Beowulf takes a Western turn this week, as our heroes find themselves under siege while transporting goods across wild land because they have disturbed a local tribe’s burial ground – the twist in this case being that the tribe are not human, but ‘mud-born,’ thoroughly wrapped up like chilly mummies, exposing only mouths that appear to drip black oil. The other problem is that the solution is rather anti-climactic – Beowulf just sets fire to the burial ground (which would surely make the situation worse) and they ride away, apparently without being chased. It would perhaps have been more interesting if Breca had taken this role, as his particular brand of step-parenting is rather fun to watch as well as eminently practical, but Beowulf is the lead, so he has to do it, just as he must become Reeve of Herot earlier in the episode. The series really needs to do something about the fact that just about every other character is more interesting than the lead. Even Elvina, whose job here is largely to stand around and make eyes at Beowulf, plus a bit of doctoring, still has the mystery of her parentage to hold the interest – we learn here that her parents were ‘of the Mere’, which, considering we know the Mere were attacked by ‘mud-born’ some time ago, hints once again that she may be half ‘mud-born’ herself. Meanwhile, the politicking among the Thanes continues. Rheda’s attempts to be ruthless come off, once again, as rather hasty and reckless – someone should tell her that financial and military strength count for more than honour when it comes to political power. Seeing her practicing her speech at the episode’s opening is rather fun, though this storyline also suffers from something of an anti-climax, as she vows to take on a challenge if necessary, but is saved from having to do so by the agreement with the Mere. Her rashness comes out once again when she finishes the episode by immediately trying to rush through sweeping changes that no one else likes, when surely it would be wiser to cement her position rather more firmly before rocking the boat that way. As we move towards next week’s episode, the Isle of Dunes looks suitably impressive and the cliff-hanger promises Tremors-style sand-worms, so that has potential. It does highlight, however, one of the show’s on-going problems: that so much of it reminds viewers forcefully of something else. There are hints, in the development of the ‘mud-born’, that this series is capable of being its own thing – hopefully it will continue to develop those in the coming weeks. Read Juliette’s review of the previous episode here.
