Who would have guessed that the one doing the vast majority of ass-kicking would be the one wearing the purple pants?
(That’s right, Paul. Lookin’ at you, buddy.)
by Karissa Barrows, Editor
I have been raised in the horror genre. In fact, the first movie I can ever remember watching is “The Blob”. Yep, that one with the big pink thing that consumes people. Thanks, Dad. B movies for the win! Anyway, I’ve loved horror ever since. That’s usually Karl’s territory here at ComicsOnline, but I got the Blu-ray copy by accident. So, not only am I going to tell you just a little bit about this amazing series, The Fades, on BBCThree and, as of recent, BBC America, but I’m going to give you the chance to win a DVD of series 1 of your very own.
The Fades is about a 17-year-old boy named Paul (Iain De Caestecker – The Little Vampire, Coronation Street, Up There) thrust into a battle of apocalpytic scale between the living and the Fades, or ghosts of the dead stuck in limbo on earth, after haunting nightmares of an abandoned world covered in ash inched closer to reality.
Definitely. Not. Snow.
Accompanied by his faithful, life-long best friend, Michael “Mac” Armstrong (Daniel Kaluuya – Skins, Doctor Who, Johnny English Reborn), a couple of other “Angelics”, and the Fade of his history teacher’s wife, Sarah Etches (Natalie Dormer – Casanova, The Tudors, Captain America: The First Avenger), Paul somewhat unwillingly faces an evil Fade named John (Joe Dempsie – Skins, Doctor Who, Merlin) in life and Polus (Ian Hanmore – Doctor Who, Life on Mars, The Awakening) in death who has developed Touch, the ability to physically touch the living where Fades in general are void of that skill. John/Polus has discovered a rather sinister method for rejoining the living, or becoming a Reborn, which puts the fate of the whole of humanity at stake.
Paul and John speak for the first time.
There honestly isn’t much more I can say about the plot without giving anything away, but if you read on, you’ll find some little notes I took while I was actually watching. The shock value of some of the plot points, unless you’re one of those people that pride themselves on figuring everything out ahead of time, really add to the experience of watching the show. (Also, there are some moments that are just. plain. shocking.) Since series one only has six episodes, it won’t take up too much of your time, but the show is coming back for at least one more series and I think it has potential even beyond that.
The Fades is extremely enjoyable, and is by no means one of those cheesy horror shows. For the resources allotted them, the cast and crew of this show did a phenomenal job with making everything as realistic as possible, and writer Jack Thorne (Shameless, Skins, Cast Offs) admittedly makes the task next to impossible. While Paul is the main character, it’s Mac that makes up the real voice of the show. Where Paul struggles with his imposed responsibility and his ability as an Angelic (“I see dead people”, folks), Mac operates as his strongest support system, above and beyond his other companions. He even has his own special feature on the Blu-ray, which I’ll explain in a moment. The acting from all points is really superb, and having watched several other British programs, it was always exciting to see this character or that character from episodes of Doctor Who, or Sherlock, or Being Human, or what have you. All the nerdy references to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, various comic characters, etc. are a huge plus as well.
All episodes are in high def 1080i, with some special features HD 1080i and some in standard definition. All audio is DTS HD-MA 2.0.
Episode Highlights
Episode 1: Bathroom scene with Mac and Paul, in which “the female mystique” is “f*cked”. I died. Overall great introduction to the series. Poor Sarah. Poor Helen.
Helen – vicar, healer, evil Fade ass-kicker.
Episode 2: Enter the first Mac “previously” synopsis! I heart. Poor Sarah again. What the hell with all the dead birds!? Seeing the Fades beginning their offense was great. How Fades get the Touch is introduced properly. Paul is surprised by his new abilities. Tip of the day from Neil Valentine: Learn yoga.
Neil Valentine + yoga = who knew?
Episode 3: Wings – you’ll understand. Poor Mac. Part of me would feel sorry for Mark if I didn’t hold him in such low regard. The dreams begin to slip into wakefulness. I’m fairly sure my friend Phil has the same Jedi robe as Mac. Happy birth-yesterday. Hello, John. Hello, new Angelics. Hello, Doctor Paul. “Did Neil Gaiman write it?” Natalie (Jenn Murray – Dorothy Mills, Inspector Lewis, Earthbound) can scream now.
And oh. my. God. The last five minutes.
Mac wears the (normal) pants in this relationship.
Episode 4: Well what now, Paul? Here’s a scene reminiscent of The Master in Doctor Who: End of Time. Don’t smoke during pregnancy because then your kid can’t taste anything but bread. And now it’s time to choose sides…. and Paul chose the wrong one. Oh, and Anna (Skins, Combat Kids, The Sarah Jane Adventures)…. tag in! How many times am I going to have to feel sorry for Sarah?
And…. BUTTERFLIES!!!!!!
Poor Sarah.
Episode 5: Mac is my favorite. Sarah’s gone out for a walk. Ascension is broken. The safe place isn’t exactly safe. Most vile, disgusting bathtub on the planet. Secret’s out! Now this is a familiar scene…. and it does not end well. Jay (Sophie Wu – Far North, Wild Child, Kick-Ass) is lost and Jay is found. Interestingly, the only thing BBC will censor is a woman’s genitalia. They certainly have shown everything else.
Jay – afraid of one twin, attracted to the other.
Episode 6: I’m not even going to. You just have to watch.
Special Features
The season one Blu-ray consists of two discs, each with three episodes and their corresponding special features.
Deleted Scenes: What I really loved about these deleted scenes (one per episode, except episode 6) was that they included a thorough introduction/explanation on why these scenes in particular were omitted from the final cut. None of them were particularly revealing, but interesting nonetheless.
Outtakes: A relatively short outtake reel, but enjoyable, to be sure.
Behind the Scenes: These are great for those who haven’t seen any of the series or have only seen one or two episodes. There are six of these behind the scenes features, including “Apocalypse”, “Polus Revealed”, “The Chosen One”, “The Real Neil”, “The Fades Are Here”, and “Writing the Fades”, all of which go into a modest amount of detail about some of the more significant aspects of the show thus far. I particularly liked the segment on “The Real Neil”, as it really went into the character of Angelic Neil Valentine (Johnny Harris – RocknRolla, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Snow White and the Huntsman), one of my favorite characters in the show.
Interviews: Two short interviews from Natalie Dormer and Johnny Harris are more service to huge fans of the show or those who haven’t seen very much of it. For the average viewer, these won’t really serve as anything extra.
Extra Scenes: Mostly comprised of Mac’s internal monologues or conversations with Paul, these extra scenes function quite well to add a little bit of meat to the episodes as they stand.
Mac Explains: As promised! These are actually also seen in the episodes, but are gathered here for your convenience. These six very short excerpts are Mac explaining certain things to the audience, those things being: “What is a Fade?” “What is an Angelic?” “What is Ascension?” “Why is Paul special?” “How is everyone connected?” and “What is a Reborn?” Now, while I love me some Mac, all six of these clips were so quiet that I could barely hear with my volume turned all the way up on my computer. I eventually had to plug in my headphones and still have the volume quite a ways up to be able to hear passively. For those who haven’t seen much of the series or haven’t seen a thing, these are important to see. Watch one of them here.
The Nutshell
The Fades has a lot of potential. I thoroughly enjoyed every episode and, while not my favorite new show, I definitely will keep up with it. The show literally just finished its first run on BBC America, having aired episode 6 on the 18th of February. If you’d like to get caught up on the show, you can buy it on Blu-ray or DVD (which were released on February 21st) by clicking on the respective image below. Or, if you’d like, you can win a copy on DVD, courtesy of our friends at BBC America! (Details are found below.) It’ll be nice to own a copy, as there are some exclusive special features, but to be perfectly honest, several of the special features are on the BBC America website. Still worth getting, I’d say.
If you’re a horror fan, you’ll enjoy this show. If you’re a geek or a nerd or anyone who gets those obscure pop culture references, you’ll enjoy Mac on this show and the fact that two nerds are the main protagonists, and probably also the show in general. If you like a good story, you’ll enjoy this show. If you have a zombie apocalypse survival kit, you’ll probably enjoy this show’s premise. If you enjoy British television, you’d better not miss this one. It’s likely to go on for a little while.
ComicsOnline gives The Fades: Season One a brilliant 4 out of 5 Orkan handshakes.
Stop wetting the bed at age 17 and get yourself back to ComicsOnline.com
for more Fades, horror, and everything geek pop culture.
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The Fades contest has ended and all winners have been notified. Thank you to all who entered!!
As promised – contest details!
To win your copy of The Fades: Season One, you must do the following:
Like the ComicsOnline Facebook page.
Follow @ComicsOnline on Twitter.
Email me at [email protected] with the subject line “The Fades Are Here” and tell me what I referenced in our rating (“4 out of 5”) and how it is relevant to the show. Give me your full name, Twitter handle, and the best email address at which to reach you in the body of the email as well.
Contest ends March 5th, 2012. Winners will be notified by email no later than March 7th.
