Class 1.5 - Reviewed

Brave-ish Heart was screened yesterday on BBC 3. It is the second half of the story begun last weekend with the episode Co-Owner of a Broken Heart.
That ended with April and Ram traveling through a space / time rent to the planet of the Shadow Kin, whilst the rest of the gang were about to be overwhelmed by bloodthirsty flower petals.
April has gone to Mordor to challenge Corakinus, the Shadow Kin King. As the two share a heart, we know that this won't have a straightforward outcome.
Back at Coal Hill, the new Head, Dorothea, reveals her plan to force Charlie to use the Cabinet of Souls as a weapon, to rid the Earth of the petals. As a threat they weren't all that well developed last week, but this time we get to see them in grisly action.
Miss Quill wants Charlie to use the weapon not on the petals but on the Shadow Kin.

The two plot strands do not quite gel, making you think that this two-parter could just as easily have been individual episodes. The conclusion does tie the two strands together, but not in a very satisfying way. The Shadow Kin just happen to be able to destroy the petals, and April just happens to have become their new King after beating Corakinus in a rather feeble sword fight.
Of course, he can't be killed without her dying too, so he gets locked up - presumably to allow him to return yet again.
The respective dads of April and Ram also manage to transport themselves to the Shadow realm, and bizarrely seem to take this in their stride.
The character Charlie gets a bit more to do this week, but as a buttoned-up prince the actor Greg Austin doesn't. Even when his lover is being threatened with a gun, there's scarcely a hint of emotion.
The episode ends with Dorothea once more promising that she and her fellow Governors can remove the parasite which enslaves Quill to Charlie - presumably central to the season finale.
Next week's episode - Detention - looks like it might be more of an ensemble piece for the younger cast members.