My Review of New Blood's 1x02: "Case 1, Part 2"

Written by Anthony Horowitz
Directed by Anthony Philipson

Stefan: "Thanks."
Rash: "Don't mention it. You just ruined my evening."

A bit of a slower one than the first. Having done some reading up, I do find it interesting that later cases are done in two episodes and while I have yet to watch the third episode (that's likely to be tomorrow), I do wonder if this whole storyline should've been resolved here instead of extending until the next one.

Of course this episode did seem to have a lot of build up into it though. We had Laura's funeral which also introduced a few more characters from the India trip of 2010, including Bruce Lockwood and the rather sinister company Green Fern, which did help intensify things when Stefan's own investigation at their party saw him being drugged and then saved by Rash halfway through the episode.

If there's a disappointment it's probably that we haven't seen enough of Stefan and Rash together. Like in my previous review, the actors play off each other so well and Stefan certainly made more of an impression on Rash by puking on his before it was revealed  to the both of them that they were working on the same case. The last scene as they went to chase Henry was something of a comical delight, intentional or not.

The Henry part of the episode was a little more interesting as those two sinister ladies from the first episode planted evidence on him to make him look like a killer. I did find myself a bit more sympathetic towards Henry in this one and I liked that Rash showed some doubts towards him being the killer despite chasing after him with Stefan at the end.

As for the rest of this episode, there were some moments that confused but overall, this whole medical drug trial storyline has been solid enough. The next episode will undoubtedly be the deciding factor in all of this though to whether or not stretching out each case over several episodes is the best approach for the show.

- We learned that Allison (who fancies Stefan) is actually Peter Mayhew's niece and she's been spying for him.
- Bit mixed on Stefan and Leila but don't dislike it either. I do hope Leila is given a bit more to do though.
- The credit sequence seems a little similar (but not a rip off) to Sherlock.
- Points to the trippy and creepy as hell visuals we got during Stefan's drugged state. They made me jump a little at one point.

A solid episode but a little bit slower than the first one and at times, perhaps a little too much on the exposition side of things. The potential though is still there and I like the fun element to the leads rapport as well.

Rating: 6 out of 10