The truth about Harry…

A couple of weeks back I wondered how long it would be before Harry would have to reveal his true nature to one of his friends, other than Max. This week such a decision is taken out of his hands as his injuries cause his shape changing abilities to weaken, to Asta’s understandable horror. Trapped in a crevasse, with D’Arcy somewhat separated and mostly unconscious, Asta has no choice but to attend to his wounds. It’s a nice touch that we discover more about Harry’s species through Asta’s hands on experience than via an infodump. Her natural disgust is counterpointed with her obvious concern for her friend. This could have played out as very silly in less talented hands, but Sara Tomko completely sells her character’s reactions.

That’s not to say we don’t get some sort of infodump, as she naturally has a lot of questions. We find out a bit more about Harry’s mission and his people’s history with us Earthlings. Happily, although that’s not really the right word, they’re not planning on wiping out the human race because they’re evil but because we’ve messed things up something rotten. The whole “aliens giving the human race a little nudge from time to time” trope is well worn of course, but it makes sense here.

Away from the icy depths we also spend time with Ben and Kate, as the town’s Mayor very unwisely takes advice on how to treat women from Sheriff Thompson. He really is breathtakingly naïve; quite how he rose to his position in even a little town like this is anyone’s guess. Plus Kate encounters the thoroughly wicked Lisa Casper (Madell Maughan) who’s now hot on Harry’s trail. I genuinely worried Kate wasn’t going to be leaving the women’s restroom in anything other than a bodybag, Lisa seems genuinely that ruthless.

What I love about this series is that despite being clearly preposterous and a bit silly it’s presented so well by all involved that I don’t question it. These characters seem far more real and human to me than those in much of the straight, rather earnest SF TV we’re used to. By the end Harry faces a life-changing experience, but with two more episodes to go I don’t think he’s quite for the chop yet…

Verdict: Largely a two-hander between a pair of fine performers, this feels like the calm before the storm. As always, I can’t wait for next week 9/10

Andy Smith