In The Flesh series 2 episode 5 review 

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BBC Three’s impressive In The Flesh continues with a tremendous performance from Emily Bevan…

There’s so much to praise about the broad strokes of

’s world that its finer details risk going unnoticed. Not only have the show’s production designers recreated a trio of teenage bedrooms so accurate that frankly, it verges on the suspicious (kids, check under your beds tonight for BBC employees with mood boards), but their designs also inform the storytelling.

When Kieren sat down to a family breakfast for the first time this week without his cover-up mousse or contact lenses, he was framed against a wall of thematically apt masks. In Roarton’s other houses, Christian symbols in the form of crucifixes and icons abound, making sure the notion of resurrection is never far from our minds.

Doing the same was this week’s skilful direction by Alice Troughton and cinematography by Dale McCready, which positioned Simon in a Christ-like pose during his trials at the hands of Halperin and Weston (more attention to detail from writer Dominic Mitchell there, in borrowing the names of the director and writer of 1932’s

’s two scientists). The scene of Simon - whose harrowing origin story formed the parts of the episode not eclipsed by the terrific Emily Bevan - joining the Undead Apostles momentarily recreated Da Vinci’s Last Supper. The imagery shores up

’s fascination with  the biblical rhetoric of sin and redemption, coming together to create a pulsing and complete imagined world.

All of which would be nothing without well-written characters and actors capable of bringing them to life. On the first note, the causes of death for each of

’s central trio - Kieren, Amy and Simon - feed elegantly into their personal storylines. Series one was an anti-suicide prayer righting the wrong Kieren committed. Simon’s overdose was symptomatic of a man lost long before he was ‘found’ by the Undead Prophet. And finally, knowing that Amy died from leukaemia made her series two storyline almost unbearably sad. Until, that is, this week’s cliff-hanger baptism.

Before series two’s nosebleeds and hand-shakes, Amy Dyer had already been robbed of life by an illness. Living Amy had presumably monitored her worsening symptoms while presenting a cheery smile to the world all before, just as Undead Amy has been these past weeks. It rings entirely true that her character would choose a swift exit this time around, one that ensures she can do nobody any harm. Letting us believe her body was shutting down all over again was a cruel trick from Dominic Mitchell, one for which he can be entirely forgiven thanks to that beautifully played moment in Amy’s torn tent. With that touching scene and those preceding it, actress Emily Bevan should by rights have secured herself a career’s worth of work and a Bafta nomination at the very least.

Amy and Philip’s day trip to the mini golf course of 1970s childhood nightmares was an unexpectedly romantic affair, made all the more affecting by Bevan’s performance. The significance of the pair’s chat about whether the point of a game was to finish it or keep playing fitted in neatly with the episode’s other ideas on species survival imperative, too. (Incidentally, any script that can stage a discussion of metaphysics via the medium of crazy golf is a winner in my book.)

As is a drama with the nous to wait until now to share Simon’s flashbacks of his torture at the Treatment Centre. Another supernatural show might have started with the bigger picture - Jackbooted soldiers leading the Undead around like cattle in Hannibal Lecter masks - then zoomed in to humanise the story.

starts with the personal and works its way outwards. We were introduced to Simon in a Noel Edmonds jumper in a bungalow before we saw him being Frankenstein’s creature in that lab, so by the time we got there, his pain really meant something. And what pain there was. Emmett Scanlan\'s father/son scenes with Francis Magee were harrowing (and featured more W.B. Yeats for detail-spotters).

Troughton certainly proved her horror directing chops with those experimentation sequences, which raised some tantalising questions about the identity of the Undead Prophet. A couple of possibilities arose (if speculation’s not your thing then look out the window for the next few lines) the first being that he’s a

’s Brotherhood kind of deal invented by the government to sniff out potential rebels, and the second more promising possibility is that Victor Halperin, the scientist who memorably described the Undead as “a superior species” to that MP, is actually the man beneath the mask…

Elsewhere, Kieren was falsely accused of the GP’s break-in and placed under house arrest (Roarton being the world’s first police state without any actual police). After the Walkers’ series one finale conciliation, seeing Steve and Jem fear and reject Kieren once again felt like time moving backwards. At the beginning of this series, I was wary of

straying too far from the Walker family home, but I shouldn’t have been. Episode four’s Sunday lunch aside, all of series two’s best stuff has happened elsewhere.

Things are still lining up for next week’s finale, with all the main players tooled up for the forthcoming confrontation. Jem has her Colt, Kieren has his Blue Oblivion, Simon has his monstrous tool set, and MP Martin (still a boo hiss villain whatever we learned about her brother this week) is armed with knowledge of who the First Risen really is. There are bound to be casualties, and Maxine Martin aside, the loss of just about anyone would be deeply felt - a testament to how strong this series has been.

All that, and we haven’t even talked about the significance of Amy feeling again. Have the Undead all been in some kind of purgatory that she’s now graduated from? Or is it simply a matter of time before they all start coming back to life?

One thing’s certain: there’s plenty of meat left on the bone for a third series of

Read Louisa\'s review of the previous episode, here.

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Submitted by John Smith on Sun, 2014-06-01 22:03.

still think Amy is going to turn out to be the first risen, said that since the beginning.

Submitted by Mike Deathray on Sun, 2014-06-01 22:09.

Totally agree mate. And sadly, very sadly, I reckon Simon / some other nob, is going to off her.

Submitted by Patrick Sproull. on Sun, 2014-06-01 22:12.

It seems pretty clear that someone else is going to turn out to be the first risen, otherwise they would have shown the B&B owner pointing at Kiran\'s picture. If the first risen really is special, then all signs point to Amy...

Submitted by Neil Biggs on Sun, 2014-06-01 23:48.

Submitted by Neil Biggs on Sun, 2014-06-01 23:59.

There is still a reckoning to come from Jem\'s bracelet which the other PDS kids know who made it. As for the undead prophet, there is an accent shared by him and Halperin, so that\'s where I\'d place my money.

As for Amy, I agree with the other commentators with her being the first risen, though the significance might still be bogus. It seems strange that a drug arrives in the middle of a zombie outbreak that can restore people. I wonder if the first person to rise in Roarton saw a scientist in the graveyard (working on a resurrection drug) and the intention is to silence the witness. This show needs a 3rd (4th, possibly 5th, 6th, 7th..) series if it can keep the writing up to this standard, though the child zombies become problematic at that point

Away from plot speculation, the scenes with Amy and Phil were wonderful, as was the discomfort around the dinner table for the Walkers - sci-fi/genre TV means nothing when the human side is badly written (it can still be entertaining, but ultimately empty), and this show handles that part amazingly

Submitted by Scott Johnston on Mon, 2014-06-02 01:46.

Kieren didn\'t initially come right out of his grave in the rising flashback in the first series. Unless the B&B lady had actually been in the graveyard (in which case she\'d be dead) she couldn\'t have seen him because of his gravestone being in the way. Couldn\'t really tell where she was pointing on the dead-shots though..but Ren and Amy were on the same part of the board. Logically it must be one of them - it would be pretty pointless if its something we hardly know. Although if it was Henry that would put a major cramp in the various plans. He\'s already been discounted though.

mp martin was shown in the preview stabbing so i suspect she\'s killing the 1st risen in the hope that her brother comes back (and i hope very much that it\'s not amy). this is a very effecting show. everyone deserves emmys

Unless......all the foreshadowing with Jem\'s bracelet finally pays off and she finds out its true origin and turns against Gary and saves Amy/Kieren whoever by getting in the way and being stabbed (not that I\'m wishing her dead, I rather like her character but I like Amy more, and I\'m not sure, if there is a third series, where they would go with Jem now).

Submitted by Patrick Sproull. on Mon, 2014-06-02 07:07.

I have a theory that it\'s John\'s dad (after a bit of a scuffle back in the 80s) but I\'m never right about these things.

Submitted by Dennis Davies on Mon, 2014-06-02 11:35.

Admittedly, it wasn\'t my favourite of all the episodes - it felt like there was something missing I think - but it was very good nevertheless. I think I\'m just mad at myself for calling all the major twists so far and so it\'s felt a bit predictable. I had a feeling Amy was becoming human again and it\'d probably tie into her being the first risen. Looking forward to next week now. I was almost in tears at the season 1 finale so hopefully s2\'s will be just as good.

And I\'ve got to say that I totally underestimated Emmett Scanlan as an actor. He\'s been doing a great job as Simon.

Submitted by Robert Lythgoe on Mon, 2014-06-02 15:56.

This series just keeps getting better and better with each episode. Am I the only one noticing this? Anyway, I\'ve got a strong feeling that Kieren wasn\'t the first risen and that it was possibly Amy.

Submitted by Robert Lythgoe on Mon, 2014-06-02 15:57.

Also, Simon\'s back story was very well done.

You\'re right of course, but hardly the only one noticing it! Didn\'t you read the review?

Submitted by Jake Harrison on Tue, 2014-06-03 00:15.

I disagree with a lot of people saying it is Amy who was the first risen but if it is, it seems to be a plot hole that Simon was \'dating\' her and she was at the ULA camp but nobody ever found out.

I\'m amazed at how less creepy Philip seemed in this episode. I\'m not sure if that was an intentional shift in his portrayal on screen or if it was all in my mind.

I\'m still not convinced that Kieran is the first risen, but I\'m not sure it\'s Amy either. I think Amy is responding quicker to the neurotrypsaline than the other PDS sufferers; the doctor did tell Kieran in episode 1 that it was regrowing his neurons, and that\'s why his contacts were hurting him. Amy\'s neurons just seem to be growing back quicker, and she can feel more.

I\'m not sure why the persecution of Kieran and Simon by the village mob. Why did their suspicions jump immediately to them? (Nice Irish-bashing in there too, from the old lady on the council.) I realise that in the storyline, it\'s just serving to galvanise Kieran into some kind of action, rather than him passively floating along through his second life, feeling even more ostracised than he did in his first in a village full of prejudice and small-mindedness.However, I do think that Blue Oblivion seems a little extreme for Kieran, as he\'s been racked with guilt over what he did while in a rabid state as opposed to longingly yearning to return to it. The only reason I can think that he would do this is the fact that he knows he\'s never getting out of Roarton under the "Give Back" scheme, and sees being shipped off to the non-compliance treatment centre as the only way to escape. Pretty bleak if you ask me.

I finally feel sorry for Simon, instead of being suspicious of him. Poor fella ate his own Ma? That\'s awful! Don\'t see him being able to sacrifice Kieran, and Gary\'s spying will definitely throw a spanner in the works.

All being nicely set up for a shocking, (and possibly upsetting) finale.

of course it\'s getting better every time !!!!!!!!!!!!! I DO love this show, this episode was A-MA-SING !! we should talk much moe about the Emmett scanlan work/prestation !!!!! I\'m in love, him and emily have clearly the show on their shoulders this time !

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