Trapped: The Lower Road

"I don't want to be brave."

Writer: Tim Foley

Format: Audio

Released: September 2023

Series: Rose Tyler: The Dimension Canon 3.02

Featuring: Rose

Synopsis

Trekking the wastelands, Rose and Danni discover a community that seems to have made peace with the Anti-Life. But all groups have their secrets, and bargains come at a price.

Verdict

The Lower Road was another great episode to continue my way through the Trapped third series of The Dimension Canon! This followed on nicely for Rose and Danni where Sink or Swim left off and the society they encountered here was a fascinating one. I was impressed again with the dark and eery feel and the atmosphere once again was presented as being very tense. Obviously in a world where the universe is dying everyone is on their last legs, and tackling that with the presence of anti-life also makes for a daunting combination! I liked the continuity there in having the parasite featured and whilst it wasn’t the main focus, the very idea of a complete tower block of the stuff was a little daunting. Rose and Danni were shocked. Their relationship developed considerably in this episode and I quite liked how the latter caught onto the former’s stories always involving her mother. Rose was constantly after information about this universe’s version of Jackie but Danni was quiet on details and understandably so given what happened to her in the previous story. Rose was clearly feeling a familial connection to Danni and whilst she pointed out that she wasn’t trying to be a mother or even a sister, it was obvious she was trying to protect her and felt like she had some kind of relationship. That was really nice and once again highlighted the maturity of Rose in this series. She really is going it alone here separated from her family and even her own universe that actually isn’t hers. Her dimension canon still wasn’t working and she was hoping to find some technology that could help to fix it, but she wouldn’t find it here. I liked the direction towards the end of the episode though with Lara pointing her in the right direction to the south where a settlement did have some sort of tech that might help repair her cannon. I think that’s really good to setup the finale but before we get there, Rose felt responsible for things here which was good. Danni didn’t understand why they couldn’t just leave when they had the opportunity to, but Rose wasn’t having any of it. She knew there was something that needed putting right. Finding out about Lex was an emotional story at first when she had just ran away. That would be more than enough for any parent when she’d been gone for five days! But with Lara quite cleverly catching on to Rose mentioning about Danni being a prisoner and that meaning she had empathic abilities, she knew that could be used to track her daughter. Instead of trusting, Lara followed them and found her daughter. The reason why Lex had ran away soon became understandable as a lottery had decided she was the next sacrifice to the Hackers. The concept of the lower and higher road was good and I liked how when the lights shone bright a sacrifice was needed. This time around it was to be Lex and Rose’s outrage at Lara for letting that happened as head of the colony was a good moment. She was supposed to be her mother! The familial connection with Minton was a good twist towards the end as it turned out she was actually the grandmother of Lex who didn’t escape by herself. She had help. Rose was calm and effective in talking her way into helping Danni escape and Minton was quite helpless. The way Lex died on the Hacker trap was unexpected and a really powerful moment. Lara was devastated and the fact she needed to look for that confirmation was horrific. I know I’d be the same if it was my Albie but the thought barely wants thinking about. It’s terrifying. That sent things into a spiral as time was getting on and Lara knew a sacrifice was needed, and only the child of Danni would do now. Rose was too useful even though she made it abundantly clear she wouldn’t be sticking around when she was released after the sacrifice was made. The Hackers being real was a good way to end things as it showed not everything Lara said was false, but her fate was sealed and the moment at the end with Minton writing two more names on the memorial wall was a somber affair. The fact names had to be wiped off the wall earlier on set the tone for what was quite a dreary episode, but one that was full of emotion. A strong listen.

Rating: 8/10