In The Flesh Season 1 Overview: I Am A Partially Deceased Syndrome Sufferer

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I'm Kieren And I'm A PDS Sufferer. Welcome Kieren.

"In The Flesh" is currently in it's second season on BBC America. It takes place several months after the "Rising" (an event in which numbers of people inexplicably rose from the dead and started roaming the countryside).The show focuses mainly on Kieren, his friend Amy and Kieren's family and neighbors in Roarton, UK. In their untreated state PDS (partially deceased syndrome) suffers eat the living. But if properly medicated, they can lead normal lives.

Despite being a show about zombies, "In The Flesh" is surprisingly human. Zombies are used to highlight how we deal with those that are different than us-- be they because of political, medical, or religious reasons.

What would you do if reunited with a deceased loved one? How would others in the community react? Could they overcome fear of future attacks and let go of the anger of past events? What would/should the government do about the situation? When does the pubic good outweigh individual rights? Can individuals be quarantined and segregated because of their differences? And if some come back from the dead, what does that say about the meaning of life?

The show opens with Kieren in a PDS treatment facility. He has extensive therapy and medication so he'll be ready to reenter society. His parents come to take him home. They have to hide him though. While the government is preaching tolerance, many including the local clergy are preaching revenge. The local HVF brigade refers to the PDS suffers as "rotters" and kill as many as possible. To make his homecoming even more uncomfortable, Kieren's sister Jem is a member of the HVF. At the end of episode 1 the traumatic death of a PDS suffer (and next door neighbor) occurs. I say "death" since I dont know what else to call it. Anyway, that was an extremely powerful scene.

Kieren has flashbacks of when he woke up in his coffin and had to dig his way out. He runs off to visit his grave and runs into a woman named Amy (actually she chases him down and he spears her with something sharp). She says "Already dead dumb dumb." Amy Dyer is a hoot. Meanwhile Bill announces at the HVF ceremony that Rick is coming home. He was killed in Afghanistan. It turns out Kieren committed suicide (partially because of his feelings for Rick). Amy drags Kieren to an amusement park. Someone pegs him for a "rotter" and he runs home.

Amy invites herself to Kieren's house and crashes his family's dinner. That girl is a force of nature. There is an initially uncomfortable meeting between Kieren, Rick and Amy in the local pub. But things get better and they're off to hunt rabid zombies. Rick and Ren have a heart to heart about what happened when they last saw each other. Ren convinces everyone to not kill the father and daughter zombies. Instead they will turn them in for a hefty reward.

Episode 3 opens with Phillip and Amy awakening from a night together. Both are disgusted with the other. As Phillip is leaving, who does he run into but his mom. Haaa too funny. Kieren goes to the grocery and remembers that Jem had the opportunity but didnt kill him or Amy while in their zombified states. He also remembers killing Jem's friend Lisa. They go to Lisa's parents. He tells them he killed Lisa but the parents hold onto the faith that Lisa has come back and is roaming the woods. Both Jem and Ren agree with them (even though they know Lisa is gone for good).

The vicar mentions the second Rising. This is also a theme in Season 2. After being attacked by Gary, Amy decides they'll never be safe in Roarton. She leaves to find the Prophet. We know she'll be back.

Bill keeps encouraging Phillip to kill Ren. Lip calls to warn Ren but he doesnt get the message. Lip finally stands up to his father. He will not kill Ren. Next we see Bill painting over the PDS sign on his garage. Where is Phillip? Kieren finds him dead in front of HIS garage (with a knife to his skull). He takes the knife and runs to Bill's intent on killing him. Bill's poor wife is horrified at what Bill has done. Bill tells her Philip will be back during the Second Rising and that this Phillip was an impostor. He goes outside and is shot dead by Ken. Remember Bill shot Ken's PDS wife in episode 1. Ken calmly walks away.

In the final scene, Sue finds Ren in the cave where he and Phillip used to hang out. That was a touching scene. Kieren then goes home with her. He encourages Steve to express his feelings We find out that Steve found Kieren dead in that cave (after having slit his wrists). And excellent scene. Fair warning-- you better have the tissues ready for episode 3 because it is a major tear jerker.

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Favorite Quotes:

"I love them, the fam. I'd like to gobble them up. Not literally"- Amy to Kieren.

"We should be free to go where ever we want, however we want. Basic human rights hun."- Amy.

Grade: 4 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). For a show about zombies, "In The Flesh" is surprisingly human. All three episodes of season 1 are available on Amazon. They're definitely worth a watch. I would give episode 3, 5+ Monsters. It was perfect. For other reviews of "In The Flesh" see In The Flesh Recaps