I was taken by surprise last year when I sat down to watch all three episodes of the much acclaimed, deservedly BAFTA winning BBC3 miniseries In the Flesh. Alright, sure, the science of the show is ill-thought out. But it hardly matters when Dom Mitchell managed to take a compelling story and use zombies in a thoughtful way. I saw a bit of myself in Kieren, I loved the curveballs and the clever ways they managed to lead us on with he story, and of course the allegory for the denial of civil rights. However, when I found out there was second sires, it just so happened to be midway through its run here in Canada and two episodes away from being finished in the UK, and I also had to ask why. Sure, more Kieren would be great. But Rick is dead and the ending provided enough closure. Nonetheless I decided to give it my attention
The problem with stretching what started as a miniseries into a full series is that there has to realistically be more to the story. The problem is, there's both enough story for a second series and not enough story for an extended series. The episode started well enough with an introduction to the "Blue Oblivion drug" as mentioned in the first episode of the first series, in an impressive attack sequence. Despite the rather unnecessary opening title card which feels like an after thought and doesn't fit the show at all, things continue well enough. Jem has made up with Kieren and Amy is back and has a boyfriend Kieren. New villain Maxine Martin is brought in as an allegory for US right wing nut groups, because the show needs to remind us yet again that it's an allegory
The problem with Maxine is that she's too typical and too paper thin. Let's not blame this on the actress; she does a good job considering what weak character material she is given, but Maxine feels too... stock. Simon Monroe however is the best of a whole roster of new characters however; he's both charming and creepy and expertly played by the ever wonderful Emmett Scanlan. The problem however though is that Simon is so good for the first four episodes that when he's not on screen, the show suffers. That isn't to say Luke Newberry isn't great, he is, but Kieren, a character who once was one of the best and most heartbreaking protagonists of all time feels like a secondary character by comparison
Overall this isn't a bad start to a season but there was definitely mire they could have done with the concept. It does set up the premise very nicely, but the problem is that it's little more than a set-up. Nonetheless it is nice to return to Roarton even if it's just for an hour
The problem with stretching what started as a miniseries into a full series is that there has to realistically be more to the story. The problem is, there's both enough story for a second series and not enough story for an extended series. The episode started well enough with an introduction to the "Blue Oblivion drug" as mentioned in the first episode of the first series, in an impressive attack sequence. Despite the rather unnecessary opening title card which feels like an after thought and doesn't fit the show at all, things continue well enough. Jem has made up with Kieren and Amy is back and has a boyfriend Kieren. New villain Maxine Martin is brought in as an allegory for US right wing nut groups, because the show needs to remind us yet again that it's an allegory
The problem with Maxine is that she's too typical and too paper thin. Let's not blame this on the actress; she does a good job considering what weak character material she is given, but Maxine feels too... stock. Simon Monroe however is the best of a whole roster of new characters however; he's both charming and creepy and expertly played by the ever wonderful Emmett Scanlan. The problem however though is that Simon is so good for the first four episodes that when he's not on screen, the show suffers. That isn't to say Luke Newberry isn't great, he is, but Kieren, a character who once was one of the best and most heartbreaking protagonists of all time feels like a secondary character by comparison
Overall this isn't a bad start to a season but there was definitely mire they could have done with the concept. It does set up the premise very nicely, but the problem is that it's little more than a set-up. Nonetheless it is nice to return to Roarton even if it's just for an hour
