record of her. In the lobby, Alisha sees the woman she saw when she tracked Kelly and they decide to follow her.  When they arrive in Jenn's room, of course they see Jenn and not Kelly.  When Alisha uses her powers again, she confirms that Kelly is trapped in Jenn's body. Rudy get's in Kelly's face and screams, "wake up repeatedly." When a hospital staff member enters the room, Seth pretends to be Kelly's brother and learns that the plan is turn off the ventilator.  When Seth enters the room, he tells the Misfits that the life support is going to be turned off. When they realise that turning off life support will mean the death of Kelly, they decide to sneak her out of the hospital and bring her to the community center.  Rudy distracts the hospital staff and Seth and Simon sneak her out but like all things Misfits, they have a few troubles along the way.

Jenn is sitting outside, when she is approached by Rudy's other half.  Jenn tells Rudy that she has lost Dom and everything.  Seth, Curtis, Simon and Alisha carry Jenn's body into the community center and then instruct Rudy to track down Jenn.  By this time, the other Rudy and Jenn are sitting in a bar together telling war stories about their broken hearts. When Rudy calls Kelly's phone the other Rudy answers and he tells him about the body switch and that the real Kelly is going to die.

The other Rudy takes Jenn to the community center under the guise of stealing the probation workers car to go to the seaside.  When Jenn opens the door, she sees her body and tries to escape, but is stopped by the Misfits.  When Sean appears, Jenn stabs him in the stomach and tries again to escape but she is stopped by Seth.  Seth tells Jenn about how he was supposed to go out on a date with Kelly and suggests that he and Kelly could have been good together.  Jenn says that she and Dom were good together and now he doesn't love her.

Sean is lying on the ground bleeding from the wound and asks why he was stabbed.  Simon tells him that he wasn't stabbed by Kelly and that bodies were swapped.  Curtis reveals that they have powers and the two Rudy's join to show him.  Sean then dies.  Well, he lasted longer than I thought he would have, considering that Misfits has a habit of killing off probation workers.

Jenn enters the room with her body and makes Seth promise to find Dom and bring him there to see her.  Jenn says that she doesn't want to be left in her body and then she switches places with Kelly.  The two leave Jenn alone in the room.  Seth then fulfills his promise and brings Dom to see Jenn. Seth tells Dom that this is what Jenn wanted. Dom tells Jenn that it's good to see her again and then says goodbye, before turning off her life support.

The Misfits are sitting chatting and Rudy asks if this means that Seth is part of the gang now.  On the roof, Seth and Kelly are talking when they are joined by Rudy who asks to talk to her. Rudy asks to borrow Seth's BMW so that they can bury Sean.  Kelly thanks Seth for saving her and points out that since she saved him from the Nazi's they are even.  Seth and Kelly share a kiss on the roof.

This was one of the better episodes of Misfits though as aforementioned we had the whole consent issue and Rudy just generally being Rudy.  Issues of life and death are serious and surprisingly, they managed to pull it off with a lot of sensitivity.