Extraordinary is Still the Best Superhero Show You’re Not Watching
Season 2 continues a coming-of-age story unlike any other.
The “Chosen One” trope is all over science fiction. Maybe it’s a Jedi who will bring balance to the Force, The Boy Who Lived, or a Prince That Was Promised, but giving one character powers and a grand destiny is a surefire way to create a hero who is instantly sympathetic and easy to root for, preying on our own desire to discover what makes us special one day.
In 2023, one TV show turned this premise completely on its head. Hulu’s Extraordinary depicted the story of Jen (Máiréad Tyers), a 25-year-old living in a world where everyone gets a superpower after they turn 18 — except her. She must navigate life with her roommates — conduit for the dead Carrie (Sofia Oxenham) and time-traveling wannabe vigilante Kash (Bilal Hasna) — while slowly realizing her pet-cat-turned-shapeshifting-amnesiac Jizzlord (Luke Rollason) may be the man of her dreams. Throughout the first season, Jen bumbles through trying to pay rent, finding herself and her powers, and dealing with her family issues — all in an expertly crafted half-hour series with a banging alt-pop soundtrack.
“Extraordinary is just the origin story, which is always the bit that interests me way more than the rest of the movie,” Luke Rollason tells Inverse. “It feels like it's that first 10 minutes, but for the whole series.”
At the end of Season 1, everything was set for a big follow-up: Carrie and Kash realized they’re not made to be together, and Jizzlord finally came to terms with the fact his pre-cat identity was a husband and a father. Jen even got the money for a fancy Powers Discovery clinic. “Season 2 feels more character-driven, in that every character has a task, and they all line up a little bit,” Bilal Hasna tells Inverse. “We're all trying to become adults, in a way. Jizz, he's in a relationship for the first time. Kash and Carrie are trying to figure out their relationship.”
Jen’s quarter-life crisis veers into sheer panic as every relationship she’s in is thrown into question. But the heart of the series — the eternal panic of constantly “figuring things out” — is still there in spades. Jen roots through a literal manifestation of her mind with her therapist (Julian Barrett), going through stacks of books entitled “Boys I’ve Ghosted” and “Teachers I’ve Accidentally Called Mum.”
Jizzlord may have been a cat for the past four years, but in Extraordinary Season 2 he has to figure out personhood.
For a show that dedicated so much of itself to a love story in Season 1, Season 2 deals with the opposite. Kash loses control of his power and even gets a job at Carrie’s law firm, while Carrie attempts to reinvent herself by consulting the expert on bouncing back from a bad breakup: the spirit of Princess Diana.
“It’s something I see a lot in my friends,” Hasna says. “Realizing the person you met in uni isn’t really your person.” Thankfully, the breakup isn’t as acrimonious as they first think it is. “I don't see that enough on screen: characters trying to find ways to maintain the love that they've always had for each other outside of a romantic context.”
It’s the perfect series for the kids who grew up watching the MCU from Phase 1 and suddenly found themselves adults watching Phase 5. “What I love about the show is that you see the more power that people have, their shortcomings show up even more,” Rollason says. “Which I feel is quite realistic. If everyone had superpowers in the world, it would not be a less chaotic world.”
