[SPOILERS] The titles almost beg to be made fun of, don't they? The penultimate episode of The Deep once again felt thinly stretched, contained only a few half-decent moments, and the characters continue to be as substantial as jellyfish -- meaning I can't get swept along by their exploits. It also disappointed me that the "mystery" is exactly what most people guessed from episode 2 (Irish explorer Cath discovered a micro-organism that can excrete 75% clean fuel, which Russian oil corporations don't want exposed).The one positive about "Everything Put Together Falls Apart" was that it looked slicker, no doubt because Colm McCarthy (Spooks, The Tudors) has taken over the director's chair. There were more imaginative camera angles, some good compositions, and several scenes that approached the cinematic feel The Deep's been aiming for but missing. Unfortunately, creator Simon Donald was back behind the script, so it felt sluggish, the dialogue was functional at best, and it missed some good opportunities. In particular, far more should have been made of Clem (James Nesbitt) going to see Vincent (Sacha Dawan) and thanking him for sacrificing himself to plug the ship's radiation leak.
I'd just be repeating myself to continue reviewing this episode any further, but there was an enjoyable sequence with Clem (inside LURCH) being dangled into a 2,000-foot deep trench to extract fresh "lavaworms" that hold the key to the world's energy crisis (although it dragged on too long). And despite the climactic surprise that they killed-off James Nesbitt (the one actor most people assumed would survive till the very end), his character's death didn't touch me. And the loss of Nesbitt doesn't bode well for the big finale next week, because he was the only actor capable of making me take some notice. Without him, The Deep could be totally scuppered.
WRITER: Simon Donald
DIRECTOR: Colm McCarthy
GUEST CAST: Orla Brady, Tom Wlaschiha, Nick Nevern, Goran Kostic, Nigel Whitmey, Dan Li & Molly Jones
TRANSMISSION: 24 August 2010 - BBC1/HD, 9PM
