After a number of very strong episodes that concluded Medusa’s arc, last week’s outing did feel like it was a bit of a backwards step at times. There hasn’t been much explanation about what this blackness is that has taken hold of Jason, or why it would strike now just because he now knows who his mother is. I was left with the vague impression that it’s somehow transformed him into a dreary version of Harry Enfield’s Kevin the teenager from the way he sulked and sighed his way through the script.
Medea too is finding herself inexplicably drawn to her cousin. When Cilix demands that Jason’s execution for killing the Oracle is to go ahead, it is she who deftly manages to outfox him rather than her aunt. In the end it’s decided that he is to face competitors in the amphitheater rather than being burned alive in the bronze bull. Yes, technically we have already had the gladiator’s arena episode this season, but it does gives Donnelly a chance to show us what he’s best at, and as ever the stunts and fighting sequences are all superb.
Kin airs on Saturday 9th May at 7.35pm on BBC 1 and BBC 1 HD in the UK. Below are a few dialogue teasers to see you through until then. Don't forget to come back to vote in our poll after the episode and let us know what you thought.
“I found myself thinking things I’d never thought before. That he was my ally”
“Why am I not dead already? I was due to be hanged”
“You and Pythagoras, you’re my only friends now”
“Jason has been found guilty of killing the Oracle, what reason is there to delay?”
“When I realised that the source of those powers was darkness, it terrified me”
“Majesty, Cassandra is only capable of telling only the truth. Are you sure this is what you wish to ask?”
“I know you. You saved my life in the silver mines”
“As long as there is a chance that Jason is alive we must do everything in our power to save him”
“It seems the gods really do smile on him”
“I know everything about him…or at least I thought I did”
Trailer Teaser
“This night, it ends”
