The Almighty Johnsons 3.02 "This Thing Inside" REVIEW

The Almighty Johnsons 3.02 "This Thing Inside" TV REVIEW

Episode 3.02
Writer: James griffin
Director: Murray Keane

THE ONE WHERE Gaia and Anders can’t fight the powers which are drawing them together. Axl and the rest of the brothers find out what Gaia and Anders have been up to. Mike and Michele start their renovations and damage control is the name of the game.

VERDICT After last week’s episode ended with Anders and Gaia at it like bunnies we knew there would be fireworks this week. And we weren’t disappointed.

We enjoyed the fact that even though Anders and Gaia can’t resist each other it’s obvious that neither actually likes the other very much: the god power was played like an addiction that both were unable to break free of. This is a continuation of the God power/destiny thing battling personal choice that we mentioned in the review of last week’s episode. And this storyline makes the point very well; two people who almost hate each other still can’t resist the urges their god personas force upon them. We could see that with this sort of power acting against them, Axl and Gaia’s blossoming relationship was doomed.

Admittedly, we really didn’t expect the Axl/Gaia/Anders plot to be resolved quite so quickly, and we certainly didn’t expect to be saying goodbye to Gaia by the end of the episode. The solution is heartbreaking for both Gaia and Axl, but it seems to be the only option. We did wonder if Gaia was going to suggest she renounce her god power in the same way Ty did last year, but perhaps one ex-god was enough for the show.

We can understand why the move to get rid of Gaia was made; this clears the deck for the real Frigg to make an appearance – God knows it’s about time we actually found her – but it did feel a little like a relationship two seasons in the making was given a bit of a quick exit. We are sad to see Keisha Castle-Hughes go, but what’s the betting Gaia returns at exactly the most inopportune moment later in the season?

Dean O’Gorman’s Anders is on top form this week. He knows he’s in the wrong and he really is trying to do his best but only ever manages to make things worse. The comedy fainting in the latter half of the episode was brilliant.

Elsewhere Michele and Mike have begun to renovate the pub and Michele throws herself into demolishing the place with great gusto. We loved that the pub renovation storyline played directly into the Gaia/Axl/Anders plot. It played out like “Chekhov’s giant pile of dangerous rubble” and that the injury caused by said pile of rubble led to Michele revealing just what she’s capable of when she wields Yggdrasil was another great twist. We had wondered exactly where the Yggdrasil story was going and having its power revealed to everyone has us curious as to where this could go next.

As ever with this show all the main cast have great things to do. It’s nice to see Stacy show a gentler side as she tries to comfort Gaia in her relationship problems. Ty continues to blunder his way into Dawn’s heart and the Mike/Michele pairing continues to be a delight to watch.

This is another great episode from the gods of New Zealand, season three has gotten off to a powerful start, we only wish more people watched the show as it’s far more consistently excellent than a lot of much higher profile shows.

WORST SHAVING CUT That’s the worst shaving cut we’ve seen this side of the Red Wedding. One angry push leads to Anders almost dying. Remember kiddies; building sites are dangerous places.

BEST GOD Michele wins best god this week. She uses Yggdrasil to save a mortally wounded Anders. She also makes the comment that she’s now saved three of the four Johnson brother’s lives. Go Michele. Mike also uses his tracking skills to find both Anders and Axl. He’s like a bloodhound in denim.

LAUGH OUT LOUD X3 After his near death experience Anders has lost a lot of blood. He keeps passing out at mid sentence. Seeing it happen once was funny but the show then has the same thing happen a further two times. One of the characters even comments that it should be getting old. But it doesn’t. It just keeps getting funnier and funnier.

BEST LINE
Anders: "Dawn, can you go get me a coffee?"
Dawn: "You know, every time you want to have a conversation with one of your ‘lady friends’, you don’t have to send me off for coffee. You can just tell me to go."
Anders: "Go."

Steven Ellis @Steven Ellis

• Episodes of The Almighty Johnsons season three are airing in the UK on Syfy, Wednesdays, 10pm
• Read our previous reviews of The Almighty Johnsons