Em flashes back to when she resurrects. Arlene takes very unkindly to an attempt to be autopsied. Em goes for a ride and Kay breaks the law.

For about ten minutes this feels like a ‘normal’ episode 2. There’s some set up, some hints at the future, a couple of fun guest spots (Steven Ogg! ss a mysteriously helpful man in the woods!) and a sense of the show settling down.

Then Arlene (Nicky Guadagni) wakes up and kills people and suddenly the local cops are pursuing a possible unkillable reviver through the hospital. The gear change is remarkable and instant and it suddenly feels enormously dangerous. It also maps the mood of the town onto the show. No one sure. Everyone trying. Everyone scared.

That tone becomes the canvas the show unfolds across in what amount to a triple hander. David James Elliott’s work as Wayne is weirdly endearing, despite Wayne being a dyed in the wool conservative gun enthusiast. He’s terrified and it shows and his actions walk the line between a man feeling his masculine self-image challenged and a terrified grandfather realising he can’t help his family. It’s fun, complex work and it’ll be fun to see where it goes. Wayne doesn’t quite seem like an antagonist, but he’s not an ally, not comfortable with what his world is now and that looks set to be a problem for everyone.

But this is Romy Weltman’s episode. From the opening drone shot of Em, immediately post death, to the final scene, she plays a woman stepping out into her power in a very dark way. The circumstances of Em’s (first) murder are set to be a major part of the show and Waltman’s slowly seething performance locks us in with her. There’s a moment towards the end where she realises she’s very angry, isn’t especially strong but can’t be permanently hurt that’s chilling. Picking a fight with a much larger woman, Em loses badly and smiles as she gets her face pounded, healing even as the blows land. She feels unbound. She feels dangerous. Given she’s holding a scythe on the poster, she feels like she’s just getting started.

Verdict: Bookended with typically great work from Melanie Scrofano as Em and a memorable turn from Nathan Dales (beloved in these parts as Darry in Letterkenny) this isn’t the episode 2 you expect. It’s much, much better. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart