The kids, Huck and Felix shelter in an abandoned High School.

World Beyond is already proving to be at its best when it’s at its oddest and this week bears that out. The kids, and their new found reluctant ‘older siblings’ basically wander around the school getting to know one another and the world they’ve been denied. It’s simple, and in the hands of a lesser show would present as filler. It is not filler.

Instead it’s a mine of character information. You have Huck showing remarkable skill at psychological warfare as she gives Felix tips on how to break the kids apart as a group. Felix likewise continues to be established as the Captain America of the world beyond, a fundamentally decent, troubled man who carries his pain and the people he lost with him. That in turn seems to inspire a welcome, and definite, change in Elton.

The episode is bookmarked with photos taken at the high school before the fall. A pink haired girl is a common factor in them and, at the end, the kids find her body among the others. The school, which they view as a luxurious  palace of resources, is forever denied them. It’s her tomb. So Elton takes a photo of them all. Not his studies, not his research, his friends. A moment in time, captured just as the moments of school life have been denied them.

But it’s Iris and Silas who get the fun stuff this week. Locked in a gymnasium they try soda, dance and in one of the show’s best moments, briefly join the kids who danced in the photos. It’s a simple heartfelt moment that’s sweet and honest and fleeting. Much like their childhoods.

Verdict: Rounded out by another brief return to the CRM this is another smart episode of a very good show which clearly knows where it’s going. Even if it’s characters don’t quite yet. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart

Click here for Alasdair’s earlier reviews of World Beyond