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Update: The missing words have been filled. Enjoy the episode!
Another outing for the double team of Julian Jones and Alice Troughton, but I have to admit to not being as happy with this as I was their previous one this series, The Furies. Though to be fair a part of this is down to things out of their control; Donnelly is a bit out of his depth for a start and with only a passing nod to the two arcs that are in place this season it can’t help feel like filler, which as the lead in to a two part finale seems a little out of place. Another thing which probably hasn't helped is how late on these last few episodes have been put together, with a bit more time I think it could have been a great episode. As it is, it's only getting an OK from me unfortunately.
After being in Atlantis for this long you would think Jason would know not to steal from a spooky temple complete with a shrine for animal sacrifices, but no, like Hercules he thinks with his stomach this week and ends up in all kinds of trouble because of it. After briefly drowning his sorrows over failing to cure Medusa, Hercules is the one who has to help Pythagoras rescue Jason from the inevitable curse he is hit with.
It feels like this could easily have been a late in the process swap in roles for Addy and Donnelly, with producers thinking that having Jason as the naked one in so many scenes would be what the audience would like to see. I personally would have preferred to see the superior acting chops of Addy in the role myself, but it already feels like the Hercules show in many ways so I guess it was meant to be this way round from the start. I remember thinking Bradley was a little wooden early on in Merlin too, yet he grew into the role by Season 2 and ended up being one of my favourite actors on that show. I'm hoping that Jack Donnelly goes through a similar process; at times I think he's fine, but I'm afraid that this episode isn't one of those times for me.
The royal family are back this week, albeit briefly for the King and Queen in order to touch upon the arc we last saw weeks ago where Pasiphae schemes to poison Minos. The other two have more to do, though I feel that both could have been used far more effectively. Heptarian's scenes could very easily be cut entirely and not impact on the episode at all (which is a shame as I think he deserves a better role in the story in general) and the princess is kept in the dark about what is happening, for no reason I am able to understand.
Hunger Pains airs on BBC 1 and BBC 1 HD on 14th December at 8.20pm. Below are some dialogue teasers to see you through until then, the missing words will be filled in later in the week.
“Your friends, they arranged to meet me, I thought perhaps something had happened to them”
“Our job is to guard them, not eat them”
“The regular swinging of a pendulum could be used to measure the passage of time”
“You’re right I'm useless, I'm not helping anybody, I'm sorry”
“Your job is to kill them, every single one of them”
“Let me get you a drink. Here my love”
“I was born to wrestle lions and wolves, not rodents”
“The pigs don’t owe me money”
“I was in bed and I went to sleep, next I'm waking up naked in an animal pen”
“We will find a cure for Medusa, I promise, but it’s not going to be at the bottom of a flagon of wine”
“You have violated the sanctuary of a Goddess”
