Here, George and Mitchell are worried about Annie's mental health, so they take her to an '80s-themed disco to meet another dead acquaintance of theirs; a young man called Gilbert (Alex Price), who died over 20 years ago and also hasn't moved onto the next life (or embraced new fashions), because of "unfinished business". Gilbert takes Annie under his wing to give her fresh perspective on the opportunities the afterlife has to offer, but soon realizes Annie is hopelessly devoted (nay, obsessed) with her widow Owen – so much so that she decides to form a connection to him, by haunting him with acts of kindness.
Meanwhile, Lauren returns to visit Mitchell and reveals that the vampire sex/snuff-tape she sent him (which he's secretly been lusting over) was all Herrick's idea -- a scheme to try and lure him back to old habits. Lauren herself says she wants to conquer her bloodlust like he has, by going "cold turkey", but she uses her pain to guilt-trip Mitchell into letting her feed on him, leading to a blood-sucking sexual encounter.
George has a dinner date with nurse Nina, which goes unexpectedly well (even with ghosts Annie and Gilbert watching on from the front room and messing with the stereo) – but, when it comes down to having sex afterwards, George is forced to embarrass himself by backing off because he's scared of hurting her. The date has unfortunately fallen on the day before Full Moon, when George's animal urges dominate his sexual behaviour.
This is the first episode not written by creator Toby Whithouse, and it certainly showed in the first half, with writer Rachel Anthony having less success injecting some laughs into her story. Thankfully, she mostly abandons trying to be funny after this shaky start and lets the comedy grow organically from the characters and situations soon after. Scenes like "Gilbert Fun" (with Annie's new friend prancing around trying to cheer her up) are thankfully put to rest, although it's a shame Gilbert himself wasn't developed to the extent last week's Sully was. By the time Gilbert reveals he's in love with Annie, it didn't really feel like a believable development, as their "coupling" was continually overshadowed by Annie's tiresome infatuation with Owen. It just felt like a mechanical way to end Gilbert's existence (a doorway to "death" materializes after he reveals his feelings.)
Being picky, I think it's a mistake ghosts can touch people, objects and each other in this universe -- mainly because that makes them no different to just being invisible. And is that so bad? They're only invisible to (most) humans, not other supernatural beings -- so it's not enough of a disability compared to, say, Patrick Swayze's existence in Ghost. I'm also unsure why Annie hasn't proven she exists to Owen by waving objects around, or suchlike. She does write a message using toothpaste on a mirror here, which was good to see, so hopefully Owen will come to realize his dead fiancé is still around soon.
While certainly a drag watching Annie chew her lip and go weak at the knees whenever Owen was even just mentioned, the episode just about managed to combat the soppiness by revealing a tragic, latent memory of Annie's regarding her death. It turns out that Annie had caught perfect Owen with another girl's underwear -- and, after the ensuing argument, Owen killed Annie by accidentally pushing her down the stairs. It was a welcome taste of vinegar after all the sugary excess -- although I'm not convinced Owen would flush the incriminating thong down the toilet. Why do that? Who would know it wasn't Annie's thong? Who could possibly put sexy underwear and a dead fiancé together and come up with murder?
Overall, this episode eventually proved itself after a dispiriting start, and hopefully Annie won't get so relentlessly lovey-dovey following these big reveals. It's a shame Gilbert didn't prove to be anywhere near as enjoyable as a spectral version of wolfman Sully, but at least his role as Annie's "mentor" was entirely different. As for George; even in a relatively minor subplot, his storyline carried more emotional weight and humour than you'd expect, and I'm really enjoying his burgeoning relationship with Nina.
Mitchell's story was fine, but still mired in vampire clichés (which is perhaps inevitable given how ubiquitous vampire lore is in pop-culture) Is there anything fresh to say using vampires as allegory for sex, death and loneliness? And was seeing Mitchell and Lauren in a blood-smeared toilet the grubbiest, unsexiest thing ever screened? It just looked like they'd soiled the place.
8 February 2009
BBC Three, 9pm
Writer: Rachel Anthony
Director: Alex Pillai
Cast: Russell Tovey (George), Aidan Turner (Mitchell), Lenora Crichlow (Annie), Sinead Keenan (Nina), Dylan Brown (Seth), Sama Goldie (Janey), Alex Price (Gilbert) & Gregg Chillin (Owen)
