The first 2 seasons are a solid 9/10. We are introduced to actual characters with distinct personalities and we get to watch them grow and change. The jock-bully becomes a protector, the attention wh*re learns to forgo the spotlight(or at least tries), the loners learns to ask for help, the logical science nerd embraces magic. Their motivations and personalities are clearly outlined, we get to see the effect they have on other people and how other people in turn affect them.
Then, season 3 happens.
"in Series three we meet a whole new bunch of heroes who find themselves trapped in a totally empty world. We are proud to introduce a brand new cast which reflects a diverse and truthful portrait of Australia today."
Yes, Tony Ayres, it shows. We now have the black kid, the gay kid, the girl and the disabled kid.
The girl is remarkably Mary Sue-like. Not only is she "the best player" on the school football team but she's also the best student and she's pretty and popular. Oh, and she's got more upper body strength than the boys. She also gets control of her magic really fast because she's just so smart and all, right?
The gay kid has exactly 2 traits. He's gay. And he likes musicals. Because all the gays do, right?
The disabled kid is the one that really makes me go "w0t?!" So, he's dyslexic. And nobody knows. There's a 15 year old kid who's somehow managed to fake he can read for the last 10 years and all the teachers were fooled?! But that's not even the worst. He's a 15 year old buy who hasn't figured out how text-to-speech works on his phone.
The black kid is the most developed character of the 4 though I can't see a lot of growing potential in him as the outlined traits are not something that'd need to be changed. If anything, the plot of the series proves him right.
