My Review of New Blood's 1x03: "Case 1, Part 3"

Written by Anthony Horowitz
Directed by Anthony Philipson

Stefan: "Do you want chocolate?"
Rash: "Of course."

And the case is finally solved. It took three episodes, various dead bodies, a framed person and a near death experience or two for our two protagonists but this episode managed to wrap the whole Lipocite/drug testing plot on a nearly satisfying note.

I said nearly because it did feel somewhat a little too convenient that no-one aside from David Leese actually got brought to justice and the two deadly assassin ladies (who killed both Bruce and Coleman) also managed to slip away quite well while Henry was eventually exonerated for the murders he didn't commit.

I did like that Stefan and Rash risked their jobs (both lost them, both regained them by the end of this one) in order to solve the case. Rash knew it wasn't Henry responsible for the murders and Stefan was actually successful in getting Bruce to finally crack and fill in the dots before the guy ended up being shot to pieces.

The best sequence and by far the daftest though was seeing both Stefan and Rash jumping off the hotel room and managing to successfully land in the swimming pool. If there's one other thing this show has in it's favour, it's that it revels in the absolute absurd with the stylistic sequences that the more I watch this show, the more I'm convinced it's a natural successor to Hustle more than anything else.

Of course the highlight of this episode was the increased screen time with Stefan and Rash. They started the episode by chasing down a nervous Henry and then ended it with deciding to get a flat together. Both actors continue to play off each other so well and it really has become the driving force behind the show, which isn't the most thorough of police dramas.

- I had to laugh at Stefan's boss saying that they ran a serious operation. The tone of this show really does suggest otherwise.
- Why do I get the feeling we'll see those killer ladies again. Mayhew's pulling the strings and he doesn't seem to be done yet.
- No Leila in this episode. Rash's irritation in Stefan being interested in her is amusing though.

Overall, while I think this storyline could've done with two episodes, this one did end it on a pretty strong note. The rapport with Stefan and Rash though is the hook, but I do think the other characters (aside from Leila) do need to be fleshed out a little better though.

Rating: 7 out of 10