Rise! - The Series 2 "In the Flesh" Finale

Season 2 of 'In the Flesh' has just wrapped up in the UK on June 8. Or will wrap up this Saturday on June 14 in the U.S. if you watch on BBCAmerica.

The main difference with Season 2 is that  the BBC gave it the budget for three more episodes, going from 3 to 6. This gave it more time to develop a number of subplots. While some of them didn't really accomplish much--Freddie trying to get back with his living wife, Simon's back story—the rest of the time there was a growing sense of doom as the villagers of Roarton turned against the PDS sufferers in general and Kieren in particular. By episode 5, Kieren's parents were ready to send him away to the Norfolk Treatment Center for "rehabilitation." The events leading up to that were dropped to some degree: what happened to the two escaped rabids? But it set the stage for the final showdown.

Before we got there, let's take a look at what did happen.

The town of Roarton received two visitors. The first is Maxine Martin, MP for the new anti-undead Victus party. She is preaching against the undead and encouraging the Roarton villagers to take Draconian measures against the undead among them.

The second visitor is Simon Monroe, one of the twelve Disciples of the Undead Prophet, who leads the Undead Liberation Army. Simon is sent to Roarton with Amy Dyer to find the First Risen and sacrifice him, which will set off a Second Rising where more of the dead will rise, bolstering the ranks of the ULA. However, Simon falls in love with Kieren even though he is eventually called upon to sacrifice his over to bring about the Second Rising.

Another plot features Kieren's daughter Jem shooting a teenage undead and then trying to live with the guilt. And at the same time starting a relationship with Gary Kendal, her comfort in the Human Volunteer Force.

The last major plot was Amy undergoing what appears to be rejection of the drug that keeps the undead from going rabid. While she deals with the slow onset of rabidism, Amy falls in love with Phillip, the young town councilor who had sex with her back in Season 1. Phillip is visiting a prostitute and having her dress up like Amy. However, when the townspeople find out about the brothel, Phillip takes a stand and Amy, impressed, joins up with him.

The Jem subplot gets short shrift and is wrapped up rather abruptly in the season finale. Kieren conveniently finds out she shot someone, she breaks down and confesses, and says that she needs to get help.

The Phillip-Amy subplot is the most tragic. Amy eventually discovers that her body is coming back to life. However, she only has a short time to enjoy the return of living experiences until the demented Maxine kills her in the hope that she can create a Second Rising and bring back her dead brother. Amy dies and Maxine has a mental breakdown after confessing what she did at the village fete.

The season wraps up with a mournful Phillip sitting at Amy's grave. When he goes, two operatives from Weston-Halperin, the company that manufactures the anti-rabid drug, arrive in Roarton and start digging up Amy's grave. Meanwhile, Kieren starts to show the same symptoms that Amy was displaying, suggesting that he's also becoming human.

Roarton ends back where it ended Season 1. The living and the unloving seem to have reached an uneasy cohabitation but the undead are in contact with their leader, who still believes that a Second Rising is possible.

Overall, Season 2 expanded on the basics that were spoken of but never shown in Season 1. The Simon flashback scenes introduced us to Halperin and Weston, the scientists who helped "cure" the undead and end the war. It appears that they have an ulterior motive of some sort as well, and one of them may be the Undead Prophet. We learned more about the ULA and the Blue Oblivion drug that reverts undead temporarily to a rabid state.

While there's not a lot of horror elements per se, "In the Flesh" is a show you should watch if you haven't already. It's more of a soap opera, but this season there are some science fiction and mystical elements tossed in. Catch up  on it in repeats or on the Internet, and you won't regret it.