WRITER: Steven Moffat DIRECTOR: Matt Lipsey
CAST: James Nesbitt (Dr Tom Jackman/Mr Hyde), Denis Lawson (Peter Syme), Gina Bellman (Claire Jackman), Michelle Ryan (Katherine Reimer), Meera Sylar (Miranda Callender), Fenella Woolgar (Min), Linda Marlowe (Ms Utterson/Sophia), Christopher Day (Harry Jackman), Andrew Byrne (Eddie Jackman), Matt King (Freeman), Julian Lewis Jones (Carver), Paterson Joseph (Benjamin) & Malcolm Storry (Colonel Hart)
A conjoined Jackman-Hyde work together to find their kidnapped family, as the Institute struggle to protect their investment...After an effective and enjoyable build-up, the conclusion of Steven Moffat's Jekyll & Hyde "sequel" is a curious mix of good and bad; much like its title character.
Episode 6 begins in a playful mood, as Moffat's comedic background bubbles to the surface. Here, the Institute attempt to recapture Mr Hyde by using their top man: a gruff Welsh mercenarie called Carver (armed with rippling muscles, a bowie knife and... a Crazy Frog ringtone!) After a few minutes of flashbacks, demonstrating Carver's regimented professionalism and combat-readiness... Hyde casually throws him over the roof to his death.
It's a moment that proves to be curiously indicative of Jekyll's finale, as Steven Moffat's five-episode build-up reaches a somewhat disappointing climax. Like Carver, the serial is thrown over the edge. That's not to say Episode 6 is an awful way to end the show... but it's certainly guilty of implausible twists in its final act that leave you disappointed.
The good: James Nesbitt has been the lynchpin of the show and, despite giving in to bouts of extreme hamminess, he's never been anything less than totally watchable. In particular, Jackman and Hyde are two very individual performances, so seeing them "merge" and fight for their family provides a satisfying advancement to their intrapersonal war.
Denis Lawson has also been wonderful as bad-guy Syme; a twisted little man who's one of the more textured and nuanced characters. Lawson's dour expressions work beautifully and his character has a satsfying conclusion.
Gina Bellman has been decent enough as Claire Jackman, a character rescued from the dolldrums by Episode 3. I'm not convinced Bellman was the best choice to play Claire, but she's had her moments and generally convinces with the more emotional stuff. Her maternal fight to save her children, who are locked into those sinister "containment boxes" here, is very nicely handled.
The bad: The supporting cast are again redundant. The lesbian detective partnership of Miranda (Meera Syal) and Min (Fenella Woolgar) hasn't developed since Episode 2. Their sole purpose here is to have handily captured an Institute employee, for pure plot reasons. Likewise, Katherine (Michelle Ryan), Jackman's sexy assistant, has been nothing but eye candy since Episode 2.
Episode 6 just isn't the barnstorming finale I was hoping for. It just goes through the motions, usually ratcheting up tension before deflating it with some dialogue-heavy chats. Jekyll is a low-budget series, but it's here that Moffat's frothy writing style can't gloss over a workmanlike conclusion.
Moffat is forced to keep things small, squashing the climax into an underground corridor confrontation between Jackman-Hyde and several armed grunts. Given the show's emphasis on small, personal moments over huge spectacle, it works well enough... but it's a shame director Matt Lipsey never gets a chance to cut-loose and have some fun with the Hyde character's strength, ferocity and speed. It remains mostly unseen; a threat the budget couldn't lift the veil on.
As things reach their conclusion, the answers to Jekyll's long-standing questions are finally answered... but prove to be disappointing. It turns out (no sniggering) that Hyde is "love" and the reason for his appearance was Claire's arrival in his life (as she's a manufactured clone of the the original Jekyll's amorous maid.)
As Episode 5 claimed with a note to Dr Jekyll, his transformation was because of "the girl" -- not a "magic potion". That hypothesis bares out here, but it means we're never given an adequate reason for Jekyll/Jackman's condition! Plenty of people fall in love... and nobody else has ever turned into a super-strong, fanged, sociopath!
Once the show's big question is fudged, some goodwill is lost and never fully recovered. I did enjoy the nod towards the end that Jackman's twins, Eddie and Harry, are able to switch bodies between themselves. That was cute. It might even play into a potential sequel, particularly when one of the twins puts his finger to his lips and "shushes" his fathes. Was that Hyde lurking in there? Or am I clutching at straws now?
Overall, Episode 6 is entertaining fluff. There are flashes of quality, but it's unfortunate that the big reveals are so usatisfying. Moffat even attempts a final twist in the epilogue, by revealing that Jackman's mother, not his father, carries the Jekyll gene... and she was actually spooky American Ms Utterson all along! Cue the fangs, in true Hammer Horror style!
It's an amusing last minute shocker... but, again, it crumbles under scrutiny. Why has Ms Utterson and her Institute spent over a century trying to manipulate Hyde out of Jackman if she herself already has the same disorder? Maybe a sequel (entitled Hyde?) could straighten things out. Moffat certainly leaves some loose ends blowing in the wind, custom-made for a sequel... but I'm not sure the concept could sustain a return trip.
Perhaps fittingly, Jekyll has been a very mixed bag overall: constantly enjoyable, frequently silly, often exciting, a little bit dumb, sometimes confusing and not quite able to pull itself together into one, satisfying whole. But, for all its faults and the cumulative disappointment of Episode 6, I think the ride was worth it.
