In the Flesh, Season 2, Episode 6

2 security people have been sent to Roarton for a “collection”, presumably to pick up Kieren (stopping at a café and served by a PDS waitress who is forced to make a humiliating speech each time).

At the Walker household, Kieren’s parents have fully turned against him, locking him up and happy to let Norfolk take him. Things aren’t great for Jem who is still having guilt/trauma dreams, she also can’t even look at Kieren.

Amy is freaking out because she’s changing – because she can feel. Phillip suggests seeing the doctor, Amy is more sensible though – a PDS person doesn’t say “I’m changing” and get help – they get sent to the Treatment Centre.

Dramatic dressing and praying moment – Maxine, Gary and Simon; a montage of people whose beliefs make them do highly inadvisable and probably wrong things. Simon tells his followers to get ready and Maxine takes down a photo from her wall – but not Kieren’s. Gary rushes to Maxine eager to stop Simon but Maxine tells him to stand down, Simon isn’t a threat (yes she’s definitely got her own agenda). Gary grabs her, furious and tells her how terribad Simon is – Maxine isn’t ruffled and sends him home. Gary doesn’t listen and goes to raid Simon’s house anyway – it’s empty, just an ominous sign saying the dead will rise again.

The Norfolk people arrive and they’re actually there for Amy because of her odd medical results, that means they’re in for some testing. Dr. Russo, who tries to be a good guy, is very very unhelpful to them and may as well have yelled “TEAM AMY!” (like all right thinking people). But everyone is so very polite about the whole thing.

This day is also the “Beat the Bounds” fete where the people of Roarton walk the perimeter fence for funsies (if this seems strange, you have never seen a British summer fete or seen Morris Dancing perpetrated). Phillip takes Amy and very nicely gives a polite verbal smack to the judgemental Mrs. Lamb. Sue, Kieren’s mum, gets her own little verbal mauling when Shirley (Phillip’s mother. And she’s awesome) sympathises with her and tells her how terrible it is for Kieren to be so persecuted. Sue tries to point out Phillip with Amy but Shirley is more fazed by the fact Amy is actually eating. She goes over to Phillip to tell him “you done good” nodding to Amy. Awwwww… never mind anyone else, Shirley is the star of this show.

Steve, Kieren’s dad, takes Jem to the Beating of the Bounds where everyone is carrying big spikey weapons (in case Morrison Dancers show up. One glimpse of an accordion and it’s flight or fight). Maxine makes a big happy speech and even jokes about all the edged weapons

Gary isn’t at the march – not finding Simon, he goes to Kieren’s house, gets rid of the night-bright Dean and decides to start smacking Kieren around to find Simon. Since the PDS (except Amy) don’t feel pain, isn’t this kind of redundant? Kieren doesn’t seem very impressed either, miffed that he hasn’t seen Simon for days and generally more irritated than frightened by Gary. Gary ransacks Kieren’s room – and finds the Blue Oblivion that Kieren decided to take from Simon’s place for no damned reason. Gary drags Kieren out to his truck – watched by Simon.

In the Flesh, Season 2, Episode 5

In a hotel, Simon meets Julian – a fellow ULA member (a superior but apparently not the prophet) – to tell him about Kieren, the First Risen. Julian has a message from the Prophet (and Simon is almost childishly eager for it) instructing Simon to sacrifice the First Risen at 12:00 on the 12^th of December to cause the second Rising. Julian leaves Simon a package, presumably to help with that, and leaves (Simon doesn’t look very thrilled by this plan). Julian leaves the hotel, staring down the man complaining about PDS like him walking around without their faces covered. Julian does not back down it seems. He’s watched – and apparently supported – by Gary which is rather odd

Simon has a little freak out – and we have a flashback to him in the conversion centre, when he was first made lucid with medication. The implication is he was the first one.

In Roarton, things are getting worse, with an unpleasant woman posting homes with leaflets looking for the signs of “going rabid” in PDS. Even Steve, Kieren’s dad, who initially challenges her, seems to back down. At breakfast Steve is still disturbed, remembering Kieren’s story of the rising and his admission that he killed people (unlike Sue and Jem, Steve maintained the personal fiction that Kieren hadn’t killed anyone when he was rabid). Steve is further shocked to see Kieren come down not wearing his cover up. This could probably have caused family drama when the inept Dean arrives – Kieren is under arrest for the release of the rabid PDS in the doctor’s surgery at the instruction of Maxine. They drag him off and Sue turns her disgusted look on Steve for just standing there.

Maxine goes to a phone box to call someone, to plead with them to let her talk – but they hang up on her. She returns home visibly upset and Sandra, the landlady of the B&B makes her a cup of tea; apparently Maxine tried to call her dad. Sandra tries to sympathise in that incredibly inept “let me compare my completely irrelevant situation to yours” fashion. Maxine also talks about a younger brother who means a lot to her

Phillip wakes up alone – Amy having left. She’s back at her place, taking her medication. She’s also received a leaflet about the problems of missed meds “zombification” and is clearly worried that they fit her symptoms. She continues to have problems while dismissing it with the others – and crying in private

Kieren goes to his “trial” which basically is the council heckling him to confess without any concept that he might be innocent. They threaten to send him back to Norfolk because they have the power to just declare Kieren (and Simon) a threat. Kieren refuses to confess and his anger is enough for the council to deem him a monster.

Back to Simon who is still having his collapse in the hotel and flashing back to a sympathetic doctor – and unsympathetic military forces – trying to help Simon through his medication and stop the war. Simon asks if it’s a cure – and the doctor hopes it will be since Simon is the very first the medication worked on. Simon agrees to help with the experiments but while sympathetic doctor is pretty kind and consoling throughout, his fellows are far from it. And during one such experiment he hears an odd voice in the speaker talking almost biblically about Simon being what was meant to be, alive forever more and that he is being lied to.

In the Flesh, Season 2, Episode 4

Amy starts her day with an attempt at breakfast – which is a little odd since the PDS don’t eat and she spits the bar she eats into the sink.

Phillip, by his dreams, is still obsessed with Amy – and he comes downstairs to find his mum, the awesome Shirley, talking to Henry’s mum and they’re pretty upset that absolutely no-one cares about Henry’s disappearance. That also includes Phillip

Which brings us to Maxine who also doesn’t care – since she’s poring over her records to find the first risen; so much so she threatens the PDS with being listed as non-compliant for not listing their times of rising (which, since most of them don’t know, is likely to just get everyone to make it up). While she does this, Dean leads the “give back” PDS on how not to alarm living people (which is every bit as awful as you can imagine). Simon is missing and Kieren notices, so is Amy.

Back at the Walker household, Jem tells her mum, Sue, that she’s going on patrol again and everything is totally fine while Sue worries massively about her daughter (and for pretty good reason).  

Kieren comes home and his dad is still all positive and upbeat about the whole give-back scheme while Kieren can see exactly how useful Dean’s guide to civilised humanity actually is and it’s little more than ritual humiliation (showing sufficient cynicism to remind us that Steve is a northerner even if he is upbeat, he points out that that’s the work place). He also wants to go out, probably to spend some time looking for Simon, though his parents are pushing him for family time. Ahhh even as a PDS, the old dramas remain – a little normality to contrast wrenchingly with everything else.

Phillip delays his meeting, drawn to the PDS brothel again (unknown to him, a nosy neighbour is making note of everyone going in and out), studiously avoiding the eyes of the other patrons to meet with fake-Amy-sex-worker which, in a show about zombies, still manages to be the creepiest thing. While he sleeps it off, Maxine notices his absence. Phillip wakes in the brothel and realises he is late – but as he hurries off he is confronted by the nosy neighbour who rants at him and spits on him

Kieren does go to Simon’s, all dressed up – only to find Amy and a whole room full of PDS congregants. Awkward. Simon continues to talk some very good sense though – about PDS not being ashamed of who they are, not trying to hide who they are etc; but Amy doesn’t here because she has to hurry away with a nosebleed. Simon greets Kieren as a congregant and Kieren, after the kiss last episode, is not impressed. He warns Simon that all his followers (who he calls brainwashed) are going to get into trouble for not complying and gets irritated with Simon for not being a “normal person” for 2 seconds – I think this is more related to his recruitment pitches than failure to conform though. Amy interrupts to stop them all arguing while both of them jump – because Amy still has a crush on Simon. She’s also showing signs of confusion, trying to do a task she’s clearly already done.

When she leaves, Simon tries to kiss Kieren but he stops him – Amy’s right out there and she deserves to be told rather than her continue to desperately crush on Simon.

In the Flesh, Season 2, Episode 3

We open with what looks like a different drama – a man, Freddie watching his wedding home video, him and his wife so happy, when said wife comes down to check if he’s had his meds. She doesn’t think he should watch the video and turns it off when another man calls her up to bed – it looks like he Freddie died and his wife, Haley remarried Amir. Awkward.

Gary takes Jem home – his plan is to cover up killing Henry and pretend nothing has happened, despite her protests. Rubbing salt in the wound is Kieren coming home telling Jem about his party and how Henry totally has a ting for Jem. She goes upstairs, hides the gun and goes to bed fully clothed.

MP Maxine is staying at the nosiest B&B with her landlady, Sandra, snooping through keyholes and hearing Maxine say things like “just you wait” “I will make it right”. Over breakfast, Maxine is subject to a whole ramble from Sandra on the various evils of the PDS but Maxine is more interested in what Sandra saw during the Rising – which Sandra quickly avoids answering

Amir and Haley have a cute, romantic moment on Haley’s birthday – and it’s pretty clear that Freddie is a not-entirely-welcome third wheel. Haley tries to keep the peace – and Freddie, despite being PDS, makes disparaging remarks about “Rotters”, putting him in a different class, that Amir finds dubious. It is unbelievably awkward, especially when Freddie brings up all the memories of awesome birthdays past and Amir is sick of it – Freddie cannot stay with them any longer, since it was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement and Freddie has made no real effort to move. But Haley can’t bring herself to kick him out

Freddie goes to the forced labour scheme all grumpy and certainly not in the mood for his fellow PDS to tell him what a wonderful gift it is to die and come back to find your old life lost. He wants to build up his own life again – but instead he’s being forced to work for free.

At the Walker house it’s breakfast with Steve trying to encourage Kieren that the “give back” scheme is all fine and everything will work – and Jem clearly upset. She skips breakfast and tells everyone she loves them before leaving. Amy then breezes in in her random fashion to take Kieren to their forced labour scheme and talk to Kieren about Simon saying nice things about her. Meanwhile Simon is praying with ominous music in the background – he and the Undead Prophet have turned PDS into a religion (which is not exactly unexpected given the whole “prophet” thing).

When they arrive at the centre, Amy envelopes Simon in a really awkwardly long hug. Everyone’s given their work jobs – except Amy who is asked to stay behind by Phillip who has his super crush on her. Freddie tries to get out of the work by paying off Dean who is supervising them, but Dean is still bitter about him cleaning windows without him – besides, the forced labour has ruined his business anyway. How can he get people to pay him for labour when the PDS are forced to do it for free?

Kieren and Simon go to work in the doctor’s office and Kieren takes the chance to ask Simon about Amy – because it’s not fair that Amy thinks they’re a couple while Simon clearly doesn’t agree. Simon says he loves her – but not like that and Amy needs to see she’s loved. Uh-huh she also needs some truth. At least Dr. Russo is sympathetic – but Simon is horrified to see unmedicated PDS just locked in a cage; there’s a delay in having PDS picked up for the centres. Simon is disgusted to see Denise, the receptionist, handle the PDS like animals without a shred of respect. Simon wants to take them to his cottage where he can medicate them – he thinks Kieren’s naïve to trust the doctor just because he smiles.

In the Flesh, Season 2, Episode 2

Jem is still suffering horrendous nightmares, ongoing trauma from her time fighting the rabid PDS before the treatment was found – and her continuing struggles with fitting into normal life. Of course, normal life would probably be easier to fit into if your parents didn’t decide on a ridiculous French theme breakfast to say goodbye to Kieren before he goes to Paris – which he considers more accepting of PDS people.

Kieren’s father, Steve, still forgets and serves Kieren food. After which they have a touching goodbye and Steven heads off with his suitcase

At the cemetery, it’s the vicar’s funeral – and he has a metal grill bolted over his body; to protect against the second rising and he’s not the only one who believes it will happen.

To Amy who ominously keeps some objects in jars in her fridge – and draws off a liquid from them. It looks very… organic. She injects it into Simon’s back (is this the drug that stops him going rabid?) while he councils a young PDS. He repeats that those who rose in Roarton are special – and Amy wants to stop Kieren from leaving, partly because of that but also because Kieren’s her best friend.

Elsewhere, local comic relief Dean and Freddie have an upset because Freddie is washing windows without Dean for extra money (they have a window washing business together).

Meanwhile Maxine has promoted Phillip to Councillor (which apparently MPs can do here) and has pushed through a new policy from the national government – to mixed reception. Of course Phillip has just been promoted to chief dogsbody, bought by loyalty and she has him ensure that a list of people attend her “seminar”.

Amy meets Kieren as he heads to the station and tries to talk him into staying, first with jokes then with serious questions – how much cover-up make up is he wearing and just how far will he have to go before he doesn’t have to wear it? But when Kieren tries to buy a train ticket, the seller refuses because he’s PDS and tells him he has to wait. Phillip arrives to order them both to the seminar.

The happy dappy seminar has a DVD which basically forces PDS to become slaves in the “volunteer” sector which they have to do if they want to be considered British citizens. And Kieren can’t get a passport unless he completes the course. Maxine seems especially interest in Kieren – especially when he rose. When she goes back to the guest house, she circles his picture

At school Jem is invited to sit next to the PDS boy, Henry, who crushes on her desperately. And he brings up the HVF in class as an important part of history despite the teacher’s obvious discomfort with it; he’s trying to make Jem seem special to the class since she was a member. She gets up and is asked many many questions about her war days. It works – it makes Jem much more popular.

Of course, the people it makes her popular with are happy to use the word “Rotter” even while Jem isn’t. Jem dated Henry when they were both 14 before the rising and actually liked him – but his plan’s backfired since Jem’s new friends are extremely hostile to him. Henry joins is friends and one of them is all looking forward to the second rising. He also has a vial of something with a ULA label – probably Blue Oblivion.

In The Flesh, Season 2, Episode 1

A new report gives us some quick exposition – 18 months have passed since the zombies have been reintegrated into society (ish) but there’s now a problem of the Undead Liberation Army causing all kinds of tension. There’s also a drug called “Blue Oblivion” on the streets. There’s also a new political party, Victus, with signs and adverts around that is against PDS integration.

To remind us of this tension, we have a kid calling the PDS “rotters” and that they can’t feel, which our old friend Ken (who lost his wife) objects strongly to, reminding him that the medication the PDS takes makes them safe.

Ken on the kid get on a train with 4 PDS who are probably ULA planning a strike. When the train moves, one stands and begins ranting his party piece in dramatic tones. The 4 PDS take the Blue Oblivion – and become full blown flesh eating zombies. There’s a massacre…

They killed Ken!

Steve and Sue Walker (Kieran’s parents) watch the news of the attack worriedly, as Victus and PDS groups both blame the other. Kieran’s worried that his old friend Amy may be involved in extremism, he shows his sister, Jem, a letter from her talking about going on a “secret mission”. Jem and Kieran seem closer though and she’s faced with the mundane worries of school exams rather than her past zombie hunting – but she also thinks Kieran should go to the continent where people are more tolerant of PDS.

He goes to the doctor (with awesome nurse Shirley, who is truly excellent) because his eyes are aching – which is a sign of more nerve tissue growing back. But it also means he’s wearing his contacts far too much – since he never takes them out. They gently tell him he isn’t supposed to do that and Shirley, who is awesome, asks him to run through an affirmation (little speeches to help build confidence). Which he does – quickly and stiltedly, the doctor’s happy but Awesome Shirley looks concerned. She’s also very much in favour of Kieran staying in the UK and very protective of any suggestion he “should” leave – but the doctor think it’s probably wiser to get out of Britain. Awesome Shirley gives him his meds and leads him out – but as she does another nurse tells her about Ken. Ken’s dead (noooooo, I liked Ken!)

He can’t even get out the door without another incident – a man, Gary, dragging in a rabid PDS, in full zombie. He has him in chains and drags him to a cage where another is already. Everyone around seems so used to this that it’s not even worth noticing. Gary gets an £80 - bounty for bringing in an intact rabid PDS; but Kieran points out the PDS has a bullet wound (Gary denies carrying a gun – there’s been a weapons amnesty) – he loses £40 for a damaged rabid PDS

Vicar Oddie, the hater of all things PDS, is still ranting away to his flock, supported by Phil the general council dogsbody (and Shirley’s son) – but that flock is much much smaller. After the service he’s visited by Maxine Martin, their new MP. She wants to talk to the assembled people but notes that this church is apparently not the place to do it.

Why The Recent Upsurge of Zombies?

In the fantasy genre, supernatural creatures fall in and out of fashion. In recent years, we have seen the revival of the zombie with movies like World War Z, television shows like The Walking Dead and books like White Trash Zombie.  What is it about the zombie that has re-captured the public imagination? They are after all rotting, disease ridden and dead.  Surprisingly this is exactly why people are now fascinated with zombies. They represent our near universal fear of death - in particular what happens to our remains. Unlike vampires who become undead and retain their intellect and beauty and gain superhuman powers, zombies reveal in the starkest manner possible that the sweet phrases we parrot to bring comfort only hide the ugliness and dehumanisation of death.

With zombies come a dystopian world. In almost each instance in which zombies appear currently, the society in which they inhabit has broken down. In fact, we have seen a large resurgence of dystopian world recently. This likely has to do with the ongoing depression and the general sense of social malaise which has become the norm. With no sense of anomie or real hope for change, people have become almost anesthetised.  Each day is struggle to pay the mortgage, or hold onto a job that pays below subsistence wages. In a sense, the economic downturn is the equivalent to many of the dystopians we read about or watch on screen. The zombie then becomes the person who shuffles along, powerless to create change - a cog stumbling with no vision and no hope.

For some, these fictional dystopian worlds are meant to show us that life, no matter how bad it is today, can always be worse. We may be struggling to attain the basics like food, shelter and clothing, but at least we are not being chased by zombies desperate to eat our brains.It represents the constant refrain of it could be worse, which is said to lower classes as a way to pacify them. Yes, things could always be worse but if we have reached the point where we are reaching for zombies to soothe, perhaps things are bad enough. At very least, a zombie dystopian world is so different from our world as to be a far greater level of escapism than we often find in Urban Fantasy

One element of zombie stories that differs from other modern monster stories is that there is very little attempt to “redeem” them into sympathetic or romantic characters. We’ve seen this with virtually every other creature - especially vampires (who have almost lost their status as monsters and are often more tragic - or sparkly -  than horrifying). Vampires, werewolves (or were-anything for that matter), faeries, gods and an entire Greek legend of weird and wonderful creatures; they’ve all started featuring more as romantic heroes, soulful protagonists and bare chested, turgid love interests as often as monsters.

In the Flesh coming to BBC America

The awesome In the Flesh is coming to BBC America on Saturday the 3^rd August

We mention this because it’s an awesome 3 episode mini series that, when we got to the third episode, was pretty damn stunning to watch. Our recaps:

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

British people can, of course, still find all 3 episodes BBC IPlayer

Maybe with enough viewing figures, BBC 3 can be convinced to make another series. But then, the more popular it is the more likely it is to be replaced by Embarrassing Teenaged Penis Rashes or some such, it being BBC 3 and all.

Fangs for the Fantasy Episode 115

This week we discuss the season finale of The Walking Dead and the return of Game of Thrones and Revolution. We also look at Being Human (US) as we reach the end of the season.

We also looked at the mini-series In the Flesh and the incredible emotional impacts of this amazing series.

Our book of the week is The Struggle by L. J. Smith

Our next books of the week are:

1st April - 8th April: Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

8th April - 15th April: The Queen is Dead by Kate Locke

15th April - 22nd April: The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C Hines

22nd April - 29th April: First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

29th April - 6th May: Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

6th May - 13th May: Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

In the Flesh Season 1 Episode 3

Steve and Sue Walker are up late worrying about where Kieren is and what they should do. Calling for help could have him locked back in the centre – but what if he is hurt?

Kieren walks home  in the early morning twilight, while Rick and the HVF drive past him, the captured zombies in the back. When they arrive home, Bill is in a foul mood, snapping and snarling at Rick. He’s furious with Rick for siding with the “Rotter” and ignoring him. He tells Rick the Walker lad – Kieren – has to go and Rick has to do it.

Phil wakes up – next to Manic Pixie Dream Zombie, half dressed with definite morning after overtones. He panics at the idea of people knowing he slept with Amy the hell he’d have to pay – and Amy turns it round, saying she doesn’t want anyone to know she slept with someone like him. he tells her to keep her mouth shut, he’d but strung up if people knew he slept with a “Rotter”

It’s another strong parallel, many marginalised people are considered good enough to sleep with, but the privileged people – or closeted people – can still maintain the contempt and fear of their sex partners and not only want to keep it hidden but express their derision in doing so.

On the way out, Phil runs into his mother, Shirley, and both make up lies for why they’re there.

The two extra-hunters, Gary and Dean (whose name I keep forgetting and I hereby dub Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum) go to the cage they have for zombies (an old basketball court) and Dum gets locked inside for “quarantine” after he was bitten last week. But probably more to do with Dean saying he fancied Gary’s wife.

As Kieren walks home, he reaches the super market – it looks like the same supermarket we see in his flashbacks to when he ate his last victim. He goes inside, his concealer is fading and one of his contacts is missing. Everyone stares at him as he remembers Lisa’s last moments. Only this time we see more, not only do we see Lisa die but the girl she was talking to on the Walkie Talkie arrives, killing zombies – it’s Jem and she finds Kieren bent over Lisa’s corpse, eating her brains. Back in the present, Kieren retreats out of the shop and goes home where his parents have fallen asleep on the sofa waiting for him.

He goes upstairs into Jem’s bedroom where she’s still asleep, having a nightmare. She awakes in shock with him in the room (his lack of concealer and missing contact probebaly doesn’t help) and points a gun at him. He tells her eh gets flashbacks of his memory returning and says she was there when Lisa was killed. She corrects him – Lisa wasn’t killed, Kieren killed her – Kieren changes what he said to “I killed her.” She waits for him to make excuses but he doesn’t – he killed her and he feels awful and guilty for it. He says he would have done anything to stop it – and Jem asks if he thinks she’s a coward since she could have stopped it. Jem has her own guilt – she told everyone, including Lisa’s parents, that she ran out of bullets. But she couldn’t shoot her own brother. Kieren says he’s going to Lisa’s parents to try and bring them some peace – and Jem asks him to wait for her

And this scene with its excellent acting hereby takes the prize for most plucked heartstrings, ever.

At the Masey household, Bill is coaching Rick on how to kill Kieren – making it look like Kieren was the attacker. He continues to talk about the PDS as if Rick isn’t one of them. He wants Rick to kill him, today and calls Kieren an animal, a monster, while Janet (Bill’s wife, Rick’s mother) overhears everything getting more worried. And then he runs out of ciggies and Rick volunteers to go get some – secretly collecting change off his mother on the way out. Money for the phone box.