"Dear Diary; went skinny-dipping in a freezing lake, before having sex with a man under a tree, after eating roasted courgettes in his secret cave, weeks after burning the body of my dead husband in a rolled-up carpet…" Welcome to the crazy, post-apocalyptic world of Abby Grant (Julie Graham)...I'm enjoying this series so far, even if the characters are still paper thin. Abby's the lead, given most of the screen-time, but all we really know about her is she's extremely driven to find her son. A good mother, then. Commendable, but can you give us anything else? Other characters get by on the charisma of the actors playing them, but are otherwise empty vessels. Tom is a possible exception, as his criminal history is being left intentionally vague, but some movement would be appreciated as we head into the last half of the season.
Lost got around Survivors' problem by having flashbacks to the lives of its survivors before their disaster. We learned about someone's past each episode, in a subplot that ran parallel to the contemporary story that developed our understanding of them. Survivors doesn't have that narrative trick up its sleeve (and would be pilloried for copying Lost if it did), and is more collective in its structure, anyway. Trouble is, the first episode set-up each character rather broadly (Abby the mother, Anya the doctor, Al the playboy, Tom the criminal, Naj the kid, etc), and the they haven't progressed from those archetypes. Greg and Sarah were introduced a little later, so feel even less realized.
Still, the fourth episode was diverting, even if most of the subplots were rather boring. Abby once again sets off alone to locate Peter, acting on the advice of Samantha, and finds a mansion overrun by teenage delinquents. The building's owner, Jimmy Garland (Sarah Jane Adventures' Joseph Millson), has been forced out by the teens and now spends his days trying to scare them away. Abby is caught in the middle of this violent dispute, and finds herself drawn to nice-guy Jimmy, while suspecting her son is party of the gang in his house…
Following last week's discovery of Samantha's (Nikki Amuka-Bird) eco-centre, most of the survivors decide to join her commune. Despite the fact it's been proven she kills thieves. Tom (Max Beesley), Al (Phillip Rhys), Sarah (Robyn Addison) and Naj (Chahak Patel) all arrive, seeking refuge as friends of Abby. Initially impressed and excited by their upgrade in living (hot water, electricity), Al is the first to grow disenchanted -- frustrated by the back-breaking work, basic dormitories and strict rules. Contrarily, Tom is trying very hard to endear himself to Sam, although he draws suspicion from tough-guy Gavin (Andrew Tiernan), who senses Tom's murky past…
Back at the house, remaining survivors Greg (Paterson Joseph) and Anya (Zoe Tapper) find themselves threatened by two goons, who initially back down when Greg and Anya don't invite them in, but later returns to steal the house (kinda echoing the main story.) It was difficult to see why these men would want their house (seeing as the housing market has become a free-for-all, and there are more palatial residences around), while the threat from antisocial idiots is something Survivors is already in danger of making a cliché. While amusing to see the diminutive Anya hold her own against the thugs, and actually save Greg's skin with relative ease, this subplot reeked of filler.
The mansion situation started promisingly (with a Lord Of The Flies tone in a forest), but eventually revealed its rather silly dispute and an unconvincing "romance" for Abby. The story failed to grip once the situation was explained, and I didn't really buy into the resolution suggested by Abby the peacemaker. It was a bit too neat and idealistic for my taste.
The eco-centre story wasn't particularly convincing, either -- mainly because Al's bad reaction to hard-work and punctuality had me siding with Sam. She may be a strict utilitarian, but there's a centre full of people who have no problem working for their luxuries. As the spoilt rich kid, Al came across as the misguided one -- Tom, Naj and Sarah were all getting on fine! I could believe in Abby deciding to leave after witnessing Sam kill a thief last week, but the reasons for this group's about-turn didn't convince me. It might have been better if they'd led a mass revolt, when it became clear everyone is unhappy with Sam's leadership… but too scared to say anything. On some level, it felt like this story existed to make continued use of the excellent location, and didn't really have anything to say that wasn't said better in episode 3.
However, Al's dismissal from the eco-centre and decision to return covertly and whisk Najid away with him, was a nice touch -- showing us how he's becoming less selfish and a genuinely caring surrogate parent. More character development like that would be appreciated -- particularly for Robyn Addison's Sarah, who has drifted through both episodes since her introduction just looking for a shag…
9 December 2008
BBC1, 9pm
Writer: Simon Tyrrell
Director: Iain B. Macdonald
Cast: Julie Graham (Abby), Max Beesley (Tom), Paterson Joseph (Greg), Phillip Rhys (Al), Zoe Tapper (Anya), Robyn Addison (Sarah), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Samantha), Joseph Millson (Jimmy Garland), Andrew Tiernan (Gavin), Chahak Patel (Najid), Danny Seward (Robbie), Madlena Nedeva (Janine), James Varley (Billy), Ryan Hawley (Will), Aidan Parsons (Peter), Reece Beaumont (Spud), Stefan Gumbs (Theo), Naveed Choudhry (Jason), John Seaward (Luke), James Hillier (Mick) & Alice North (Lily)
