After initial high hopes for “Hex,” the BBC America’s new budding-witch-goes-to-high-school series, my expectations have plummeted as the 10-episode pilot season comes to a close (the last episode airs next week). The series has all the makings of a supernatural hit: It’s set in an eerie, gothic, British country mansion that serves as a boarding school for high school students; the central character, Cassie, discovers she’s descended from a long line of witches dating back for thousands of years; her best friend Thelma dies in the first episode and comes back into Cassie’s life as a ghost; and then there’s the hottie Azaziel–the dark fallen angel who’s in love with Cassie.
Yet with all the potential of its lore, characters, and setting, the show is very, very low on the witchcraft and high on the sex obsession. The entire season has revolved around Cassie’s sex life (and Thelma’s lack of one now that she’s a ghost): fluctuating between who Cassie will be shagging next and the dire consequences of shagging a fallen angel even though he’s really hot (apparently even having sex with angels requires condoms).
The last several episodes, however, have shifted the series from tolerable to absurd. After Azaziel finally gets his heart’s desire and 200 Nephilim (scary gargoyle-looking demons, not to be confused with the very human-looking Nephilim from ABC Family’s television movie “Fallen,” which aired earlier this week), a new character, Ella Dee, shows up to single-handedly cut down each and every Nephilim one by one. Ella even has a fighting stick that looks remarkably like a stake, and she also arrives with her very own ancient-looking chest of various weapons that she can use against the scary demon creatures. Sound familiar (ahem, Buffy)? Oh, and I shouldn’t forget the matching attitude and sarcastic wit.
Don’t the creators know that television viewers have been there, done that? That we can see how they are copying another famous slayer-girl character? Apparently not. I’ll give “Hex” until its season finale to make a final decision, but I’m guessing my days watching “Hex” will be limited to Season One.
