Survivors - 2.7 A Friend In Need

Right up until the last 30 seconds of this I was preparing to write it down as one of the series 1 'tactical sequence' eps on a grand scale. There's a bit of world-building at the beginning, with the conference of community representatives, and the arrival of Daniella, but most of it is comprised of the hunt for the mysterious sniper who's been gunning down young women in the area.

However, the final twist did completely confound my expectations.Frustratingly though we weren't allowed to verify the shocking characteristic of the sniper for ourselves. I'm not going to give it away, you can look it up on imdb if you like.

Another reference back to 1.9 Law and Order. Greg's position in this ep though is counter to the one he takes in 2.5 The Face of the Tiger. Good exchange that he and Charles have - 'Values have changed whether you like it or not.' 'But do you like it?'

I also half expected Daniella to be immediately sacrificed as a decoy, perhaps before Jenny stepped into the role. I did like the bit about the handful of cigarettes though; Jenny explaining that everyone was forced to stop smoking 6 months ago and that, by implication, it would be dangerous to distribute them because it would set off people's addiction again without assuring their supply.

Arthur's reported remark that all the survivors, male and female, are starting to look like each other, is amusing, and good characterisation.

How does Jenny know that Vic tried to kill Anne in ep 1.11? She and Vic retired to bed together immediately afterwards, and she left first thing the next morning without seeing anyone. It was good btw to have it acknowledged that Vic's fate had an element of ambiguity about it: he was the only one of the series 1 characters we saw trying to escape the fire who wasn't seen to succeed. Charmian, Emma and Donny perished without being seen.

Dating: there are daffodils in the vase on the conference table, so it's probably still March. They do like their table flowers, the survivors, they always had them back in the series 1 house. It's well observed, you probably would do that to cheer yourself up and feel like there was still a bit of civilisation left.