Nathan Young

Nathan Young
Misfits character
First appearance	Series 1 Episode 1
Last appearance	Vegas Baby! (online film)
Created by	Howard Overman
Portrayed by	Robert Sheehan
Born	15th of March, 1989[1]
Power	Immortality (series 1-2) Mediumship (series 2) Reality warping (Vegas Baby!)
Information
Nickname(s)	Prick, Dickhead
Gender	Male
Occupation	Charity collector
Nationality	Irish
Father	Mike Young
Mother	Louise Young
Brother	Jamie Young
Step-father	Jeremy
Partner	Marnie
Step-Son	Nathan Jr[2]

Nathan Young is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 science fiction comedy-drama Misfits, portrayed by Robert Sheehan. He first appeared in Series 1 Episode 1 and departed in an online spinoff entitled Vegas Baby! after Sheehan quit the role. He serves as one of the main protagonists of the show. His storylines include being sent to community service for stealing some pick 'n' mix, then aggravating the situation by insulting and then assaulting the store manager and later being kicked out of his home by his mother and abandoned by the majority of his friends. Sheehan has been nominated for a BAFTA for his role as Nathan.

Casting and character creation

Casting for the part was announced on 17 August 2009 by Digital Spy.^[3] Misfit's executive producer Petra Fried announced Robert Sheehan's decision to leave at the Kapow convention in London on 10 April 2011 and his departure will be dealt with in an online spinoff due to air on 15 September.^[4][5] The spinoff will be called Vegas Baby! and will see Nathan depart by going on the run.^[6] On his decision to leave Sheehan said " It's nice that the show's successful but it doesn't mean complete blind and unadmonished loyalty - 'If something is very successful you should stick to it like a barnacle!' That's definitely not my thinking. I think I've made the right decision, yeah." before adding on a possible return "There's no point in saying never. It holds a very fond little place in my heart. No, it's been a great big part of my life and there's no point in turning your back on something completely. I'm not doing that, I would never say never."^[7] Fellow cast member Iwan Rheon revealed that Overman who created the character discussed how to write their parts with the cast and later began writing for them as actors.^[8]

Development

Characterisation

E4's official website describes Nathan as having "an answer for everything, sarcastic wit, and a fondness for pushing things too far" and that "underneath the cocky quips and sarcasm, Nathan isn’t as unemotionally untouchable as he makes out." ^[9] Tim Dowling of The Guardian described him as the "Irish one who talks too much" of the group of "foul-mouthed young criminals".^[10] Digital Spy described him as a "smart aleck".^[3] The Metro described him as "hyperactive" and "irritating as hell".^[11]

Storylines

Nathan is involved in a freak storm and is later kicked out of his house by his mother on his first day of community service. He and the other young offenders are attacked by Tony and after Kelly kills him he helps dispose of the body. Nathan doesn't discover his power unlike the rest of the Misfits who discover their powers on the day after the storm. His power is hinted at in one of the alternate timelines created in the fourth episode of the first series, which presents him as the only survivor of Tony's rampage, found "half-dead" by the police. In the first series' finale, his power is revealed to be that of immortality after he falls from a building and is impaled on a metal fence. He regains consciousness days after his funeral, only to find that he is trapped inside his coffin underground. Like the rest of the Misfits, Nathan's power reflects aspects of his personality: most prominently, his apparent immunity from hurtful comments pointed out by both his mother and Kelly. In addition, it also reflects his recklessness, and the way he will do anything for fun and never gets embarrassed or regrets it. It is unclear if this power includes immunity from aging or if he simply cannot be killed, although it would appear that—in contrast to portrayals of immortals who are still vulnerable to head wounds—Nathan can even come back from being shot in the head without permanent damage. Nathan cannot heal himself unless he is actually dead, as shown when he is reduced to a state of vegetation in series 2 episode 6, although Curtis rewinds the timeline.

At the start of the second series, the others are led to Nathan's grave by Superhoodie, where they discover his power of immortality. His return only further complicates his relationship with his family, who believed him to be dead; Nathan reveals that upon returning home, and claims to have enraged his father by explaining his apparent death as an "elaborate life insurance scam". He returns to the community centre and taking part in his community service as if nothing had happened, unaware that he had been removed from the system upon his death and would have been free of this obligation had he not mentioned it to the probation worker.

In the second episode of the second series, it is revealed that Nathan has a younger half brother, Jamie, who was born to his father and another woman. Nathan endeavours to help Jamie come to terms with their father, though his efforts meet with little success. Eventually, after attending a nightclub together, Jamie and the misfits consume Ecstasy which as a result inverts their powers. Jamie then dies in a freak car fire that almost kills Nathan as well because the pill rendered him mortal for a time. Thankfully, Superhoodie intervenes yet again and tackles Nathan to safety. Nathan's power allows him to see Jamie's ghost after his demise. Jamie leads Nathan to his father's house, and encourages him to use their mutual grief over his death to reconcile before disappearing. Though Nathan acknowledges that the process will be a slow one, he manages to swallow his pride and ask his father to go out for breakfast together. Nathan's ability to see the recently deceased is demonstrated again when he sees Ollie's ghost, and a third time when he sees Kelly's spirit after she was murdered in a timeline that was later erased by Curtis, although it is possible he can only see the deceased he is connected to.

Nathan and Kelly begin to have romantic feeling towards each other, although Kelly admits that nothing has happened because she fears that his insensitivity will lead him to hurt her. Although the two come close to physically consummating their relationship in the third episode of the second series, Kelly stops it before they can go all the way because it doesn't feel right. Nathan and the other young offenders are exposed and become famous. Another recipient of the storm's powers, Brian, reduces him to a state of vegetation but this timeline is later rewound. Nathan finishes his community service and later gets a job. He begins a relationship with a pregnant woman named Marnie and decides to support her, leading him to sell his Immortality to power dealer Seth. He is almost killed in a robbery but ducks, leading to Nikki being shot. He later returns to Seth, and he and the other young offenders decide to buy new powers with money received from a charity scam commited by Elliot.

In Vegas Baby! Nathan along with Marnie and Nathan Junior are staying in Vegas. Along with his new power he begins scamming the casino's. He is caught out when he uses his power to cheat to get eleven on the dice although he uses the numbers four and seven. He runs back to the hotel room but is eventually caught where he bids farewell to Nathan Junior. Nathan now in an orange jumpsuit is imprisoned and uses his one free call to phone Simon. Rudy picks up and states that he is the new guy and he doesn't know a Barry before hanging up.

Reception

Sheehan was nominated for a BAFTA for his portyal of Nathan but lost out to Martin Freeman who stars in Sherlock.^[12] Sheehan was nominated for Outstanding Actor in the fiction category at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in 2011.^[13] The Guardian described Sheehan as the "leading light of E4's Asbo superheroes drama" and described Nathan as a "cocky motormouth" and questioned "Can Misfits survive without Nathan?" ^[14] The Herald described him as a "curly haired Irish smart alec called Nathan (Robert Sheehan), to whom writer Howard Overman has given all the best lines."^[15] The Guardian also commented that "So far his only power seems to be the gift of incessant back-chat. Played by Robert Sheehan, he's the breakout star of the show." ^[16] Boxcutters commented negatively on the characters of Misfits saying it was "filled with unattractive and very annoying characters" although they responded positively to the show asking "why do we find it so strangely compelling?"^[17] The Times commented that "Despite his fervent hopes, the cheeky, tousle-haired Irish boy cannot fly; indeed we do not know what his superpower is yet".^[18] The Daily Telegraph describes him as "Motormouth Nathan was the pivot here, prodding, challenging and provoking the others into revealing themselves".^[19] Digital Spy commented on the character calling him "much-loved".^[20] Keith Watson of the Metro commented positively on his exit saying "rather than dismiss this key character with a couple of lines of mumbled dialogue, his farewell is deftly handled in an online mini-drama all of his own" saying his time on the show was spent "bemoaning being short-changed in the superpower department – finally cashes in the chips on his shoulder" before adding "he’s going to leave a Misfits-shaped hole in my heart".^[11] The Metro described him as a "cult hero".^[21]

References

1. ^ "Nathan tribute". E4. Youtube. 18 December 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozihfA9PmSo. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
2. ^ Exclusive film: Nathan tries his luck in Vegas! 31 August 2011. E4 Misfits blog
3. ^ ^{a b} French, Dan (17 August 2009). "E4 commissions new teen superhero comedy". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a171453/e4-commissions-new-teen-superhero-comedy.html. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
4. ^ Wightman, Catriona (10 April 2011). "Robert Sheehan not returning to 'Misfits'". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s145/misfits/news/a313767/robert-sheehan-not-returning-to-misfits.html. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
5. ^ "Exclusive film: Nathan tries his luck in Vegas!". E4.com. E4. 31 August 2011. http://www.e4.com/blog/misfits-blog/post/1ldepktyrarbiuj6dmzsck/view.e4. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
6. ^ Wightman, Catriona. "'Misfits' online film released next month". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchidate=31 August 2011]. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s145/misfits/news/a338020/misfits-online-film-released-next-month.html. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
7. ^ Wightman, Catriona (22 May 2011). "'Misfits': Q&A with Robert Sheehan". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s145/misfits/tubetalk/a320657/misfits-qa-with-robert-sheehan.html. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
8. ^ "Misfits stars: We helped writers". Metro. 2 December 2009. http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/802667-misfits-stars-we-helped-writers. Retrieved 1 October 2011. 
9. ^ "E4 Nathan Character Profile". E4. http://www.e4.com/misfits/characters/nathan.html. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
10. ^ "Misfits review Asbo's with superpowers". The Guardian. 13 November 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2009/nov/13/misfits-review-asbo-superheroes. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Watson, Keith (15 September 2011). "Misfits Online: Vegas Baby! is a deftly handled farewell to Nathan". Metro. http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/reviews/875596-misfits-online-vegas-baby-is-a-deftly-handled-farewell-to-nathan#ixzz1ZX29Ni8L. Retrieved 1 October 2011. 
12. ^ "BAFTA nominees in full". BAFTA. 26 April 2011. http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/winners-nominees-2011,1766,BA.html#jumpSA. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
13. ^ Wightman, Catriona (20 April 2011). "In Full: Monte Carlo TV Festival fiction nominees". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a315649/in-full-monte-carlo-tv-festival-fiction-nominees.html. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
14. ^ "Can Misfits survive without Nathan?". The Guardian. 11 April 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/apr/11/misfits-e4-nathan. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
15. ^ "The Herald review of Misfits". The Herald. 13 November 2009. http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/ideal-superheroes-for-the-21st-century-1941985.html. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 
16. ^ "Misfits: Series one, episode one". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2009/nov/13/misfits-c4-episode-one. Retrieved 23 July 2011. 
17. ^ "Misfits review by Boxcutters". Boxcutters. http://boxcutters.net/2009/12/07/ep-206-misfits-the-prisoner-lunch-disclosure/. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 
18. ^ "Misfits review by The Times". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6914519.ece. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 
19. ^ "Misfits E4 Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6555277/Misfits-E4-review.html. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 
20. ^ Wightman, Catriona (9 May 2011). "Joe Gilgun signs up for 'Misfits' role". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s145/misfits/news/a318481/joe-gilgun-signs-up-for-misfits-role.html. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
21. ^ Watson, Keith (26 September 2011). "Misfits actress Ruth Negga talks Robert Sheehan and the Irish accent". Metro. http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/876666-misfits-actress-ruth-negga-talks-robert-sheehan-and-the-irish-accent. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 

External links

• Nathan E4 profile at E4