By Mel Evans
San Francisco's tragic superheroes fight deepening psychological trauma in a world where anyone who gains a superpower also accepts a 12-month death sentence.
Hour-long Series | Sci-Fi, Drama
Synopsis
Heroes aren’t forever.
San Francisco. Ground zero for superheroes. For the past three years, the doors of nanotech company Moreno have been open to anyone who wants a superpower. Get past vetting, and a gas chamber is all that stands between you and your unique ability. Unfortunately, the procedure will also cut your lifespan to 12 months. Still want to shoot lasers from your eyes for the good of humankind?
The bold, damaged citizens crazy enough to say yes to this price tag have been coined Supercides. Given the sacrifice they’ve made to save lives and defend the city, the media obsess over their every move. And no one worships them more than Jeffrey Buzzard, a socially awkward journalist who’s just got his dream job as a Supercide correspondent.
Jeffrey assumes his knowledge and awe of Supercides will earn their respect. But he underestimates his ability to fuck up interactions when he’s nervous. And Supercides are fiercely private so they hate the relentless judgement of the press. All this leaves him rejected by the very people he’s put on a pedestal.
It gets worse.
After he causes an accident that endangers his sister’s life, Jeffrey becomes a Supercide in a final, stupidly courageous attempt to save her. He’s too late. A lifelong loner, he’s just lost the only person he was close to. Reeling with guilt, his sacrifice for nothing, Jeffrey finds himself plunged into a world of hostile Supercides, broken and 12 months from death.
Now, he must juggle saving lives as a Supercide with documenting Supercide lives as a journalist, cope with having no future, and losing his only family. It’s enough to drive anyone mad or bad, and he’ll come close to both before he can turn things around. He’s also managed to get on the wrong side of Godless, the most powerful Supercide in the world and the man who refused to help his sister. Godless and Jeffrey think they’re worlds apart. In reality, both men are alone in the world, struggling to cope with their guilt and cling to their sanity. And after they unearth secrets that will turn the world against its heroes, they’ll have to find a way to stick together.
Supercide is a character-driven show about the unfair expectations we put on each other and the impact of our willingness to judge and condemn. It reveals our doomed, selfish scramble to cling to life and grab everything we can. But it also finds the moments where we help others without expecting anything in return and decide to make our precious time stand for something even when the world stands against us.
Script
Bible
