The Fades: Review: Series 1 Ep 4

While his body is lying in a coma, Paul’s Fade encounters the Angelic killer and makes a fatal error of judgement…

Much less of the teen angst this episode – mainly since the main perpetrators of that plotline are stuck at Paul’s bedside, so it’s not really appropriate – and a lot more blood and gore than recently: The Fades is ramping up the horror content, as it throws in yet more plays from the standard horror game book.

This time we’ve got the bad guy giving his back story and persuading our hero to do something daft which he then regrets. We also see the Angelics in a different light, as we discover why the Fades are trapped on Earth (and in passing why they like tall buildings – as with many aspects of this script, the audience has to join the dots themselves rather than it being spelled out). There’s only a small amount of time given to the B-plot with Mac’s copper father, Tom and Sarah, but it moves them into position for the next stage.

Verdict: Although it feels slightly as if it’s treading water, there’s actually a lot going on in this episode as alliances begin to shift.  6/10

Paul Simpson