And there you have it, following last episode's review: the magic that can occur when you favor quality over quantity. While episode 4 was close to make us lose our interest alltogether, episode 5 grabs it back, in style too. "Peace in Our Time" is like most of Bodkin's episodes or, really, any other mystery drama show: it answers some questions, raises some new ones, and provides us with some character development. But where most of the episodes did this in its same and rather bland style, the fifth installment not only provides us with a refreshingly new style, it also improves on each of the aspects we mentioned.
The episode's style is a well-known one: it focuses on one storyline, but zooms in on different characters' point of views running parallel to each other. The effect is not necessarily more of the central mystery being revealed (quantity), but the part that is revealed is done with a keen eye for more detail (quality). Both Dove and Emmy enjoy a new depth to their characters, albeit not groundbreaking by any means. Gilbert unfortunately does not see this yet, although the episode does set a stage for a possible development in character for him as well. Yet again, Seamus undergoes a vast array of different emotions, which Wilmot is portraying nicely.
While the show's struggles remain visible throughout the course of episode 5 also, the manner in which it's visible becomes blurred for the first time since we started watching. It's also the episode in which there's room for actual dark humor, even though it's still on the safe side. The environment set in this episode seems to better Bodkin in nearly every aspect, and it makes me wonder what would happen if we got more of the story narrated by Gilbert.
One can only hope Jez Schafer's creation can keep up this pace, mixing in plot twists with its promised dark humor and giving us a side of character development at last. The plot thickens while "Peace in Our Time" scores a very solid 8 out of 10.