Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart by: Patrick Ness directed by: Philippa Langdale: Evil Cherry Blossoms

Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart stars Greg Austin as Charlie, Fady Elsayed as Ram, Sophie Hopkins as April, Vivian Oparah as Tanya, and Katherine Kelly as Mrs. Quill.  It was written by Patrick Ness and directed by Philippa Langdale with Patrick Ness, Steven Moffat, and Brian Minchin as Executive Producer.  It was originally broadcast on 5 November 2016 on BBC Three.

 

It’s the halfway point for Class and we might have a good episode. The first half of the story at the very least is average at best and it’s finally Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart that at least rises a little bit above mediocrity.  Yes I can actually say that an episode of Class could be construed as good.  Albeit it isn’t that high above average, but still just a touch there.  I’ll quickly get through the bad stuff of the story as there is quite a lot of really bad stuff.  First and foremost, Patrick Ness doesn’t do well with the forty-five minutes of setup as the plot goes between three storylines.  First we have April dealing with her father who has been released from prison and is trying to reconnect with her.  Second we have a plot with the king of the Shadow Kin trying to get his heart back, a plotline that was supposed to be the A plot of the episode, but because the third plot is so much more interesting than either of the two.  The third plot is about Coal Hill getting a new head teacher, Dorothea Ames, who promises Ms. Quill that she can get that creature out of his head while carnivorous flower petals fall on London and multiply, starting to consume things.  Yes this is the interesting plot, but Ness does not use his time to effectively flesh out the three plots making many aspects of April’s story feel very flat and the stuff with the Shadow Kin is just tedious.  It tries to flesh them out as a warrior race, but it doesn’t really allow the fleshing out to actually happen as all we know still is that evil and apparently they just randomly have orgies.  Yeah the king just starts going at it in the middle of the episode which feels look at us, we’re edgy.  It’s something that comes out of nowhere and really doesn’t do anything to make the Shadow Kin well rounded characters.

 

All the romantic stuff in the episode is done badly.  Ram and April have sex this episode because April is in a state of distress, and they’re dating now.  Yes this was sort of set up by them snogging in Nightvisiting and some of the scenes really do work for the episode as they actually reflect on the numerous crimes you have them commiting, but there is no character development to see them as forming a relationship.  Heck Ram actually had a prior friendship with Tanya whom he went to confide in for a lot of things after his girlfriend was killed in the pilot.  I mean really, Ram and April have barely had any scenes together so the relationship comes out of nowhere and really feels like we need to force people together because target audience.  Also April hiding things from her mother really doesn’t seem like it would be in character for her as she also has trust for her mother.  Her outbursts towards her father actually make a bit of sense as how else would you react to the man who tried to kill you.  Her father however at least seems to care even if he is mentally disturbed which could go on to something extremely interesting if the second part of the full story really follows up on this one.

 

This episode is also the first one not directed by Ed Bazalgette and let’s be honest it shows, but this is a double edged sword.  Philippa Langdale can direct some shots very well.  The way she shoots Dorothea Ames and the opening sequence are both really well done from a technical perspective.  They just look really good, especially considering the fast paced direction this series has been aiming for.  The opening sequence of the falling flower petal gives off this sense of wonder and intrigue that a show like this needs.  It isn’t subtle, but it is very tastefully done.  The other edge of the sword comes in whenever we have to direct the Shadow Kin as it’s all done in an extreme amount of dark lighting and whenever there is a tone of red, the bad effects really show which is a shame considering how a lot of the effects have actually been, well practical.  The computer generated Shadow Kin in this episode just fall into that creepy area of the uncanny valley where they lose their creativity which was a highlight of the pilot episode for Class.

 

Character development guys!  We have character development in this episode and it actually feels partially natural for the series to actually do.  Charlie actually gets called out for using Ms. Quill as a slave to just do his bidding.  It’s the idea of having too much power for one’s own good and Tanya actually calls him out on it.  It isn’t very developed, but it’s better than the bland as white bread we’ve been getting for the past three episodes.  It’s something that actually makes sense for the episode to do as we reflect on some of the horrible things that the main characters have been doing since the pilot episode.  Also Dorothea Ames while falling into the Moffat trap of teasing something for the finale, at least interacts with the characters when she is introduced as the mysterious Governors’ plotline decides to rear its head and Ames is a good character.  Ms. Quill also gets some more to do in this episode instead of being a background character which gives Catherine Kelly a chance to show off her acting chops this episode as Ames acts very much like the devil making deals to get the creature out of her head.

 

To summarize, Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart does have at least some mark of quality on it for what it actually is.  It’s an interesting set up for a story that doesn’t exactly do much for advancement on many fronts while things that Ness has done well are highlighted in the episode.  The direction feels fresh and to be honest a lot of the story has time to be fleshed out in what is hopefully a good second half.  55/100.