Ben Vasani (Lucian-River Chauhan) is a 12-year-old who has a new school, new family, and household all in a short amount of time, now add an inconvenient superpower. Out of the blue, he’s become a shape-shifter, and he’s unable to control it, all while a looming hostile force is gearing up to hurt his friends and family. In Apple TV+’s Me, exploring this new G-rated family TV show is a new, gentler take on an origin story of someone being granted powers.
It’s almost a bite-sized and more tame version of Heroes but following only one character. All 10 episodes were released together and are quite short each. It may not be an instant favorite, but there’s enough in this kid-safe series to consider assembling together on the couch to watch it.
[Warning: Spoilers ahead for this new streaming series!]
Apple TV+’s Me has plenty of interesting characters beyond Ben
Me starts with Ben moving into a new family setup, adding stepsister Max (Abigail Pniowsky) and her father Phil Davis (Kyle Howard) into one house with his mother Elizabeth (Dilshad Vadsaria). At school there’s the usual bully, Jason (Brock Duncan) along with unintentionally allied classmates Owen (Jonathan Bergman) and Leonard (Antonio Raul Garcia).
Beyond that is Darren Kennedy (Sharif Atkins), a local detective who has a grim history he carries hard on his heart. Sadly, the villain, Yates Skurk (Tyriq Withers) is almost entirely forgettable and a weak reuse of tropes that lacks any personality beyond exacting revenge.
Max is Ben’s best help as he navigates the consequences and situations his shape-shifting powers tend to lead him through. At times, another character, Carter (Amanda Reid) will appear at opportune moments to give Ben a little nudge so that he keeps moving forward with his new abilities.
Although Ben struggles with his lack of control, everyone motivates him to do his best without knowing what he’s capable of. Jason’s bullying eventually forces him to embrace his powers and begin changing the lives of Ben’s new group.
The narrative structure of Me is a curious choice
After about 3 episodes, you notice a trend in how they open the stories and other formatting decisions. Around the halfway point, it becomes repetitive and even confusing, often feeling like padding to lengthen the run time. While it may sound unfavorable, it’s more of a mild discontent but forgivable as it adds a small personal flair to this show.
Since it’s intended for a younger audience, perhaps it’s more as reminders, although narratively they’re designed to evoke intrigue. There’s also a heavy reliance on narration from Ben that gets laid on too thick.
The episodes themselves move quickly and manage to highlight so many aspects of this coming-of-age tale of Ben. While they have a few scenes that take part in the past, they’re quick to jump back into the present and add relevance to them.
As in many stories like this, the build-up is to a massive social occasion, in this case, a school dance. The overall story converges simply, making use of each character and placing importance on everyone’s involvement in this tale. Even the later additions in the second half of the season play a considerable part in the resolution.
Having the other actors playing/voicing Ben is well done
Ben has to take on the visual and audial aspects of other people, but he still maintains his personality and mannerisms while other actors pretend to be him. It’s quite impressive on all fronts, from the first time he accidentally turns into Kenny (Jeremiah Friedlander). There is another moment where he borrows Phil’s voice to keep Max out of trouble with the principal.
Ben is a quiet kid, and taking on so many different bodies is quite challenging, making it more of a feat of accomplishment when he pulls it off. Credit should also be given heavily to the other actors for their well-played ability in being Ben, even if brief.
Then you have the reverse, where the villain can shape-shift and hide between Ben’s friends and family. This allows the villain to utilize Ben’s fears against him and show another side to many characters, especially the turn with Phil.
The way the show sometimes begins morphing Ben is also an excellent analogy to the changes for kids at that age. It was relatable, subtle, personal, and still completely appropriate.
Visual effects and a grander story in Me were both a miss
To the credit of the show, I wasn’t expecting intricate movie-quality CGI sequences, as this is just a tween-centric series. Yet sometimes the storms (that appeared multiple times) were on par with CW or Disney Channel Original Movie levels of visuals. This also goes for the power effects shown by other characters dispelling energy from their hands. Too often, the visuals during important moments felt bland and the series as a whole has a weird vignette effect for no reason that just adds a blur.
It frequently felt as though Ben acquiring powers and meeting others with powers could have led to so much more. Sadly, this wasn’t much of a result, no explanation was offered, just the revelation of more individuals. They’ve remained in the shadows for reasons and now have to team up to stop the villain. Still, not once was it remotely explored as to why random people from this one town over several decades have an assortment of abilities.
There was the potential to flesh out a lot more of this world instead of using time replaying the same scenes over and over. Even when they do start to consider getting deep, they immediately pull it back to surface level. The mysterious group that Ben has to arrange at the end only offers more ambiguous warnings of the future. Then there’s the ending itself, with a few teases of what could lead to a second season if it happens.
Final thoughts on Apple TV+’s Me
Overall, Me is just fine, but nothing beyond that. It’s a lot calmer and does have a few amusing scenes sprinkled through its 10 episodes. The acting from the kids is fantastic and is one of the strongest parts of the series. Indeed, it doesn’t have a whole of meat on the bones, but there’s a tradeoff in the form of quicker episodes. I think Me season 2, if it happens, would have room to alleviate a lot of the boring sections and see what happens with Ben and his newly acquired secondary powers.
Regarding a continuation of the series, creator Barry L. Levy (in an interview with Express.co.uk) recently said, “Oh yeah. I have all the plans laid out. When I walked into Apple from day one, it was: ‘I want to build the Apple Cinematic Universe. And I want to tell you about these heroes from the time that they were adolescents to the times where you’re going to see them grow into who they’re going to become.’ That was always my vision and dream.” Season 2 of Me has not been greenlit by Apple TV yet, but one assumes if it’s received well by viewers, it will be.
Me is now streaming all 10 episodes on Apple TV+! Let us know on social media @mycosmiccircus if you’ve watched the whole season yet, and what you think of it!
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