Bedlam: S02E02 - Pool of Tears.

See, I told you I'd keep on top of it! As an aside I find it amusing that the whole season review of season 1 and the review of the opening episode of this season have practically the same amount of hits. Enjoy!


Bedlam has this weird ongoing theme, you remember how I mentioned in the last review Lacey Turner is the second Eastenders actress to appear in this show? (that I know of anyway) well this week provides our second Skins actress. Last season we had Lily Loveless and this season we have her girlfriend (I didn't actually watch Skins Season 2 and there were twins, so it could have been the other one...) from Skins, actress Kathryn Prescott.

Okay talking of ongoing themes, there were a few things I didn't mention in the last review because they were so unexplored there was nothing for me to say unless I list them but now we have a little more about them, here goes; There is a girl who glows...for the same reasons I guess the ghost had with his spassy head - because the show thinks we're stupid and needs to say 'SHE ISN'T HUMAN BUT SHE ISN'T LIKE THE OTHER GHOSTS EITHER', thank you, I wouldn't of noticed otherwise! She wants Ellie's attention because...reasons and she does this by dropping marbles everywhere...for some reason, it is yet to be explored what is going on here. The confusing thing is the show shows a scene of the girl being kept in a box, so how she is running around...I'm not sure, astral projection? Whatever. It's the bald man villain of the season with the Bedlam pentagram symbol from the first season on his head keeping her prisoner. We also find out Ellie has the mark on her back too. Did she gain her powers because she is intrinsically linked to Bedlam Heights? Just like how Jed was born there? I dunno, but colour me interested!

There is also the ongoing theme of calling ghosts ' Revenants' - last episode Not The Gay Sidekick From The First Season made a joke that 'ghosts' sounded too 'Patrick Swayze' (which admittedly made me cringe a little being that he's only been dead about three years now, but I guess that irony would happen eventually after he appeared in that film) which is why he calls them Revenants, I didn't realise they'd actually stick with that....

The character of the week to have a dark past is Cass...no not the angel...the lesbian from Skins, yay! She is a professional swimmer, which means lots of excuses for her not wear much and get very wet, which is okay by me. Her dark past is a controlling Dad, then a controlling boyfriend (daddy issues?), her boyfriend is obsessed with her career because she ruined his by breaking his shoulder in a carcrash so now she self harms. Edgy! 

This weeks story is about a girl who commits suicide and falls in a swimming pool with some vague connection to that pentagram like mark that bald guy has. And once again the episode isn't frightening in the least but it's at least nice that the ghost provides a threat - because she can drown you. Overall though, the story of the week is just fucking stupid.

Cass is the one being haunted I suppose due to the parallels the ghost draws with herself and Cass - it's a stretch that this is the first person she has ever related too but I guess I can give her this one. The problem here is Ellie's place in the story - mainly that it's set up that Ellie's powers worked in the original episode due to the fact she was the one being haunted and that before this she just happened to see dead people, not how they died. Now it can be argued her powers have just gotten stronger due to Bedlam Heights but this is never explicitly explained making Ellie's involvement in the episode feel forced and contrived, they never seem to find a genuine reason for her to be there. At least in the first season Jed worked at Bedlam Heights, so he could get involved with any character or be anywhere in the building and it'd make sense within the story. But right now I think Ellie has moved in (this is only said in passing) and that is about it, meaning she has no real reason to get involved with anyone in the building unless they plan to add a friend of the week along with a monster of the week. Hell if I was Cass and this random girl told me I was gonna be killed by a ghost in the pool, then subsequently almost get drowned only to conveniently be saved by the girl who said I was being haunted, I'd suspect her!

Hell the funniest thing is the characters themselves eventually end up discussing this too this like they don't get it either which just makes everything seem that more stupid. This episode is just so fucking stupid in general.

Ellie's powers seem to have a little more consistency in this episode, although they are still different to Jed's - her powers this week first come in contact when she gets in the pool the ghost died in. And then only continue when she goes back into the room the pool is housed in and then they start escalating to activating seemingly randomly (possibly caused by the apartment itself which would make sense since Jed lived there and he and Ellie are connected somehow and also by being around the person who is haunted). One problem raised here though is that this week Cass clearly sees the ghost, which I suppose could be due to the implication that she tried to kill herself, but this is never actually stated whereas in the first season I'm pretty sure it was only Jed who saw the ghosts due to his powers.

A twist this week is Max - our not Ryan McAllister from the last season - who admits he believes in ghosts and knows a fair a bit about them is running a website about Bedlam Heights and how haunted it is which is in turn sending the Bedlam Heights project out of business. What are his motivations? I don't know - especially since he works and lives at Bedlam Heights.

The second twist, the one that really blew me away is our heroes failed - I mean how often do you see that in mainstream shows? It adds a real sense of reality to everything and a real sense of gravity, shit just got real.

This episode worries me. Although it's hard to call the first episode of this season a decline of quality from the first season mainly that they did so many things differently while managing to keep the same story but this episode is definitely a decline of quality from the last episode. Although not bad - if it continues like this it's going to end up that way. The episode was fun but really, really stupid. My biggest worry now is the wider story, the arc that holds everything together appears to be getting very complicated and ultimately confusing very quickly and I'm so so scared this'll become the British Lost. Pros and Cons to close incoming!

Pros;

• I know it isn't the 'classy' response but Kathryn Prescott! Man this girl is gorgeous and they found an excuse to have her spending most of the episode either wet or scantily clad. I love dat sheet.
• Further exploration of internal mythos.
• A genuinely threatening ghost of the week. Or Revenant whatever.
• An impressive and bold move to have the heroes fail.
• Ellie's powers are starting to make more sense.

Cons;

• They are raising a lot of new questions to expand their internal mythos meaning things are starting to border on the convoluted. 
• Bad writing.
• Inconsistencies!
• It still isn't scary!
• A genuine decline in quality leads me fearful for what is to come.
• The main character has no real place in her own fucking story!

Think About It!

-Locke