The episode isn't bad, but there's still a lot that's unexplained and/or rushed. For instance, Josiah turns from a vaguely okay guy--he still seems sympathetic to Ryan even in the first few minutes of the episode, when talking to Fraser--to a ranting maniac in record time.
We never find out how Josiah was mismanaging the colony. It's gaslit in part 1, and is mentioned a few times in this part 2. I suppose they tossed in the references to explain why he turned into a diabolical bad guy. But it never pans out. It does give us the ever-reliable Bernard Behrens as Inquisitor Holmes. Behrens will play a bigger role in future episodes. I did like his Holmes here, who appears to be on Ryan's side and tells Matthew to suck it up and accept Ryan as a convert.
We do get more of Scott Paulin as a bad guy. And he's one of those actors who is good in everything. I don't get his jazzhands when he's killing Effie, but oh well. He does look sinister.
The Quilt gains the power to puts it victims to sleep. Rather than the user having to wait for his/her victims to fall asleep. That's a convenient, if necessary plot, device.
Micki and Jack spend a lot of time driving, and sleeping in the car when their fuel pump breaks down. Two hours, and writer Janet MacLean couldn't find anything better to do with them?
The portrayal of the Penitites is also somewhat offensive. Here they're portrayed as mindless sheep led by Josiah. They only turn against him when the evidence against him is undeniable, and when one of their own--and his own daughter--provides the evidence.
Good things are that the two hours does give the story a little space to grow. But it's mostly moving the Quilt from Killer A to Killer B. And Killer B doesn't have any real motive, other than the vague "mismanagement" charges laid against him. Otherwise it's 'Witness' on steroids, as Ryan and Laura feed chickens and profess their undying love for one another. Again, and again, and again. There's a lot of that. It gives the impression that the plot was for an hour episode, and MacLean padded it out because... well, they needed a two-hour episode.
So "The Quilt of Hathor" isn't a bad episode. It just seems like an unnecessarily long one, and the length doesn't accomplish anything significant. The length does make the whole "Ryan gets religion" plotline a little more believable. But not much.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
We never find out how Josiah was mismanaging the colony. It's gaslit in part 1, and is mentioned a few times in this part 2. I suppose they tossed in the references to explain why he turned into a diabolical bad guy. But it never pans out. It does give us the ever-reliable Bernard Behrens as Inquisitor Holmes. Behrens will play a bigger role in future episodes. I did like his Holmes here, who appears to be on Ryan's side and tells Matthew to suck it up and accept Ryan as a convert.
We do get more of Scott Paulin as a bad guy. And he's one of those actors who is good in everything. I don't get his jazzhands when he's killing Effie, but oh well. He does look sinister.
The Quilt gains the power to puts it victims to sleep. Rather than the user having to wait for his/her victims to fall asleep. That's a convenient, if necessary plot, device.
Micki and Jack spend a lot of time driving, and sleeping in the car when their fuel pump breaks down. Two hours, and writer Janet MacLean couldn't find anything better to do with them?
The portrayal of the Penitites is also somewhat offensive. Here they're portrayed as mindless sheep led by Josiah. They only turn against him when the evidence against him is undeniable, and when one of their own--and his own daughter--provides the evidence.
Good things are that the two hours does give the story a little space to grow. But it's mostly moving the Quilt from Killer A to Killer B. And Killer B doesn't have any real motive, other than the vague "mismanagement" charges laid against him. Otherwise it's 'Witness' on steroids, as Ryan and Laura feed chickens and profess their undying love for one another. Again, and again, and again. There's a lot of that. It gives the impression that the plot was for an hour episode, and MacLean padded it out because... well, they needed a two-hour episode.
So "The Quilt of Hathor" isn't a bad episode. It just seems like an unnecessarily long one, and the length doesn't accomplish anything significant. The length does make the whole "Ryan gets religion" plotline a little more believable. But not much.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?