Now, why couldn't The Fades have been this good from the start?
Penultimate episode are usually always fun. They can have all the incident and excitement of a season finale but without the added pressure of having to wrap anything up. This episode was no exception. After the sluggishness of the early episodes, events are moving along at an accelerated rate as the series delivered its most Buffy-esque outing yet. There was even a scene in the school library.
In order to battle John and his growing army of freshly converted supporting characters, our young heroes are finally forced to team up and become a proper Scooby Gang. And not before time: John and his cronies have taken over the school and turned it into an all-you-can-eat buffet.
What surprised me most about this episode, besides the sudden upturn in quality, was how much I loved Anna. From the start, she's been one of my least favourite characters. Before she grabbed a fire extinguisher and bashed her Scouse boyfriend's head in. Now she's my favourite character. She's the kind of girl you want on your side when your school is taken over by flesh eating zombies.
Paul is starting to come into his own as a hero. He's come a long way since we first met him. At the start of the series he was practically jumping at his own shadow (not to mention wetting his bed). But as his powers have grown, so has his confidence and his willingness to stand up to Neil's 'ends justify the means' bullshit. Neil sees sees Paul as nothing more than a weapon: something he can control and use to destroy the Fades. But Paul doesn't want to be Neil’s secret weapon. He wants to find another way.
Notes and Quotes
--Paul and Mac in matching pyjamas. They are so Bert and Ernie.
--Neil has finally lost all perspective. He was willing to kill everyone in the school hall just to stop a few Fades. He's reached that stage where he'd be willing to burn an entire house down just to kill a single cockroach.
--John was looking very dapper this week.
--Speaking of Neil, just how the hell did he get to the school so quickly? One minute he's tending to Sarah, the next he's charging into the boiler room like it's the last act of Commando.
--Obviously the school cleaners were the first to be eaten because the place was a complete dump. Someone needs to call Ofsted about this.
--Mac testing Paul for brain damage by playing spot the plot-hole was priceless.
--Seriously, Mac, ringer binders? That's your first choice for weapons?
Steve: “I am going to rip your fucking head off and spit down your neck.”
Anna: “I'm not afraid of you, Steve. Nobody can be that scary with a dick your size.”
Anna: “Ahhh, you're mental. You're both mental! Steve's mental, you're mental, and Jay is a fucking library monitor.”
Tremlett: “You should listen to your friend. He's afraid. I'm surprised you're not. You used to always be afraid of everything.”
Paul: “I'm still afraid. I'm afraid of letting my friends down. I'm afraid of not being good enough, I'm afraid of not doing the right thing. But you... I'm bored of being afraid of things like you.”
John: “It's interesting, isn't it? When I kill, people can come back. But when you kill, people are wiped from existence.”
Paul: “Yeah? Why's that interesting?”
John: “Because I'm the one people think is the monster.”
--Dude, you eat people. That's why they think you're the monster.
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Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011. More Mark Greig.
Thanks for the great reviews, Mark. I have been enjoying them, and the show, very much. And you are right, the earlier episodes (as much as I thought I liked them) are nothing compared to these later ones.
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