“Extraordinary” Season 1 is Super Fun

Imagine a world where everyone gets superpowers on their 18th birthday. Everyone, that is, except you. Welcome to Extraordinary Season One!

Extraordinary is an original series from Hulu. Created by Emma Moran, this British half-hour program is eight episodes long (the entire first season). It follows Jen (Máiréad Tyers), a 25-year-old who has yet to develop a power and is dealing with the absence with her friends and family.

Her roommates are Carrie (Sofia Oxenham), a woman who can channel the dead, and Carrie’s boyfriend Kash (Bilal Hasna), who can turn back time briefly. Rounding out the main cast is Jizzlord (Luke Rollason), a man who can shapeshift and was stuck as a cat when Jen found (and adopted) him.

As Jen goes about her life working a dead-end job, she tries to manage the frustration of being around everyone else with powers while she tries to sort out her life. Her job sucks, she doesn’t have a boyfriend (although she has a guy who’s a friend with benefits), and her family life is a complete train wreck.

I hesitate to call Extraordinary a comedy, despite it being labeled as that by Hulu. It’s a comedy in the same way Barry and The Bear are considered comedies: in other words, more of a dramedy. More than once, the episodes take a darker turn as character arcs are explored. Not that that’s a bad thing: the series balances the drama with the comedy well, and the humor helps punctuate the more serious moments.

That’s not to say it doesn’t have its comedic moments. One episode has Jen entering Jizzlord into a cat show despite being a human now. But it definitely has its serious turns. For example, when Jen and Carrie have a friendship breakup and deal with Jen’s selfishness.

Throughout the series, Jen deals with her insecurities that are more than just about not having powers. Meanwhile, Carrie is a law assistant who feels like she doesn’t get the right kind of attention from her boyfriend; Kash is jobless and starts a vigilante group to fight crime that goes very badly; and Jizzlord doesn’t remember who he is or how to be a ‘proper’ human. It’s an exploration of humanity, as well as seeing what everyday people get to do with the one thing that makes them ‘special’.

Extraordinary is also about powers not always being what they are cracked up to be. Carrie feels like people only want to talk to her because of her power; Kash’s vigilante group debates which crimes are worth fighting; and there are a plethora of side characters with powers that are more a curse than a blessing. The guy who can make people orgasm with his touch being an example.

There’s a clinic that helps those without powers, but it’s costly. So, there is a running theme of Jen coming up with ways to raise the necessary funds, from selling her eggs to having Carrie channel a dead country star to finish a last album.

With great power comes great responsibility, so the saying goes. But Jen realizes in the first season that the opposite is not true. She still has to be responsible, and she still has to be a good friend and person. Despite not having a power.

Extraordinary is a compelling take on the superhero genre – it’s not about cosmic-level good vs. evil. It’s about finding out what’s right to do as a human.

Debuting back in January of last year, Season 1 is currently streaming on Hulu.

Season 2 of Extraordinary will premiere on March 6, 2024. So, catch up quickly!

Author: Angie Fiedler Sutton

Angie Fiedler Sutton is a writer, podcaster, and all-round fangirl geek. She has been published in Den of Geek, Stage Directions, LA Weekly, The Mary Sue, and others.

She also produces her own podcast, Contents May Vary, where she interviews geeky people about geeky things. You can see all her work (and social media channels) at angiefsutton.com.

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