overview

Hex is a UK television series about a remote country school that becomes the battleground between a demonic entity and the witches that oppose it. It mixes elements of gothic horror, soap opera, and modern teen dramedy. The second series, aired on the Sky One satellite channel, ended on December 18, 2005. The first series of the show was a cult success and is currently available on region 2 DVD. Hex was developed by the creators of As If.

Touted by Sky as "the British Buffy", critics were quick to point out that Hex lacks the cohesive internal mythology and sharply defined characters of Joss Whedon's work. Detractors have compared it negatively to Charmed and any of a half dozen popular teen soaps, although despite its obvious "soapiness" it is darkly serious and is not played as camp. Its frank depictions of teen sex, alcohol and drug use, mental illness, abortion and human sacrifice place it a cut above the rest of the field.

synopsis

Hex appears superficially to be a standard teen soap with gothic or supernatural overlays, but the overarching plot is difficult to synopsize thanks to an unexpected twist introduced early in the second series. From its outset, Hex appears to be the story of Cassie Hughes, a beautiful but withdrawn young woman who enrolls at the school but can't quite seem to fit into the social milieu. The second series twist forces the viewer to realize that Cassie was never the heroine of the piece, merely a pawn in the schemes of the villains, and her role is overshadowed and replaced by that of an entirely new character, Ella Dee, who may be the true heroine of the programme or may be merely another piece in a larger scheme.

Series One (5 episodes, 2004)

The show is set in a remote English school, Medenham Hall, which occupies the former manor house and grounds of the McBain estate. The estate was the site of an 18th Century witchcraft scandal in which the female members of the line, thereafter known as "The Medenham Witches", were tried and executed. Cassie, who raised herself in a single-parent household in which she cared for her mentally unstable mother, has latent psychokinetic and clairvoyant abilites that are awakened when she touches an antique vase used in Voudoun rituals by the Medenham Witches. Her roommate, Thelma (who harbours a badly-kept secret that she has a lesbian crush on Cassie), discovers that Cassie is a decendant of the Medenham Witches. Cassie has startling visions and dreams which she struggles to interpret. She also struggles with controlling her growing psychokinetic powers, which she is only able to summon in times of stress.

Cassie and Thelma become aware that Cassie is being stalked by a "dangerous looking" stranger who calls himself Azazeal. Initially glimpsed fleetingly, he becomes increasingly bold, even entering into the students rooms later in the series without warning or permission. He is revealed to be the leader of the Biblical Nephilim, fallen angels, and he claims to be in love with Cassie. Doubt is cast on his claims as the viewer witnesses his dalliance with schoolmistress Jo Watkins, and there is also evidence that Azazeal had a long-term sexual relationship with Cassie's mother which may have contributed to her mental illness.

Frustrated by his inability to convince Cassie that his claims are sincere, he murders Thelma before Cassie's eyes as a "sacrifice" to increase his power and "prove" that he is truly who he says he is. This act has two unintentional consequences: his power over Cassie is initially weakened by the shock, and Thelma thereafter continues to share Cassie's room as a ghost that only Cassie and Azazeal can see. Thelma is unable to touch the living, but she can manipulate inanimate objects (including clothing, artefacts, books, doors, window sashes and vending machines) and eat (which she does constantly, since ghosts cannot gain weight!). Thelma works behind the scenes to spy on Azazeal and gather evidence from places where Cassie can't enter. Cassie, while horrified by Azazeal's behavior, ultimately finds herself drawn completely into his power. Azazeal attempts to possess her, but she later comes to him willingly. They conceive a child.

Thelma learns from Peggy, the ghost of a woman who died in the 1918 influenza pandemic, that the gestation of Azazeal's male child is weakening the veil between worlds, allowing more ghosts to appear to the living. If the child is born, the veil will be torn, allowing the rest of the (two hundred) Nephilim to enter our world. If the pregnancy is terminated, the veil will heal, preventing the Nephilim from returning and leaving Azazeal alone of his kind in our world. But there is a side effect: ghosts will also vanish from this world.

Cassie regains her senses enough to realize that the foetus must be aborted, although it is growing at an alarming rate. A week after conception, the doctors believe she is nearing the end of her first trimester. Thelma assists Cassie without telling her that success means that she may never see Cassie again. Azazeal tries to interfere, but Cassie goes through with the abortion...or so she thinks. When Thelma realizes that Cassie can still see her, Thelma knows that something has not gone right. Cassie discovers weeks later that the doctor who performed her procedure has been influenced by Azazeal, and that the baby is alive, in Azazeal's care.

Series Two (13 episodes, 2005)

Thelma discovers that Azazeal is raising the child, who is walking already, in an abandoned church nearby. She and Cassie decide that they must somehow get the child, whom Azazeal has named "Malachi", but are clueless as to how to accomplish this. Azazeal becomes aware that they are watching him, and tries to convince Cassie that he only wants her to join them so that they can be a "real family". Cassie, still partially under his spell, is obviously attracted by the prospect but retains enough of her self to know that this is something she should not want.?

While Cassie and Thelma strategise, new characters are introduced at the school and old ones depart. Troy, convinced that Cassie's child is his, left the school at the end of the first series. Jo Watkins, having "really let herself go", is seldom seen at school as she has become Azazeal's live-in nurse and nanny. The school gains a new chaplain, Jez Heriot, who doesn't "wear the uniform" except when conducting services, and who also teaches Ethics. When Jo effectively disappears, David Tyrel asks Jez to take her classes as well. The students don't initially realise that he is a priest, and Roxanne is quite taken with him... so much so that she can't help but seduce him even after the truth is known. A new student arrives at Medenham, Ella Dee. Her wardrobe, consisting of long, high-collared leather coats, corsets and stiletto heel boots, instantly wins her points with the boys, evokes jealousy in the girls, and makes the faculty uncomfortable. Thelma is mildly attracted until she realizes that Ella can see her. There are other anomalies: Ella's tuition is paid by a corporation and her family background is unknown. She also seems to know entirely too much about Cassie... and Azazeal.

It is quickly revealed that Ella is definitely not what she seems. She is 445 years old and the daughter of John Dee. She is a witch and has been hunting Azazeal for centuries. So far, she has been very successful in preventing Azazeal from begetting a son by a mortal witch. This time, she was too late. Her mission: kill Malachi.

She instantly takes charge of both Cassie and Thelma and formulates a plan to kidnap Malachi and sacrifice him in the school chapel. They are successful in grabbing the child, but Azazeal follows them. With Azazeal present, Cassie loses her resolve and interposes her body between Ella and Malachi. She dies instantly when Ella can't stop her killing blow. Azazeal regains Malachi and retreats.

Ella tries to formulate a new strategy while Thelma tries to deal with her deep sense of loss. Ella loses her edge as she feels herself falling for Leon. Thelma is conned by Azazeal into giving him the Stone of Belial, one of Ella's objects of power, in exchange for a last meeting with Cassie. Jez is revealed to be Ramiel, another of the Nephilim and Azazeal's right-hand entity. With the Stone in their possession, Azazeal and Ramiel conspire to drive Ella insane by forcing her to relive the 17th Century witch trial in which she was found guilty and nearly executed. Thelma discovers that she can travel through time within the lifetime of a person to whom she is psychically linked, and rescues Ella from execution in the past.

Ella rapidly ages as she is stripped of her powers, but as Leon is brought in on her secret, (the existence of the spirit world) and is granted the power to see Thelma, he helps to revive her using the Volta. A friend of Leon's who helped him get Ella out of the hospital, where she was cared for by Perie the Faerie (and lover of Azazeal's) was tortured by Azazeal and Malachi, who now an adult, killed him with mercy.

Azazeal was asked to leave by "higher powers" and enlist Malachi at Medenham Hall. He and Ella said their goodbyes, with Malachi born she had no desire to kill him, and he left the Stone of Belia in Malachi's possession. Ella killed Jez, and made it look like suicide, which deeply affected Roxanne who had seduced him.

Ella and Malachi romance one another magically and otherwise, and their respective mentors the archangel Raphael and the demon Mephistopheles both use psychological tacticts to get them to do as they please. Ella and Malachi eventually have sex, as the evil side had wanted, and by fulfilling Ella's true desire (to be normal) she was made a slave to Malachi; his succubus.

Malachi killed a young lesbian girl named Maya so that her ghost could consort with Thelma and give him leverage. Ella as a slave of Malachi's was freed by Thelma, who invoked her greatest fear: fire, within her dreams. Leon who had attempted to kill Malachi, but was betrayed by Thelma (in hopes of keeping her and Maya in the living world) was saved by Ella as a pure evil Malachi sent a (fallen in Hex mythos) archangel Sariel to attack Leon. Mephistopheles betrayed evil by helping Ella save Leon, who he felt did not need to die, and was subsequently punished and had his eyes removed. Raphael fell from grace by trying to rape Ella. Ella announced at this point she no longer worked for Raphael's master, (God) and was a freelance agent at last.

Ella had lost all her feelings for Malachi who quickly moved on to romancing Alex(andra) and other girls in the school, as well as winning the hearts of its entire body and creating an army of succubi and incubi which made him impossible for Ella to kill. The only members of the school who were not converted were Roxanne (who had become a "pure soul" in her quest for forgiveness from God for seducing Jez which led to his apparent suicide), Tom (who was gay, and could not be converted because Malachi could not make Leon love him), Thelma (because after Ella killed Maya he had no hold over her) and Ella herself who had already been freed from Malachi's spell.

Ella dug up Maya's corpse and beheaded it, which destroyed Maya's ghosts lingering presence on Earth. Leon could not kill Alex, which left him feeling inferior to Ella. Jo, Cassie's former teacher and Azazeal's lover returned to act as headmistress after she framed David Tyrel, and acted as Malachi's equal in the school, updating him on Azazeal and Mephistopheles. Malachi could not convert Tom, so faked the "mark of Malachi" on his neck so Leon would kill him. By killing Tom, Leon overcame his feeling of inferiority to Ella and became an incubus of Malachi's.

Leon almost killed Ella with knowledge gained from the Book of Orokiah but Thelma helped to save her. He was locked in a cage and sedated, at which point Thelma saved him from Malachi by invoking his greatest fear (having his penis amputated). Thelma gave Roxanne the ability to see her, lead her to believe she was an angel and used her to steal Stone of Belial back from Malachi. Ella used the stone to travel to the days after Malachi was born (at the end of season 1) to kill him but Perie the Faerie attacked her and gave her a mortal wound to the chest.

Mephistopheles, rejected from hell, convinced Leon to return where he cauterized Ella's wound which allowed her to heal herself. Malachi sacrificed a pure-of-heart Roxanne to "enrage God" by killing one of "his creatures". The school was set alight and Thelma, Ella and Leon escaped from it to a field somewhere. As Malachi had started the "End of Days", described by Mephistopheles as the final battle between good and evil, the series ended with blood pouring from a rock which bore the mark of Azazeal, similar to Malachi's.

INFUENCES

Hex borrows inaccurately from Biblical apocrypha, such as The Book of Enoch. For example, the fallen angels referred to in the programme as "the Nephilim" were called the Watchers or Grigori in apocryphal texts. It was the offspring of the Grigori by mortal women who were called the Nephilim. In the Apocrypha, the Nephilim were giants of great size, yet Azazeal is no taller than a commonly tall man, even in his non-human form. The spelling and pronunciation of Azazeal's name has also been altered from the Biblical version, and in that version he was a leader of the Grigori, not of the Nephilim.

Ella Dee's Book of Orokiah is much like the Book of Shadows from Charmed, containing such information as how to kill demons and how to protect oneself from evil. The show uses a style of language first popularised (some would argue, created by) Buffy the Vampire Slayer, at times borrowing lines or well known expressions such as "uber", which although a common word was rarely used before season 7 of Buffy and has since entered the mainstream.