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"All too soon, BBC Three&amp;#039;s unique take on the zombie drama, Dominic Mitchell&amp;#039;s In The Flesh, has reached its climax. At a series launch screening, director Jonny Campbell talked at length about how he and Mitchell wanted this run of episodes to feel complete and not like a teaser or &amp;quot;three-part pilot&amp;quot; - but in the event, that&amp;#039;s exactly what In The Flesh feels like. In the aftermath of episode two&amp;#039;s dramatic events, Kieran (Luke Newberry) has fled his family home and Rick (David Walmsley) is being forced to choose between his human family and his &amp;#039;rabid rotter&amp;#039; compatriots.  Kieran eventually finds himself back at the supermarket - briefly glimpsed in episode one&amp;#039;s opening sequence - where he and Amy (Emily Bevans) stalked and killed Lisa Lancaster (Riann Steele). Back then, Jem (Harriet Cains) - despite all her bluster - was unable to kill her zombified brother when she had the chance. It&amp;#039;s a decent twist, explaining just why Jem&amp;#039;s been so aggressive towards Kieran - not only did she watch her brother kill her friend, but she found herself unable to stop him and as a result resents herself as much as she resents him. As Jem cracks, Harriet Cains does her best work - she and Luke Newberry work brilliantly together, and there&amp;#039;s a real, genuine warmth to their interaction. Afterwards, Kieran determines to make amends with Lisa&amp;#039;s family, but has to make a very different confession than the one he&amp;#039;d planned. Lisa&amp;#039;s parents are happy to accept that Kieran attacked their daughter, but only because they believe she will return as a PDS sufferer and can&amp;#039;t accept the truth - that she&amp;#039;s gone for good. It&amp;#039;s the sort of bizarre, almost comical moral ambiguity that only a show like In The Flesh could explore. Rick, meanwhile, is becoming increasingly wary of Bill (Steve Evets) and ultimately casts off his human disguise entirely to defy his father - a bold choice that costs him dearly. David Walmsley is a real talent - witness the fantastic scene in which he conceals the &amp;#039;bad side&amp;#039; of his scarred face - and it&amp;#039;s a shame that we didn&amp;#039;t get more Rick this week. But more on that later.  I&amp;#039;d initially suspected - given Rick&amp;#039;s impressive knife wielding - that he&amp;#039;d be forced to kill his father, but in the event, writer Mitchell opts for a crueller climax, with deranged Bill killing his son and dumping him on Kieran&amp;#039;s doorstep, before retreating inside himself to erase all knowledge of the crime. Steve Evets and Luke Newberry are fantastic in the confrontation that follows, and Ricky Tomlinson&amp;#039;s Ken Burton later blowing Bill away as an act of retribution for his wife&amp;#039;s murder is a wonderful moment - though I could have done without the clumsy metaphor of Bill literally having blood on his hands. The devastation of the Macy family brings this initial three-episode run of In The Flesh to a grim yet fitting end, but so, so much is left unresolved or only half-explored. The unlikely romance between Amy and Philip (Stephen Thompson) is a development that comes out of nowhere and subsequently goes nowhere - a consequence of the limited three-episode run.  The fact is that Dominic Mitchell just has too many ideas to cram into such a brief trilogy. Some characters get their due - Marie Critchley gets two sensational monologues this week as Luke&amp;#039;s mother Sue Walker, but Amy - who leaves Roarton to find the Undead Prophet - only has a few short scenes, though her interaction with Kieran again feels heartfelt and genuine. The short run sees so much talented go under-utilised - veterans Ricky Tomlinson and Kenneth Cranham are sidelined, while talented Skins star Alex Arnold is relegated to a cameo - and many story threads - Kieran and Jem&amp;#039;s renewed relationship, the Undead Prophet - go unresolved. Dominic Mitchell has spoken openly about having penned a series bible that plots out the mythology of future seasons; In The Flesh was a truly unique drama and undoubtedly a risk for BBC Three, but it&amp;#039;s a risk that paid off. Now the Beeb needs to take another risk and cough up the cash for series two.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/in-the-flesh/news/a469258/in-the-flesh-episode-three-review-a-powerful-but-incomplete-finale/>