There’s an Alien Hunter in Harry’s basement, D’Arcy’s entrenched at the Twelvetrees’ home, and Ben has a narrow escape.

With this season’s finale just a week away there’s a lot to be getting on with here. I really can’t discuss the main plot here at all, other than to say that by the end everyone involved in that arc is in a very different place than they were at the start. Some of it’s a little bit predictable perhaps, but it’s also good fun and there’s plenty of Alien Harry in action which is always enjoyable. We also have a surprise cameo from an old friend, which I will of course leave similarly unspoiled.

Meanwhile D’Arcy seems to have got her stuff together by crashing with Asta and her Dad and making herself very much at home, which considering she constantly feeds him pleases Dan no end. In fact it seems to be Asta herself who is the fish out of water here.

The “even less thrilling than it sounds” resort plot comes to something of a head it seems, as Ben is troubled by the return of a childhood sleep disorder. I do hope this is it for the resort storyline, it’s not been adding anything to the show as a whole other than to create friction between Ben and Kate. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I like the Hawthornes and their actors but they need a plot that will knit them into the rest of the show. They’ve had nothing particularly relevant to do this season and I’d like to see that change next year. Also – where is their son in all this? Max is a no show this week and there’s at least one scene here where he very definitely should be present. It all screams “we have laws about kids working in telly so let’s pretend he’s in the next room”.

A minor gripe really; the bulk of the action involves Harry and his new frenemy, Peter the alien Hunter. The script by Nastaran Dibai, who previously gave us the excellent “Welcome Aliens” in season one and the recent “The Alien Within”, is a lot of fun and there’s plenty of action to be had too. Additionally there’s some heart wrenching scenes involving Peter’s backstory which I found affecting and fleshed his character out – you really do come away understanding his anger and motivation.

Verdict: As with the penultimate episode of the first season, it feels like the show on Ritalin at times as everything is made ready for the finale. This season has occasionally challenged my patience a little but everything seems to be coming to a head nicely. 7/10 (would be an 8 without the Hawthornes and the overly sentimental soppy stuff at the end)

Andy Smith