Sex too for Mitchell in this episode, albeit of a far less humorous variety as young vampire Lauren wrestled with her newfound lust for fresh blood. Blood bags won’t work, we discovered, as the need for it to come fresh from a body was made clear. Good job really, as I’d been pondering that one since the first episode. Mitchell’s assertion from the series opener that Annie was here because of something being unresolved too clearly pointed to something darker than simply taking a tumble, so while the episode appeared to suggest this was a huge surprise, it really wasn’t. Shame. Far more interesting was the week’s new character, 80s-obsessed Gilbert. Showing Annie how to begin enjoying herself again, introducing her to the joys of Joy Division and the genius of Morrissey – and eventually revealing his love for her provided the episode with some truly touching moments, not least his own resolution and subsequent departing from the Earth through a newly-appeared door. The acting helps as well, the performances of Lenora Critchlow and Aidan Turner once more providing captivating viewing. Tovey returned to squeaky, screechy type this week after last week’s superb turn, which was a shame as annoying doesn’t begin to cover it when he starts down that particular acting avenue. Worse, however, was the turn of Annabel Scholey as Lauren, phoning in a performance that became frequently annoying this week. Her role doesn’t help and I was glad she went back to Herrick by the episode’s end, already bored with her back-and-forth struggle to come to terms with her condition. It was made clear two episodes ago – why still focus on that now? Check out our review of episode 2 here.
