Reviewed: Borrowed Time

Contributor: TragicWhiteKnight

Rating: 4.5 out of 10

This episode suffered from 'Mikado Syndrome'. Like 'The Mikado', 'BT' has a reputation as one of the best episodes of the series - but it turns out to be an above-average 'killer of the week' episode. The two shows do have an obvious difference; 'Mikado' had a typical killer but turned out great, this one has an unusual killer but doesn't stand up to much scrutiny.

First off, I can't deny some of the main strengths of the episode: Brittany Tiplady's acting is fabulous, as is Lance's when he threatens Samiel and prays for his daughter's life. The direction's also top-notch: especially the train plummeting into the water, the panic of the playground scene and Jordan's suddenly getting ill. Even Hollis isn't annoying.

But the bad still outweighs the good:

- Samiel has no motivation. Why does he bother coming back to Earth to save 4 random people? What's the deal with angels taking corporeal form? Why does he let Jordan live? These are all questions that could be answered - and the last one absolutely should have been - without it the episode lacks any point.

- Frank is totally powerless. The entire episode isn't borrowed time, but wasted time - the investigation into Samiel tells us nothing, Frank's involvement doesn't seem to do any good (unless Frank's pleas are what convinces Samiel to kill himself - if that's what actually happened, that's just awful).

- Frank technically should have died from the Marburg Virus if the Group hadn't interfered - why couldn't Samiel have taken him?

In the end, this is just a generic 'child in peril' show, not much better than 'In Arcadia Ego' in that respect. While I'm at least glad to finally see an episode with Frank at the centre, it'd be good if he actually got some development.