Powerless (TV show)
In a world where superheroes and villains run rampant, finally a story is told about the regular people. We’ve all seen superhero shows, and we can still remember the half-hour comedies about quirky office drama. Now these two television genres that are overdone and possibly played-out, come together to make something fresh and new, yet familiar.
Alan Tudyk from Firefly and Danny Pudi from Community are welcome familiar faces. However Christina Kirk steals the show. She plays Alan’s apathetic secretary and is both a foil character to him as well as the comedic plot device to speed up familiar story arcs. For example, when you start to think you have seen this storyline before Christina interjects with something the audience might say, immediately jumping the conversation forward, skipping the familiar parts.
My favorite part about this show is that it depicts a hard-working young woman (Vanessa Hudgens) navigating a position of power in a dysfunctional company. Her boss is an idiot rather than a mentor, she manages people similar to her in age, and although she is knowledgeable and competent, she still has a lot to learn. There is a scene in episode three where it is apparent that Vanessa is going to have to save her boss’s ass because he’s clueless and she gets shit done. [Skip the next sentence if you care about very minor spoilers…] I was SO excited when Vanessa used this opportunity to leverage a promotion. Have you ever seen that happen on TV before?! Personally, I’ve struggled with owning my power in my career. Being helpful and kind while also making sure I’m not being taken advantage of—or giving significantly more than I’m getting—can be a challenge. So when I saw this brief exchange on Powerless, I was shocked and excited. NBC recognizes that a show about a young career-minded woman is a great idea and so far they’re getting it right. (Fingers-cross it gets picked up for season two).
One thing to be aware of, the pilot isn’t going to wow you, but by episode three the character dynamics are more solidified and the writers seem to have found their rhythm. I definitely suggest that you give this show a chance. It’s streaming on hulu and only half an hour long, what do you have to lose?
