SkayM87
*** May Contain Spoilers***Hex aired when I was at Uni and I caught the odd episode or so, but always wanted to watch the series in its entirety and chronologically. I finally watched the series recently and was really disappointed. First of all, the first series should have been longer, to enable character development and relationship development. I feel we should have seen more of a development between Azazeal and Cassie and learnt more about their backgrounds. Their story seemed rushed to me. One minute she hated him, and once she had been possessed, she loved him. I didn't feel a real connection between the two characters. I feel as though we should have seen their relationship progressing. I felt like their relationship was lacking in on screen content but their relationship did have potential. The Rachael McBain story wasn't really explored either. She appeared in one or two episodes in dreams etc but it was left at that. It would have been good to see her relationship with Azazeal and more about his motivations etc, as well as how Rachael and her daughter met their ends. I found Cassie to be very annoying, but again I think this could have been down to how she was portrayed on screen. The Azazeal character was very strong, I feel he should have been a bit more of a main focus on the show, not just appearing every now and again. Then there is the script! The dialogue, in parts, was terrible and verging on amateur.The story lines themselves didn't really possess any real continuity, especially from series 1 to series 2. It just lost focus. Towards the end of series 2, they had replaced the Cassie and Azazeal romance with Ella and Malachi, and it just didn't work. Ella and Malachi were both weak characters, on screen. But again, I feel they had potential.Overall, and I know I have said it several times, the show had potential but it really didn't deliver, which is a shame. It's about time we had a good fantasy/sci fi show to rival Buffy etc.
galensaysyes
I've read that "Buffy" was a big success in the UK, playing in late afternoons and drawing complaints of too much sex for that time of day; "H Backward E X" was obviously Britain's attempt at an answer, offering a deal more sex--but a deal less violence, and no Buffy. Tedious at first, it gains in interest and appeal as it goes, partly by revealing at last something of what's going on--at least to a point that the viewer can follow the story--and acquiring a more attractive heroine; but it still leaves a feeling of dissatisfaction, if not distaste, and of having hoodwinked one past many narrative inconsistencies by some clever acting and staging. (Note: This review is based on the first ten episodes; perhaps the last nine correct all the faults and explains away all contradictions.) The first episode begins by introducing a back story from 200 years previous (which is never clarified, and is later dropped) and then moves to the present and to its heroine--not a Buffy, surprisingly, but a Carrie (her name is Cassie): a shy, unpopular girl who discovers wild talents in herself. Nobody remarks that she's more beautiful than anyone else at school, in fact could only be a model, although this is evident from her manner, which is modelly and affected. (She's described as shy and lacking in confidence, but neither these characteristics nor any others are very discernible.) By contrast there's a Willow--a comic-pathetic lesbian--as well as a Cordelia and a Xander (and, eventually, a Faith); but no Buffy, and no Giles--in other words, no active forces for goodness or wisdom. In fact, for a school story the show is much underpopulated; it gives the impression of the college's having about six students and only one teacher. (On the other hand, although the setting is described as a small village, there are enough young people about to burst the occupancy limits of the local clubs.) Almost immediately the heroine finds a jar in a rathole; this opens her up to a chain of nightmares, visions, hauntings, and more corporeal visits from a fallen angel, the show's archvillain, who however expresses his diabolic nature primarily by posing on hilltops and balconies like the Picture of Dorian Gray. He won't disclose what his object is or what part the heroine is to play in his acquiring it; and what mainly robs the first episodes of interest is this lack of a stake, of any consequence of any action she might take that would matter to her or anybody else. Later in the season things liven up: evil angel kills sidekick (by accident), gets heroine pregnant (by design)....Then along comes season 2; and the show bestirs itself--dispenses with the first heroine (none too soon) and brings in a second (the Faith), and demons--well, one. Heroine #2 is an improvement, at least by comparison: she does things; she Slays. Unlike Buffy, however, she doesn't dust evil spirits, she dispatches their human victims, and tries (but fails) to do the same to an infant. She does have her sympathetic side: she's a coke-sniffing, absinthe-drinking, boy-seducing decadent--but not decadent youth; she's out of her teens by some 300 or 2000 years, depending on who's telling it. How she can have lived so long, what she is, and why it's her task to be the villain's nemesis is not explained (here one sees again the need for a Giles). By this point, though, the villain's plan has been made manifest: he wants a son, both just to have one and so his 200 fellow angels can join him below. He's been working on it for 2000 years, but so far the heroine has stopped him by killing the expectant mothers.Now, this is stupid: in 2000 years evil angel could have impregnated enough women to repopulate the planet, more than his nemesis could have kept up with, and he could have kept close any he really wanted to protect. And the questions keep coming. For centuries nemesis has been killing mothers-to-be to prevent the evil angels' breaking through; now that they have, she's out to kill the baby and _this_ will stop them; have the rules changed? One of her victims on this go-round, she kills to no point, since he doesn't have the baby (her other victim is killed by accident--again). Nearly every piece of exposition is fractured, and clashes with something else. But despite all this, the show, having got rolling, takes on a flair and momentum that make it entertaining, and the actors intone the faux lore with the right portentousness.Best of all--the egg that holds the batter together--is the Willow, after she becomes a ghostly sidekick in the "Topper" tradition: a Shakespearean fool, providing a feed of sardonic counterpoint to a lone, and sometimes unwilling, hearer. In this instance she's also a consumer ghost--always eating, or showing off clothes stolen from corpses. One wonders why nobody notices the foodstuffs floating in midair or her companion talking to nobody (until this becomes a plot point); perhaps that's why the most fun is to be had at night when she does as she pleases in the vacant commons room. For a few episodes she enjoys a fling with another restless spirit, a rather Auntie-Mame-ish one, and their scenes together add some welcome zest, with a dash of erotic delight; indeed, for me, were the high point of the show. It's a shame the companion is spirited away between seasons, without explanation: one more anomaly, if anybody's counting.And for another: where's the hex?
Snowraven_moonstalker
The British Buffy? No. The British Charmed? No. Buffy meets Charmed? Very no. What is this need promoters have to compare a new show to established shows? Is it laziness? Well, it doesn't matter. It is true that there are some similarities between Hex and other supernatural shows, but they hardly bare comparing. The similarities for the most part between Hex and Buffy/Angel are, in my opinion, incidental. Ideas like demonic births, forbidden love, magic and the necessity to fight the paranormal with the paranormal is hardly a new premise. To assume that Hex got its ideas from already established shows does it a disservice because in the end, Hex is nothing like them.While Buffy/Angel and Charmed tend to rely on action to carry much of the story, Hex relies a great deal more on dialogue. This does not take away from the show but rather allows for the watcher to get to know the characters and to develop their own relationships with them. The show also is unafraid to hurt or even kill off main characters if the story warrants it. I believe this is important in a show. And since Hex has no title character it is possible to remove any character if the storyline demands it.Those who like shows such as Buffy because of the action might not enjoy Hex as much and might find it slow, but Hex is not the first show to carry the story through the characters and their relationships. Rather, I found that it made the story more real and interesting in some ways, especially since the majority of the characters are higher class snobs with the attitudes and personalities to match. At the same time, most of the main characters are round and dynamic. They grow and change and even the Annointed One has various depths to her character rather than being the typical self righteous do-gooder, whining teen who just wants to be normal or rebellious adolescent who either gets out of control or does what she wants because she can. There are stereotypes but they are less pronounced and most of the characters are sympathetic.I, for my part, enjoy the show. There are the occasional episodes or moments that don't bare watching, but every show that's ever existed has those moments. I for one enjoy watching it and am currently watching the show a second time. Those who are interested in action may not enjoy it but those who like to develop relationships with characters and see the change and growth in relationships and characters that seem fairly real probably will.
