Garret’s freedom is conditional on his swearing allegiance to a new ruler. Talon and Zed return to the Plain of Ashes to finally bring through the rest of the Blackbloods following an offer of peace from Falista, but horrors await them

It’s been pointed out to me that I seem to be being particularly hard on The Outpost of late. That may well be true, and I can’t deny there is sometimes amusement to be had in a turn of phrase or in dunking on a bad episode, but ultimately I take no real pleasure in being hard on a show and its cast and creatives, all of whom are presumably united in good faith trying to make the best version of their work they can. I’ve praised The Outpost at points in the past when it’s done things I found genuinely compelling, exciting or even surprising, but unfortunately more often than not it’s getting in its own way with clunky plotting, bizarre characters and cheap sets.

However, in the spirit of trying to be more constructive, here’s what I thought of the various goings on in this week’s instalment.

Falista, Tobin and Two make no sense to me. None. Falista and Tobin now know that the kinjes transfer upon death. They control two of the three. They have no particular reason to protect Two or even to want her around (she did murder a lot of Tobin’s men to bring him back), and yet… they just don’t really seem to realise this. They are trapped in this ongoing battle of wills between themselves and this interloper who holds no particular power over them, and who they could easily replace.

Worse, against the apparent wishes of at least Tobin, the soldiers of the Prime Order are now basically in charge of the Outpost, decreeing its laws, banning alcohol and revelry, to the extent that Tobin (the KING) asked Munt last week to sneak him some alcohol.

Garret’s freedom is granted by way of the technicality that he’s swearing an oath to serve Tobin (who he trusts) rather than to the Three (who he doesn’t). Garret has never really struck me as the sort of pragmatist who would be subject to this sort of semantic reasoning, but here he just goes with it, so that some more plot can happen.

Meanwhile, thanks to more plot needing to happen, Talon is essentially strongarmed into doing something she doesn’t want to do and has indeed successfully resisted doing for a while now on the basis of promises made by someone she doesn’t trust. That would be the same Talon whose defining characteristics since the show began have been unflinching stubbornness and a deep distrust of basically everyone thanks to her upbringing. But Wren needs a doodad that’s never been mentioned before but is suddenly incredibly important so… that works I guess? (Wren also seems to have suddenly just accepted that she is the new Blackblood High Priestess – your guess is as good as mine as to how and why (and when) this happened).

And in another example of the writers missing golden opportunities for actual interesting plot developments, Falista starts to try to lean into her new role as Queen but… remember in Game of Thrones when Joffrey had basically no idea how to actually interact with the common people when he became their king? This is in no way as artfully handled or interestingly portrayed, and the opportunity for a deeper examination of both the character and the nature of her rise to power and the invidious position in which she finds herself is lost amidst some clumsy, rushed narrative.

As I said, I don’t enjoy just dunking on a show for the sake of it, and I can’t deny that after three seasons, I hold a certain amount of grudging affection for the show and its cast, if only because sometimes it’s as easy to laugh with the show as at it. But it constantly feels as if the writers are literally making this all up as they go along. Characters make wild U-turns, stuff gets forgotten or tossed out, and it all just feels so… cheap as a result. It might have loftier aspirations but make no mistake, serious event television, this ain’t.

Verdict: Keeps getting in its own way and stopping itself from properly exploring the narrative opportunities it somehow manages to give itself. Disappointing. 3/10

Greg D. Smith