Detained by: Patrick Ness directed by: Wayne Che Yipp:

Detained 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 Wayne Che Yip with Patrick Ness, Steven Moffat, and Brian Minchin as Executive Producer.  It was originally broadcast on 19 November 2016 on BBC Three.

 

Using an episode of a television show to feature the characters in a room and letting them play off each other is nothing new.  It’s been done in many shows as a way to give us some development and let all the dirty laundry so to speak come out into the open.  The big shame is that Class’s trapped in a confined space with the regulars episode is the sixth episode of an eight episode run.  This was really an idea that needed to be done back as the third episode and then maybe I would be able to actually like the series more than I have in the past. That won’t amend any previous episodes’ scores as that is the past and this is the present.  Detained works overall as an episode as it takes our main cast plus Matteusz and takes them into a prison outside of time and space in the form of a classroom.  They’re meaning to take an hour’s detention which alright I’ll give them that as it’s at least incorporating the school setting into the plot pretty well.  The idea is that this is the episode where truths will be revealed as there is an alien prisoner trapped in a rock that forces out the truth.  It’s a great idea for a plot and executed much better than the few throw away gags in The Time of the Doctor.  The plot is just our main cast trying to escape the room which is simple but effective as there really aren’t faults with the plot itself.

 

I have to fault Ness’s  bad dialogue in this episode especially because the first fifteen minutes are this frantic mess of exposition and establishment, getting the characters out of time, establishing that Charlie has claustrophobia, and getting Matteusz to pick up the rock to begin the conflict proper.  The dialogue really comes across as hokey with everyone complaining how angry they feel which could have been done by showing it to the audience, not just saying it.  Outside of the first fifteen minutes, however, the episode proper really begins as the truths that come out allow us to see into the minds of our characters.  Matteusz actually gets development as he remembers his grandmother and her reaction to the fact that he is gay.  It’s actually a poignant piece of dialogue that shifts into an actual showing of mistrust of his boyfriend.  It’s the easiest way of showing the audience as it isn’t just an exposition dump which this episode so easily could have become.

 

Tanya is the character built up as the leader of the group and for what she does in this episode, except for some comments early on, I feel she’s the most realistic one of the bunch.  She’s extremely intelligent and is always put down, not because of her race as many would think the diversity quota laden BBC would force, but her age.  She feels out of place because she’s only fourteen years old and what fourteen year old is supposed to deal with being three levels ahead of everyone else.  Vivian Oparah actually steals the show this episode taking the best bits from Nightvisiting and using them to advance the character ahead.  Greg Austin as Charlie is a character I’ve complained about in the past for not having much character.  Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart and Brave-ish Heart gave us a starting point, but here we get the development.  He communicates this inner struggle of wanting to have revenge, but knowing that deep down revenge on the Shadow Kin wouldn’t be the right thing to do.  He feels guilty considering he knows that his treatment of Miss Quill has been horrible so the alien.  April and Ram’s arc is a bit less enjoyable as they just go off of how in love they are and how they’re rushing things.  I think they’re still in love by the end of the episode, but it really isn’t clear as to the ending.

 

The direction is something I have to mention for how inconsistent it is.  Wayne Che Yip returns to the style of choppy editing in the first fifteen minutes which just gave my eyes a headache, but after fifteen minutes he slowed down the pace of the direction to something just a touch more manageable.  It really isn’t anything special, however, as some shots lingered on characters for too long, while others gave us some interesting angles to play around with.  Maybe it’s just the one set but the background looks really boring after a while which might end up being the point.

 

To summarize, Detained is a quality episode of Class.  Yes that’s something I really didn’t think I would be saying, but credit where credit is due, there are flaws but many of these can be overlooked for a generally good episode.  75/100.