S02E07: The Finale

An average finale is somewhat fitting for a series that has veered from the dire to the daring in recent weeks.

The quality of direction is certainly higher than usual, evident in the tension in the man versus random creature sequences. In particular, the arrival of the scorpion on the beach, and the build-up, is admirable for generating anticipation and scares through the power of suggestion rather than explicit imagery.

Unsurprisingly, there are strong elements of crowd pleasing throughout the finale, rounding off several narrative arcs. Leek The Geek is given a suitably grizzly exit, Rex is found and there's a catfight between Abby and Connor. Above all, cheers could be heard around living rooms throughout the country when Stephen made the ultimate sacrifice. His death scene was atmospherically filmed, but the character has been mostly a bland dud (as was Nick Cutter for the first half of the series) and failed to add anything of interest apart from being Helen's pawn.

Frustratingly, Leek's threat to Lester that he had twelve other beasts ready to be unleashed at key locations was underdeveloped in the script. Surely the budget could have been spent on less CGI monsters and more on a decent exposition of the scale of danger to mankind?