This show starts with a bang. A young woman is chased through the jungles of Hawaii by three men armed with a mish-mash of randomly chosen weapons. It turns out she is an Inhuman, activated by the spread of Terragenesis in Agents of Shield . Strange that the backstory of the Inhumans in that show made absolutely NO reference to the Inhuman community in this show.
Black Bolt (Anson Mount - All The Boys Love Mandy Lane ) and Medusa ( Serinda Swan ) are the King and Queen of the Inhumans. They rule a domed city that is camouflaged in a crater on the moon. Unfortunately, in order to ration their limited resources they have to maintain a strict caste system.
The King's brother Maximus (Iwan Rheon - Game of Thrones (S4) ) is a rabble-rouser. Anyone who has not seen Misfits will automatically associate him with Ramsay Bolton, which means that he is set up as a blatant rent-a-villain. He offers the underclass a better life on Earth. As a result he gets mass popular support. He may be cast as a villain, but he has a valid democratic mandate.
It seems that the Inhumans only use their superpowers to attack mortal humans. The Palace Guard use energy rifles rather than their own powers. The precog does not use his skills on Maximus, thus allowing him to plot unhindered.
The good guys are scattered in different locations across Hawaii. The villains seem to have powers that can equal them. For example, the good guys use a teleporting dog while the villains have enslaved a sentient wall that can create a portal to Earth.
Black Bolt (Anson Mount - All The Boys Love Mandy Lane ) is in the city. Unfortunately he has no money, no local knowledge, and cannot risk speaking in case he accidentally kills someone.
Medusa ( Serinda Swan ) i s alone, with her head shaved and her powers gone. The villain's chief of security comes after her - again, alone. This leads up to a brutal girl-on-girl fight, and not the sexy or glamourous sort. Can a spoilt and powers-less Queen defeat a specialist warrior?
Gorgon the Token Black Guy (Eme Ikwuakor) ends up on a beach. He tries to swim, but discovers he does not float. Luckily some surfer dudes drop by.
Maximus (Iwan Rheon - Game of Thrones (S4) ) wants to end the caste system, so the workers will finally have a chance at equality.
Black Bolt (Anson Mount - All The Boys Love Mandy Lane ) is in the city jail. The warden puts him in gen-pop, where he will need all his self-control to stop himself accidentally destroying the place. Luckily, Dr Campbell (Henry Ian Cusick - Lost ) has made a contact inside the jail.
Karnak (Ken Leung - Lost ) is injured, and his powers seem to have faded. He wanders lost in the woods, and ends up captured by some farmers. They seriously consider murdering him, in order to keep their medicinal marijuana crop secret.
Gorgon the Token Black Guy (Eme Ikwuakor) is still hanging out with the surfer dudes. Luckily they are a bunch of ex-military types. They volunteer to act as his personal militia. Just as well, because Maximus has sent reinforcements to hunt the Royals down.
Black Bolt (Anson Mount - All The Boys Love Mandy Lane ) has been rescued by Dr Campbell (Henry Ian Cusick - Lost ). He wants to find his wife Medusa ( Serinda Swan ), unaware that she is already in pursuit of him. Unfortunately Medusa is inclined to use violence to solve all her problems. This draws a lot more attention and makes a lot more enemies than she needs.
Karnak (Ken Leung - Lost ) gets on well with the girl farmer. Unfortunately one of her male cow-orkers may be getting jealous.
Gorgon the Token Black Guy (Eme Ikwuakor) has decided to stop hanging out with the surfer dudes. One of them was killed in action, and he does not think of the others as expendable.
Black Bolt (Anson Mount - All The Boys Love Mandy Lane ) has been rescued by his wife Medusa ( Serinda Swan ). They have an ally and a prisoner.
Dr Campbell (Henry Ian Cusick - Lost ) has a couple of Inhuman bodies to dissect. Unfortunately one of them is not as dead as he thinks.
Karnak (Ken Leung - Lost ) and his girlfriend get chased by gun-toting drug-dealers. Yes, it seems that if you outlaw medicinal marijuana then the criminal underworld will monopolise the industry.
King Maximus (Iwan Rheon - Game of Thrones (S4) ) has nightmares about the return of his enemies. There are only four of them, but they are the warrior elite of the Inhumans. As the self-proclaimed aristocracy they have enslaved the poulation of the moon. He sends down a second wave of warriors to keep the Moon free. No taxation without representation!
Dr Campbell (Henry Ian Cusick - Lost ) is now held hostage by the villainess. He shares his discovery - some of the Inhumans that have been on Earth longer have begun to lose their powers.
Karnak (Ken Leung - Lost ) and his cousin Gorgon the Token Black Guy (Eme Ikwuakor) go to rescue the hostages. Although Karnak does not have his precognitive ability to predict what his enemy will do, the enemy assumes that he does and so they out-think themselves.
Black Bolt (Anson Mount - All The Boys Love Mandy Lane ) wants revenge on Max, but Medusa ( Serinda Swan ) wants to give him a show trial. That way they can placate the population.
Black Bolt (Anson Mount - All The Boys Love Mandy Lane ) and what remains of his aristocratic warrior elite easily intimidate the remains of Max's conscript force. They offer Parley to King Maximus (Iwan Rheon - Game of Thrones (S4) ), although things are too bitter for any true negotiations to take place. However, at least they get a new ethnic team member to fill out the cast.
It turns out that Black Bolt has been planning ahead the whole time. He has had assets stashed away since before the events of the pilot episode. Now he and his crew abandon their human allies back on Earth, and go to a secret bunker on the moon.
Dr Campbell (Henry Ian Cusick - Lost ) gives some exposition to Karnak (Ken Leung - Lost ). It is possible to cause an Inhuman to have a second terragenesis.
The Parley goes ahead as planned. Medusa ( Serinda Swan ) acts as translator, implying that Max was too lazy to learn his brother's sign language. Black Bolt's offer is to allow Max a full pardon and a second terragenesis, in exchange for reinstatement of the aristocracy. Will Max be honorable, or is he a two-dimensional villain?
An assassin goes after Max. He uses a pair of over-sized kukri fighting knives, and stages a full frontal assault against the royal bodyguards Yes, he does have a super-power ... swimming!
King Maximus (Iwan Rheon - Game of Thrones (S4) ) is in the hands of Black Bolt (Anson Mount - All The Boys Love Mandy Lane ) and his aristocratic clique. The palace guard are still loyal to the King, but the aristocrats are more than happy to kill them. After all, they seem keen to stage a purge of Max's supporters.
Max has weakened the moon city's dome. Unfortunately it will collapse, and sooner rather than later. Medusa ( Serinda Swan ) and the others try to persuade the citizens to evacuate. She tells the citizens that Max cares only for himself, but in all fairness she enrichened herself by marrying the King and perpetuating the caste system.
The ending has resolution, if not catharsis. And there is the scope for further storylines, on Earth and in space.
Reviewed in our special supplement