Erstwhile vampire Mitchell, in another effort to endear himself to the local community, strikes up a friendship with a young boy called Bernie (Mykola Allen) after scaring off some bullies. Bernie's single mum, Fleur, takes a liking to Mitchell and it's not long before the handsome vamp is taking her son on trips to the bowling alley to help her out. Unfortunately, after lending Bernie a Laurel & Hardy DVD, Mitchell soon realizes he's made a terrible mistake: as said disc actually contains the sex/snuff tape Lauren (Annabel Scholey) sent him a few weeks prior. Fleur is disgusted when she notices what Bernie's been watching, and jumps to the conclusion that Mitchell's a paedophile grooming her son, or at the very least getting weird kicks from showing filth to a minor.
Word soon spreads around the neighbourhood about the misunderstanding, and Mitchell, George and Annie face the anger and disgust of the whole street -- who pelt their pink house with rotten vegetables, graffiti "PEEDOS" on their front door, spit on them in the street, and refuse to serve them in local shops. For George, this couldn't come at a worse time, as his relationship with nurse Nina is going brilliantly, although he's worried that she'll grow bored with him sexually now his libido isn't lunar-charged. And Annie's recollection of her fiancé killing her are having a tangible effect on her environment -- effectively turning her into a disruptive poltergeist whenever she becomes emotional. This makes the inside of the house just as tumultuous as the outside.
Written by Brian Dooley (The Smoking Room, Monkey Dust), episode 4 was a much better balance of comedy and drama than last week. Indeed, Dooley's background in subtle, personality-led comedy meant this episode had more laugh-out-loud interactions than usual. I particularly liked George's concerns over only being great in bed with Nina because he "had the wolf in me", to which Mitchell replies "so did Nina." Obvious? Perhaps. But no less funny. The parallel between paedos in a community and the horror cliché of a torch-carrying witch-hunt, were good fun, as well -- if a little on-the-nose.
While the tirade of local anger and egg-throwing had a rushed feel to it, this episode was still the first to fill its hour without dragging in the middle, or making you check your watch after forty minutes. Aidan Turner's turn in the limelight went well, but I still don't find him a very plausible vampire. He's great as a sociable, handsome guy-next-door, and certainly charismatic enough to keep you watching, but... as a ruthless former murderer born before WWII? I'm still not feeling it. A scene where Mitchell gets momentarily carried away reminiscing with Herrick (Jason Watkins) about killing a Glaswegian failed to deliver the intended chills. Turner just doesn't have that unpredictable, raw edge to his make-up. I desperately want to sense a monster lurking behind his eyes, but all I just see is a likeable Calvin Klein model.
The ending was slightly silly, it has to be said. Bernie accidentally being hit by a car, as he tried to tell a rabble outside Mitchell's house that they've got it all wrong. It neatly avoided the cliché of having Mitchell save Bernie's life in front of his tormenters, to earn their respect -- but it unfortunately proceeded to clash with a focal moment in episode 1's climax. Here, after Bernie's accident, the boy is facing certain death from his injuries in a hospital bed -- so Mitchell decides to reveal his vampirism to Fleur and give her the option of allowing him to turn her son into a vampire to spare his life...
In a denouement that toyed with our expectations, it was soon confirmed that Fleur had decided to allow Bernie to be bitten (and consequently condemn him to a possible eternity trapped in a child's body, as she no doubt struggles to suppress his bloodlust, and eventually dies herself.) So, the question is: why did Mitchell decide to turn Bernie into a vampire, but refuse to save the life of the besotted nurse in episode 1? Was there enough of a distinction in the morality of his actions? Did the nurse, savagely murdered by a jealous vampire of his own creation, not deserve a reprieve from death? Mitchell seemed to believe it was kinder to let her die back then; so doesn't the same hold true for poor Bernie?
Overall, I wasn't sold on how this episode's wrapped up the witch-hunt and Bernie's accident, but it was nevertheless a compelling hour of drama with quite a few funny lines. I do wish Annie would stop being so sulky, and that Mitchell would show more grit under his pretty-boy exterior, but the vampire storyline took a big step forward (with Mitchell inevitably rejoining Herrick's clique) and the George/Nina romance continues to be surprisingly heartfelt and textured.
15 February 2009
BBC Three, 9.20pm
Writer: Brian Dooley
Director: Alex Pillai
Cast: Aidan Turner (Mitchell), Lenora Crichlow (Annie), Russell Tovey (George), Annabel Scholey (Lauren), Jason Watkins (Herrick), Sinead Keenan (Nina), Dylan Brown (Seth), Mykola Allen (Bernie) & Sama Goldie (Janey)
