Hex

A colleague recommended that I check out the British series Hex. Given my ongoing devotion to Buffy the Vampire Slayer I figured I'd give it a shot. Of course, living in the boonies means limited selection of channels. But lo and behold, two days later, season one of Hex was released on DVD. I've made it through 7 of 10 episodes, and I'm ready to weigh in.

Overall, the feel of the series reminds me of Heroes more than anything I've seen recently. Hex maintains a laidback approach to the genre. In fact, several episodes go by and you realize Cassie, our heroine and resident ingenue hopped up on voodoo, hasn't used her powers once. Previews of upcoming episodes suggest that maybe the producers got a special effects budget sometime around the 8th or 9th episode.

The show is set in a British boarding school housed in a historic manse. We discover early on that Cassie is a McBain, a lineage connected to the angel Azazeal and the 200 Neferline (angels who hooked up with mortal women). In her quest to figure all this out, Cassie (Christina Cole) is aided by her dead best friend and "dyke in shining armor" Thelma (Jemima Rooper) as she grapples with the dark forces that have taken over her life.

The show develops this interesting mythology that is not always consistent. For example, we learn that ghosts can talk on cell phones, eat, put money in vending machines or, what the heck, just open them and take the snacks. Ghosts cannot, however, touch humans or wear human clothes (although they can take the clothes from dead people).

Possession can pass from one person to the next through sex, even when wearing a condom. This would put it in the class of STD's like crabs or HPV. Angels are not ghosts and can take corporeal form--either human or demony (as Buffy might say).

All of this, quite frankly, makes the show more engaging. Plus, it's a portrayal of life at 16 that is fueled by drugs, sex and manipulation. I always wondered what life was like at boarding school! So, while I haven't figured it all out, yet, I'm ready to preorder season two.