Tobin continues to try to prove his worth to Rosamund, which includes him declaring he will find the spy who betrayed Garret which obviously has uncomfortable implications for Nya. Talon and Zed set out in search of a missing piece from Talon’s old village. Elinor continues to relish her newfound station in life.

I wonder whether L’Oreal paid The Outpost to not only title its episode with their famous catchphrase but also have one of the cast repeat it during the course of things to really get the point home. These are the sorts of things which occupy my mind while continuing to watch the continuing adventures of Talon and Friends, in which everyone seems to get just a little bit more dumb and nothing of any particular note happens each week.

Still, at least the writers have remembered that Nya is a spy for the Prime Order and finally decided to do something with that element after five episodes, with Tobin of all people proving to be the most observant person in the room. Then again, given the standard of the clues that he is fed to lead to his suspicions, it’s less a validation of his smarts and more a damning indictment of how very oblivious everyone around him is.

Zed and Talon continue to have a very fractious relationship after Zed roots through her stuff and finds something she hadn’t told him about. That’s rather less pressing than the matter of Vicar apparently hunting local livestock, which is instantly connected to the roaming demon and leads Elinor to deduce he and his Blackblood master are still around somewhere – clearly there’s some smart-maker in that pipe she constantly smokes. Not that any of it matters because, despite constant proclamations and oaths and the like, nothing ever really happens in this world of any consequence. Talon lied to her Queen – technically committing treason – but also they’re bessies so it’ll all blow over before the tea gets cold. Ho hum.

Elinor actually gets to have a lot of fun here – whether it’s leering over Tobin as he works shirtless with his men to build the Outpost’s defences, dealing with dissent from the miners in her own rather direct way or just swanning about town in her new finery, the landlady has definitely come good – the only issue is that it’s difficult to shake the notion that whereas Rosamund might be the queen the realm wants, Elinor might be more the queen it deserves.

There’s a bit more comedy from Janzo too. Getting used to having a girlfriend, still clearly very much carrying a torch for Talon and hearing from brother Munt exactly how likely their mother though the prospect of his ever having a girlfriend might be. Oh Janzo, how very funny you might be in a show written about fifty years ago.

The ending is as eye-bleedingly obvious as it is woodenly played out, but then again in one sense I guess it’s been a while since this particular thing happened, and it does seem to be the default the writers go to with the character. Contrary to the title, it’s difficult to see how any of this is worth it.

Verdict: The only thing that’s worse than when the show is barrelling along like an over-enthusiastic puppy with no self-awareness is when it’s dull. A whole hour is a long time to have about five minutes’ worth of plot stretched over. 3/10

Greg D. Smith