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| Vanessa Hudgens as Emily (source) |
These movies rarely mention the faceless millions who have to deal with this sort of thing. How much must car insurance cost when there's a decent chance Superman will use your car to bash in the brains of whatever enemy happened to show up that day? How hard must it be to rent someone an apartment in a high-rise building when Batman might throw smoke bombs through the window at any moment to chase out Random Villain No. 5?
This slightly distracting line of thought is the exact premise of Powerless.
The story takes place in Charm City (basically the New Jersey to Gotham City's New York), where superhero battles are an everyday occurrence. Traffic reports usually include some sort of disaster caused by either a villain or the hero aiming to corral them. Random acts of evil and destruction are so common they're greeted with annoyance and frustration rather than the terror we're accustomed to being shown.
Emily, played by Vanessa Hudgens, is hired to lead a team of researchers whose job is to come up with inventions to protect people from these hazards--umbrellas to repel falling rubble and antidotes to the Joker's laughing gas are the sort of things they're expected to churn out.
In addition to these unusual tasks, Emily has to survive her underlings' contempt for her and a boss (played by Alan Tudyk of Firefly fame) who wants to be anywhere but where he is.
The show's biggest strength is its premise. We've been absolutely inundated with superhero movies of late, and it's nice to see a different spin on the genre. Instead of being a show about superheroes, it's a show where they happen to exist but are mostly seen off in the distance or on TV. Another plus is that Powerless is DC Comics-affiliated, so they can actually come right out and say Superman, Batman, and similar characters' names without having to dance around with made-up generic knockoff versions that would cheapen the story lines and annoy viewers.
Unfortunately, the show delivers a mixed bag when it comes to the quality of its characters. Vanessa Hudgens (in addition to being a pleasure to look at) does well as the naive out-of-towner optimist who serves as a contrast to the jaded, annoyed curmudgeons around her who don't share her enthusiasm for their work. Alan Tudyk similarly is well cast as their boss--an outcast of the Wayne (as in Bruce) family--and his assistant plays the foil to his shenanigans nicely.
Aside from those few, we don't get much to shout about. Pretty much everyone--including those I mentioned--is extremely eccentric, to put it nicely. To put it less nicely, they're all batshit crazy. This show painfully lacks a "straight man," the character who takes things seriously and acts serious even when nothing is serious. Think Graham Chapman in Life of Brian or Bud Abbot of Abbot and Costello. Tudyk's assistant attempts to fill this void but comes across more like Kif from Futurama, portraying comedic disgust for her boss rather than actual loathing for the horde of lunatics that surround her.
A little bit of zany is expected in a comedy, but when everyone's zany it's just too much. There's a fine line between funny and stupid, and there's a fine line between being eccentric and being an unrealistic caricature. The characters of Powerless too often find themselves on the wrong side of these lines. It's not just that they're unlikable either. Unlikable characters can work; these lack believability. Poor Vanessa Hudgens is greeted by eye rolls and groans every time she enters a room despite constant efforts to socialize with her coworkers. In reality, she'd have received marriage proposals from half the city in her first week on the job. Are we to believe that every man in her company is gay and every woman is straight? It's an annoying trope that lost all credibility long ago--the attractive, friendly, likeable character that no one finds attractive, wants to be friends with, or likes.
Additionally, it's probably not politically correct to say this (like I've ever cared about that), but when you have a cast of only six people and two of them have a lisp... It just seems like someone didn't think thith... er... this... out properly.
If asked whether I'd recommend this show to someone, you'd probably expect a resounding "NO!" given the thrashing I've dealt out to the characters, but I'm not sure. The premise is just so damn good. This show took my half-joking musings from watching superhero movies and made an entire series out of them. How can I not watch?
That said, a house made of newspapers and cow shit will fall over in a stiff breeze even if it's built on a sturdy foundation. If something isn't done to tone down the goofiness factor, this show will get stale quickly.
You've got my viewership for now, Powerless, but can you keep it?
