Episode 5 Brave-ish Heart
The middle of a series run is a good place to hit a peak and
this fifth episode absolutely achieves that. Visually superb and narratively
involving matters come alive by focussing as much on the foibles of the
characters as the overall scenario. It may be a tad self- conscious in its
attempts to woo a target teenage audience and I still can’t understand a word
the Shadow Kin say but overall this a bold episode that plays with big themes
and big emotions and earns a strong victory.
The whole thing looks amazing- the world of the Shadow Kin
is the best alien landscape I’ve seen in many a year with those `lava bubbles`
a particularly good addition to emphasise its strangeness. I was also intrguied
by the explanation as to where the place is- somehow underneath the Universe. Patrick
Ness has certainly come up with one of the most interesting alien races in the Who stable in a long while. Meanwhile
the petal invasion happening in the present day is equally well conveyed with
some very gruesome looking inserts of victims.
