Wicked Science

I've ordered the DVDs of the two seasons of this mid2000s Aussie teen sci-fi show, which I remember rather liking at the time. It's about two teenagers, Toby and Elizabeth, who are involved in some sort of freak accident that turns them both into super-geniuses. And Elizabeth is not necessarily the kind of person you want with that kind of power...
I freely confess (cough) that the reason I started watching this in the first place is that Elizabeth was played by Bridget Neval, who is of course most famous as Lana in Neighbours. Not that I had a thing for her or anything. No sirree. Not me. Perish the thought.
But I do recall liking it, I watched both seasons (52 episodes) anyway and stuck with it throughout, even becoming quite invested in the increasingly complicated and dysfunctional relationship between the two leads.
I'm rather looking forward to seeing it again, I hope it stands up well.

Answers on a postcard as to why you can only get DVD season sets of an Aussie show via Spanish releases, mind...

It's still pretty good, if flawed at times. Sometimes it's a bit too kiddy - mainly in the first episode so far with that woeful mid2000s TV budget CGI dinosaur - but the characters, particularly Elizabeth, are quite compelling, and a lot is somewhat different to how I remembered.
I'm appalled at how badly Elizabeth is treated, and it's unsurprising she starts lashing out when given the ability and confidence. Pre-accident Elizabeth is painful to watch, so painfully introverted and shy and socially awkward, with everything from the way she dresses and carries herself - stooped posture, hunched shoulders - speaking volumes, and you can practically see her flinch at every cruel jibe or casual dismissal. Particularly painful is when the "hot" new girl just casually steals the seat she sits in next to Toby, who she clearly has a crush on already. "I sit next to Toby," she says uncomprehendingly, and you can see see how the brief social interaction with him that arrangement affords her, which means less than nothing to him, is probably the highlight of her week. Watching her embarrassedly stumble to find another seat, head down, is just...
Post-accident Elizabeth has more confidence, and certainly dresses better, but you can see that seething anger that must have been boiling under the surface for years at how she's been - and is still being - treated finally being given the chance to be expressed. Yet she's painted as the bad guy.
As for the other characters, Toby is generally likeable enough, and is at least depicted as initially being indifferent to Elizabeth (and also perhaps embarrassed by her obvious crush) rather than outright nasty, but his friends are absolute cunts, constantly belittling, insulting and provoking her, and then getting all huffy and offended if she hits back. I really didn't remember hating Dinah so much, but she is an absolute bitch to Elizabeth, even pre-accident Elizabeth, from moment one, for absolutely no reason. I don't blame Elizabeth for fricking despising her.
The most uncomfortable thing is it's really unclear whether the show even realises how terrible they all really are to her or not. This certainly shifts later on, especially in the second season when Toby actually starts to care about Elizabeth and their relationship verges on even being romantic, albeit with him still wary of her abilities, but at this point it's deeply uncomfortable to see the way even the supposed "good guys" treat her, and then act she's like crazy or evil for being angry about it.
I'm kinda hooked, though. Which may even be the point after all.

Sounds interesting. I much prefer the science which results in a sexy woman bursting through your door and then taking a shower with you. I think that's called weird science

Season 1 ep 6: The Jungle in the Laboratory. Elizabeth and Dina's latest outbreak of hostilities (seriously, the last few eps seem to have been more about how much they hate each other and Toby just trying to limit the fallout than anything else   ) results in a solution from Toby to fix Dina's embarrassing hair loss problem that goes badly wrong, causing a disaster that threatens to expose Toby and Elizabeth's shared secret. This is a really fun episode, made all the better by the Toby/Elizabeth interaction, which is - bizarrely - the first real shared screen time they've had together since episode 1. It's weird that it's taking the program makers so long to twig that the show works best when these two are front and centre with each other, or maybe it's a deliberate build-up, I dunno. Either way, it's a lot of fun. Even in a desperate situation, Elizabeth seems a lot less angry and generally aggro when with him, and Toby seems genuinely enthused by their working together. There's even a sweet, if slightly awkward moment, when Toby makes a crack about lots of people wishing she was dead, to which she goes very quiet, and asks "Even you?" And he gets all uncomfortable and almost shy before replying "... I didn't say that."  Toby's never seemed to actually hate her, but this scene is the first time we get the impression he might actually have some kind of affection for her underneath their apparent rivalry. Aww.
Of course, he then rather spoils it by pretending they hadn't just been getting along quite happily when his friends show up, a practice that's unfortunately going to become quite common, and which clearly and understandably wounds Elizabeth.
Yes Toby, I'm sure that will help her with her anger issues.

A few more episodes. The one in which Toby build a robot double for Dina so it can cover her shift at work while she goes on a date was actually a really funny comedy episode, even if Toby doing this to enable a girl he clearly fancies to go out with someone else is cucked almost beyond belief.
The second was... interesting, but with a really infuriating ending. Disappointed by his romantic failures, Toby comes up with a way to attract girls with pheromones, only to realise how iffy an idea that is by Dina's furious reaction. Unfortunately the vial then gets stolen by idiot bully Garth, and released into the air conditioning at the school dance... This is interesting, not least because all of the chaos in this episode is ultimately Toby's fault. Elizabeth is doing nothing more than organising the dance, and in a very amusing Monica Gellar-esque manner ("Start having fun" she tells two bored students, "now!" ) Although initially cheesed off by the dance turning to chaos, she's actually quite impressed when she realises it's all Toby's fault.
Unfortunately, this episode ends with another, even more horrendous reminder, of Why We Should All Hate Dina, who appears to (despite clearly having no interest in Toby romantically) fly into a jealous rage just at the sight of Elizabeth and Toby having a quiet private conversation, begins loudly verbally abusing her, and then graduates to full-on physical assault. Wait, what?! Again, I'm in a quandary as to whether the show actually expects us to like Dina, because at this point I wouldn't blame Elizabeth for showing up at school with a handgun the next day and shooting this fucking cunt. WTF.
Again, I reiterate - Elizabeth does nothing wrong in this episode, and gets assaulted for talking to the guy she actually does like (as opposed to keeping around like a pet, Dina ).
Is there a We Hate Dina Club I can join? Fuck me!

Wicked Science: Vigilance. After nearly getting caught using the school's science lab at night, something that could get her expelled, Elizabeth tries to persuade Toby to let her use his home lab and even join in with her new project. Rebuffed as per usual, she resorts again to using the school lab - unaware that the teachers have placed a hidden camera in the room to catch the persistent intruder. Is this the end for Elizabeth? Oh wow. This was a turnaround! I really didn't remember them starting to hit on Toby/Elizabeth so strong and so soon (not quite halfway through season 1) but here we are. Faced with the real possibility of Elizabeth being permanently removed from his life, Toby finally gets off that fence he so likes to sit on in regards to her, and takes direct action to safeguard her and prevent that happening, much to his friends' disbelief. And his feeble excuses - well, if Elizabeth gets caught it might somehow lead to my secret being exposed - aren't fooling anyone, not a shocked and furious Dina (ha ha, swivel on it, bitch! ) or an equally stunned but seriously warmed Elizabeth. This was a great episode! Low to non-existent on the sci-fi wackiness but high on the character stuff, which is what interests me anyway. Toby forced to show he cares about Elizabeth more than he wants to admit, Elizabeth positively a-glow with happiness and hopefulness (to the extent she's even being genuinely nice and sweet with Verity at the end, when she normally just yells at her ) and the smug smirk well and truly wiped off Dina's face. It's now becoming clear to everyone that what Elizabeth's been saying since the accident - that she and Toby are now connected in a way he can never be with anyone else - is actually true, and the implications of that are obviously fairly seismic. 
Loved this one!