The Flood

"It's the quiet that scares me."

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: December 2011

Series: Graceless 2.02

Featuring: Abby, Zara

Synopsis

"There goes the neighbourhood."

The rain hasn't stopped in three days and the floodwaters are rising. A small group of townspeople are determined to stop their town from being dragged into the sea.

Abby and Zara are keen to help – anything to keep themselves busy after what they've both just been through. Maybe, finally, they've found somewhere they might settle down...

But there's something causing the flood. And it can't let anything stand in its way.

Verdict

The Flood was a decent continuation of the second series of Graceless and it definitely advanced the story along nicely whilst setting up the finale with a sensational cliffhanger! It started right where The Line left off with the boating disaster and I enjoyed Abby and Zara ordering passengers off the boat. Abby's suggestion of trying to find the Doctor to potentially find Marek and Joy was intriguing and it's nice to know that he's still being thought of. The introduction of Brondle was great and he was a lovely chap and a very good character. The sister helping him with sandbagging was fun, especially when they used their powers to carry out the task far faster and more efficiently than their appearance would lead you believe. Abby's comment about thinking congress meant sex made me laugh out loud and I've been surprised by her cheekiness and wanting to explore and engage in sexual activity. Zara was clearly impacted by recent events and losing her lover and child and she wanted to keep busy which was more than understandable. Nina was another good character whilst she was around and her efforts to gain a signature to back up the disaster as a miracle for insurance purposes was pretty good whilst being shocking as it showed what really mattered, even on this world in the far future. The sea monsters, which I loved them being referred to like that, made for an interesting terror and them eating Nina came very suddenly. The planet not having a precedent of floods and it actually being chosen as a location because of its weather was intriguing as current events contradicted that in a big way. It was pondered later that something was controlling the weather which tied in nicely, although I do think that could have been more of a focus. Abby describing the voices of the sea monsters as dreamy and pulling them in was good and I liked that both she and Zara didn't want to lose the town in which they had arrived as it was going to be their home. Brondle was devastated with the town's destruction as the museum archives were ruined which was something I really sympathised with. Zara was distraught at this development and argued that everywhere they went, something precious was lost. It was hard to argue against that on the evidence of the first five Graceless adventures. Zara's apparent death was a big shock and it really did seem like she was gone as Abby no longer had a connection with her. Her referencing the end of Series 1 and how the Grace granted the sisters power to choose when they die was good and given what she had been through, now seemed an apt time for Zara. Abby deciding to stay in the town was decent, but from here all I really cared about was getting Zara back. The sea monsters wanted Abby, but Brondle sacrificed himself which was quite surprising but an admirable action. Abby offering herself to the monsters if it meant saving Brondle was nice, but he was already dragged down. It turned out that the creatures were elemental in nature and teleporting people away rather than killing them. The sequences where the voices of Zara and Brondle spoke as echoes and the last of what remained was excellent. They were inside a sun and it was too bright to see which was an intriguing concept. It turned out that the sea monsters were actually pan-dimensional beings too big for space and time, but they had been interacting within it and were receptive to psychic powers. They wanted to help the boat when disaster came, but they had to destroy the town to free up the beaches for their offspring. It got a little confusing and nonsensical here which was a slight shame. They absorbed everyone within it and everything those on the boat ever were lay within them now. The idea of rebuilding Abby from memories alone was interesting and something I liked, but then seemingly out of nowhere everyone was rebuilt and it had just taken a bit of time. A few weeks later and everyone was alive again. That was a nice touch, but a bit more clarity was perhaps needed there. The cliffhanger ending was sublime though as the sisters were at a location neither had brought them to. Their powers didn't work, they were at the end of the universe and Joy was waiting for them. I am now very excited or the finale!

Rating: 7/10