Review: Fades 1.2

Neil preaches to Paul.

Fades' second episode didn't do anything to really change my opinion of it, and instead delivered much of the same thing. Still holding its balance of gothic horror and quirky comedy (almost what Being Human was aiming for), the show continues to be engaging and entertaining. 
     Paul has a frightening dream showing the corpses of his loved ones as Neil destroys the bodies of his fallen comrades and takes Paul to look for someone to explain his visions. There he meets a little girl from Neil's past called Natalie, who tries to kill him. They meet Eric, one of the earliest Angelics, who's the oldest Fade he knows. Eric recognises Paul as "important", and Neil takes this, coupled with Natalie being able to touch, as a bad omen.
     After they get involved in some school stuff, Neil saves Paul from some Fades and tells him that he has to go underground, abandoning everyone he knows. The Fades are eating humans to convert them into more of themselves. Paul goes home but can't face his family, and so he stays at Mac's house, where his drunken father beats him. To his surprise, Paul is able to heal Mac's injuries.
     The episode climaxes with a party where Neil is attacked by the Fades (but not killed/eated for some reason) and Paul works out after snogging Jay that he can live a double life. In Mark's storyline, he's watched over by Sarah as his grief leads him to attack pupils and sleep with the girl from the first episode.
     Of all the things I admire about Fades, the most important is the show's focus on all of its characterisations. Everyone is fundamentally real and realistically flawed in a way that makes the show more compelling than it would otherwise be. This helps to makes the show stand out against the fantasy-horror predecessors it's trying to emulate and certainly makes me more concerned about what's happening. This of course meant that we didn't learn much more about the mythos of the show, but the character development, mixed in with plenty of humour, is entertaining enough in itself to sustain the series. I really enjoyed the development of Mac's character a lot, and it's a testament to this series that someone who could only serve as comic relief has such a detailed personality. Even the named Fades are somewhat human, despite never even talking, and the least likeable character in the series - Paul's sister who controls the school's cliques - has a few touches of humanity. This approach is generally favourable to Centric stories, I find, because they can often lead to characters being badly written along the sides.

Paul and Jay

     The balance between the comedy and horror is very well managed, and as I mentioned, it seems like the Being Human team learnt their lesson when it comes to Fades. The tone of the series so far is incredibly dark, no doubt encouraged by the hyperbolic advertising campaign. Perhaps for the better, the humour relies more on the characters and less on the dark nature of the series, which means that it hopefully won't become snuffed out as in Being Human.
      At the end of the day there isn't much more to say about this episode other than it reinforced the thoughts I already had. Fades is an engaging piece of entertainment that juggles a brilliant if cliche gothic horror and a fast-paced wit bolstered by outstanding characterisations. I'm really enjoying it and I can't see, based on this episode, that changing very soon.

Thanks.

P.S. Yes. I know it's called "The Fades". I just think that's an unnecessary definite article, and I'm not gonna change it.