Revelations abound at the Outpost, and none of them are happy ones. Talon and Garret face off against some formidable opponents, and Gwynn is faced with a stark choice about the sort of rule she wishes to be.

I’m often quite hard on The Outpost, mostly because every time I sit down to watch it, it turns out another hour of predictable, ropey action filed with tin-eared dialogue, terrible sets and hopelessly predictable clichés from the Big Bag of Fantasy Fiction Tropes. As it reaches the close of its second season though, I have found myself becoming increasingly fond of it. Maybe it’s the gusto with which everyone throws themselves into things, or just the familiarity of having grown used to the characters and feeling more like I’m laughing with it than at it. At any rate, this episode actually manages to throw in a couple of real high points, in the form of some actual intelligent decision-making by one character and a genuine surprise twist for another.

Talon and Garret’s trip to the Citadel lasts… well, not very long at all, as you might expect given that the season finale is closing in on us. It feels terribly odd as a narrative decision to have had them tramp all the way there, take all the trouble they did actually getting in last week, and then turn around and head straight back home again, yet that’s pretty much what they do, with a small detour that ends up revealing something interesting about the Three and their otherworldly powers. You can practically hear the writers begging for a third season here and to be fair – and in spite of myself – I’m actually intrigued enough here that I’d be happy to see it.

Meanwhile back at The Outpost, Naya’s return to try to warn everyone about the terrible weapon she witnessed at the Citadel falls on the rather deaf and unsympathetic ears of Rosamund, Tobin and the newly arrived Alton, her long-lost brother. I have to admit that there’s something instantly fishy about this guy, especially the lateness of his arrival, and James Downie really does lay on the twin strands of the character’s appeal to Rosamund and his general unlikeableness to everyone else. Rosamund, determined to do the right thing as Queen, goes on a bit of a journey herself here, with the words of an old friend of her father’s provoking some intense (and long overdue) reactions and a serious attack of common sense. Time will tell whether it comes too late.

As to poor Janzo – the poor guy just cannot catch a break. He’s still imprisoned alongside his mum, but the return of Nya seems to be a rare bit of sunshine in his life. Wait a minute though, Ellinor has a cure for that, and one that leaves the poor guy once again reflecting on his absolutely appalling luck.

It all sort of chunters along in rather an inoffensive way, briskly marching towards a conclusion which leaves us in no doubt that the next episode is the grand finale. For once, it’s managed to actually drop in some pleasant surprises and nice bits of character development along the way, and I can honestly say I’ve actually enjoyed it.

Verdict: It’s said that wonders never cease, and having sat down and actually had fun with an episode of The Outpost (and not the sort where I laugh at it), I can only agree. 8/10

Greg D. Smith