The Fades (2011)
Direted by Farren Blackburn & Tom Shankland
The Fades is a recent British television series that combines horror, comedy, and "kids behaving badly" style teen drama. The premise of the show is that sometime in the 1940's something happened that changed the way the afterlife worked. What used to happen is that you'd die, and then exist as a ghost (or Fade as they like to call them on the show) for a few days. then you'd ascend to the next level. Now more and more Fades don't ascend, they just live on in a world where that can't be seen, or touched (actually touching people causes them pain), but their bodies still age. A certain bitterness becomes common, which is tolerable till one of the Fades, becomes able to touch people, and starts killing. Soon he's teaching other Fades his trick, and people start going missing.
The main character, Paul is one of the few people who can see Fades. These folks are called Angelics, and Paul is recruited by them. It turns out that Paul not only can see Fades, but also has prophetic visions, and can heal. Neil, one of the Angelics tells Paul that there is a war coming, maybe the end of the world, and that he has to give up his regular life, and join the cause. This just as Paul's life starts to look like it could become more bearable. His sister's friend who he's had a long standing crush on, likes him too.
That's just where the plot starts. A lot of crazy things happen in the 6 episodes. Eventually things begin to look apocalyptic, but I won't even try to get into the ins and outs. I will say that the show is super entertaining. It's a great mix of horror and comedy, reminding me a lot of The Misfits, the British Teens with super powers show. The acting is solid, and the characters are great. If you got as sick of The Walking Dead as I did during season two, this is a great example of how good a show can be when the plot actually moves forward.
The first season tells a coherent story, though it's too bad it looks like the BBC has decided not to renew, despite glowing reviews, because it left enough loose plot threads to launch a pretty exiting second season too.
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