Speaking of things getting laid, let’s all take a moment to dry heave our way through the mental image of human-zombie intercourse. That’s it, deep breaths, sip of water; try to picture something less distressing, like a beloved elderly relative being mauled by a bear.
Thank goodness we were spared the actual scene of parish jobsworth Philip and PDS-er Amy (Emily Bevan) riding the necrophilia express all the way to freakytown. That’s probably beyond even BBC Three’s edgy remit.
Corpse coitus aside, the real love in Episode 3 is familial, as Kieren’s parents come to terms with his suicide and his sister finally sees him as her brother rather than an attractive meat puppet impostor. Despite the tensions vibrating through Episodes 1 and 2 there’s no great showdown between Roarton’s PDS sufferers and the HVF; Episode 3 is a series of one-on-one conversations. Eulogies for long-buried emotions.
Some, such as Kieren and Jem’s heart to heart, or Kieren’s mum telling her son about how she too once tried to take her own life, are powerful and moving human moments, but others – namely Kieren’s face-off with Bill Macy – feel more akin to an episode of Jeremy Kyle being played out live in a sitting room: ‘You killed your son/my undead gay lover, now I want revenge!’.
And even with the death of Rick and the shotgun retribution dealt to Bill Macy by Ken Burton, it’s a lower-key end to the series than some will have expected, rewarding only those who’ve really invested in Kieren’s story.
It seems the case that creator Dominic Mitchell was trying to tell an intimate story set in a much wider scarier world, in which case he succeeded. But this world-building comes at the cost of the many threads which constructed the world around Kieren now left dangling, like exposed nerves: Amy leaving to join the Dead Prophet’s commune, the identity of the Dead Prophet himself, the fate of bitten HVF enforcer Dean, or what happens to all the PDS sufferers who can’t be rehabilitated. We’ve been made to notice these threads, only to have them suddenly severed.
If they’re an attempt to leave the door open for a second series then they intrude on some otherwise excellent storytelling. But as the dirt’s shovelled on this intimate little series, you do wonder, is that it for In the Flesh? Or are there more stories to be unearthed from its world?
We’ve seen Kieren’s story, but he’s one of many risen. To look at the world Dominic Mitchell’s created through someone else’s contact lenses? We’d shuffle back for that.
Aired at 10pm on Sunday 31 March 2013 on BBC Three.
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