Class – Nightvisiting – Episode Review
The Class rewatch reached episode 3, Nightvisiting, this past Sunday. An episode split between feelings of loss and new beginnings.
Synopsis
When London is infiltrated by a powerful alien, an unexpected visitor comes to Tanya’s window. The team must battle this strange new threat to stop Tanya from being lost forever.
In Brief
An alien called the Lankin arrives through the Bunghole of Time™, sending out tendrils across the city that seek out those experiencing grief. Given that it’s the anniversary of her father’s death, Tanya proves a huge pull and the entity appears to her as her father (played by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith).
Across town Ram (Fady Elsayed) is visited by his recently deceased girlfriend Rachel, and Quill (Katherine Kelly) is confronted by her sister while Charlie (Greg Austin) has a brief glimpse of his parents.
Love and Loss
The episode begins with a pre-credits flashback montage that packs such an emotional punch it rivals Pixar classic UP, using snippets from throughout Tanya’s life up until the death of her father two years before. This really is Tanya’s episode. Vivian Oparah absolutely owns this one, although the other members of the Coal Hill Gang get their moments. The range and intensity of Vivian’s performance in this episode make it all too easy to forget that it’s not just Tanya that’s younger than all the other characters, the actress is too.
Where there are brief moments of levity (primarily from Quill, but also the sweet relationships building between Matteusz (Jordan Renzo) and Charlie, and Ram and April (Sophie Hopkins) this is overall a fairly sombre, moving episode. The very concept, that you could be visited by a lost loved one, is so tantalising. Even with literal strings attached as there are in this episode, it must be agonising to resist that temptation.
I absolutely loved the twist at the end of the episode. Tanya manages to defeat the Lankin with her anger at her loss, and that anger is strongel than her grief (which is what the Lankin wants). It’s such a powerful moment, and such an important thing to put out there. It’s okay to be angry when you experience loss, especially so suddenly and at such a young age.
After running from the apparition of his dead girlfriend Ram teams up with April. I really liked their scenes, as it gives Ram more of a chance to explore his own recent loss while at the same time we get to find out more about April. I really loved how her music is tied into her background and gives her and Ram a clue to what’s going on.
Character Development
In just 3 short episodes the central characters in Class have developed more personality than some shows manage in entire seasons. Tanya has shown poise and emotional maturity in advance of her 14 years, and is more confident talking to her classmates. April is beginning to break out of her timid shell (that may have something to do with sharing hearts with Corakinus). One of my favourite Ram moments in the whole show is at the end of this episode, when he’s saying goodbye to April. Gone is the cool, self-assured guy we saw in episode 1, replaced with a bumbling dork with ZERO game.
Charlie is also changing, becoming more human. And that’s never more apparent than in this episode. When Matteusz shows up on his doorstep, having been thrown out by his homophobic parents, Charlie takes him in unquestioningly. Despite coming from literally different worlds, they have found something in each other that makes them stronger. Charlie’s confession after their love scene, that where he came from no-one ever saw him as worthy of love, is so heartbreakingly human.
Found Family
One of the other major themes of this show, and especially this episode, is that of found or chosen family. Now some might argue that the core group didn’t come together entirely of their own free will. True. But they have stuck together, forming some pretty unbreakable bonds. Tanya and Ram have evolved past him paying her for homework help to intense discussions of their grief and family. Ram and April have begun a tentative romance. I think my favourite moment though comes when Charlie tells Quill that Matteusz will be living with them now. Her “whatever” response is one that I’m sure many in a similar situation would love to hear.
Class is available to stream on Netflix or to purchase on iTunes. We will be back on twitter on Sunday at 8pm (UK time) for episode 4 – Co-owner of a Lonely Heart.
