The Fades review

First off Happy Arbitrary Point in Time, wasn't there so much good stuff to watch on TV over the holiday period. Well no not really at least from my point of view; still it meant being able to catch up some of the TV series I'd recorded earlier and free up some space on my hard drive.

And so I watched The Fades, that's the TV series and not the rock band, which was broadcast last September/October on BBC3 and was therefore probably watched by about three people. Long story short it wasn't bad, but then again wasn't really that good.

Sadly using what is becoming the standard plot line for children/teens in that an oddball discovers he's odd for a reason coupled with the Harry Potter/Marty Stu Deus ex Machina of having just the right powers to solve the problem of the episode. The main character is slightly too much of a whiner while having very little to actually whine about to make them likeable; with his friend (played by Daniel Kaluuya) being much better realised as a character.

To me a large amount of the flaws stem from trying to cram everything into just six episodes but in such a haphazard manner that while at times things were left unexplained at others the characters casually dropped terms that had never been used before without anyone else batting an eyelid. There was some attempt at characterisation, but in such a forced manner as to make it unpalatable.

Barely a story, hardly a horror and leaving both plotholes and loose threads hanging as large as some they ironically point out exist in movies; extended this could have been pretty good. As is it's as if someone doused a hors d'oeuvre with eighteen different herbs and spices - you can't tell what it's supposed to be and it's simply too much.