by Kjersti Wasiak

Created on: April 12, 2008

The show H2O recently started airing on March 14, 2008, on Nickelodeon. It is, however, not an Nickelodeon original series and is an Australian import that first aired on July 7, 2006 on Network 10 in Australia.

The first episode was about three girls getting mysterious powers that turn them into mermaids whenever they come in contact with water. This, of course, can be quite problematic with water being everywhere. Now they have to deal with trying to be normal when they are not at all normal. Beyond their power of turning into mermaids they also have special control over water. One can control water as a liquid, one can turn it into steam, and the third can freeze the water.

The three main characters of the show are Emma, Cleo, and Rikki. Emma is competitive and before the incident that gave them their powers she was a swimmer. Rikki is a new girl in town, as well as a rebel and a risk taker. Both Emma and Rikki easily come to enjoy their new powers. Cleo on the other hand has trouble with them. First off, she has always had a fear of water. Thus she is hesitant at first to discover the depth of her new powers, but this changes when she finds out turtles are getting caught in nets and she could use her powers to save them. Another almost main character is Lewis, who is another teenager, and is the only person they tell their secret to. He is a smart boy and likes science, so he tries to find the cause of their transformation as well as help them out of several sticky situations in which others almost discover their powers.

Overall this is an interesting show that so far has them beginning to use their powers for good almost becoming underwater superheroes. I guess they could be called environmental superheroes, but that is just based on Cleo saving the one turtle in one episode so far. It seems to be not be much about them as superheroes, but more about them just having superpowers and learning to control them and keeping them from being discovered by others. It certainly seems the focus is going to be another show about kids for tweens about kids trying to fit in when they are not normal and keeping the true them a secret (not really sure how this makes it a great show, as should not kids be learning to be themselves, although I guess sometimes there are extremes where you just have to keep things secret).

Official Website: http://www.jonathan-m-shiff.com.au/h2o/

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