MovieChat Forums > Inside No. 9 (2014) Discussion > Better than the first series so far

Better than the first series so far

posted 10 years ago by The-Last-Prydonian
6 replies | jump to latest

Thus far I think this has been a slightly improvement on the first series. The first three episodes of the first were excellent with wonderfully inspired premises with amazing payoffs. Sadly the second half of didn’t live up to the promise of the first three and their endings were a major let down although they had decent enough set-ups.

So far this series has been overall more satisfying, my personal favorite I think being La Couchette which had a simple but great premise. Like Sardines it managed to have a lot happen in a small confined environment. Not only that but it had the bonus of having wonderful guest plays that included Mark Benton and the actress who play Hayley in Coronation Street.

I know there’s been high praise for The 12 Days of Christine but if like me you’ve seen Jacobs Ladder or seen the screen adaptation of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Birdge then it didn’t seem quite so clever or original. Great performances and direction I just wasn’t wowed by the ending like some other people.

The past two episodes have been good although they’ve been a case of great set-ups but denouements which haven’t quite lived up to their early promise. Particularly The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge. which had a payoff that’s been done before so many times. It was wonderful to see David Warner though in a guest supporting role as the eccentric village magistrate.

[–] theblackestmagic 10 years ago

In regards to the 2nd episode of series 2, you could also include the 1962 horror film 'Carnival of Souls' as far as having a similar storyline and ending revelation with the 'Numer 9' episode as well. There is even a frightening and ghoulish figure who appears throughout the story that continues to follow/pursue the film's lead protagonist towards the discovery of her ultimate fate at the very end.

A very interesting and eerie film you should check out if you've never seen it before. I also wonder if Steve and Reece may have had this film in mind when writing this particular episode for their show.

[–] The-Last-Prydonian 10 years ago

Thanks for the recommendation. I have heard of Carnival of Souls before but I’ve never watched it but I will give it a go sometime.

[–] chillindude 10 years ago

I agree, while there was a lot of good in season 1, it was quite a mixed bag, Season 2 so far has been great all the way through.

[–] sillyspaghetti 10 years ago

Love episode 4 of series 2 with the Samaritans style call centre. "This is an important message about your payment protection insurance". Ha ha ha!

Ending proper ****ed me up though!

[–] The-Last-Prydonian 10 years ago

Yeah it was good although the ending wasn’t quite as clever or inspired as I think Reece and Steve intended it to be. Loved the novel nature of the setting as it. The pair exploited the relative confinement of it wonderfully. Also Jane Horrocks as is usually the case was excellent value for money. It’s just a shame that the denouement just didn’t quite have the oomph! A couple of the better episodes for achieving this were Sardines and Tom and Gerri in last years series.

[–] The_Dim_Reaper 10 years ago

I'm glad it not the only one who wasn't that taken by that episode. Aside from the ones you've mentioned, I've seen it done another three times in a Twilight Zone episode, and the films Dead End and Stay.

I'm not saying I didn't like the episode, it was interesting and unsettling but it was nothing special.