Island of Death

"They fear progress."

Writers: Simon Barnard & Paul Morris

Format: Audio

Released: April 2015

Series: Jago & Litefoot 9.03

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis 

Arriving at a beautiful island, Jago and Litefoot discover evidence of a missing expedition. Can they discover what happened to the ship's crew – before it happens to them? And will they be able to avoid the amorous advances of the formidable Lady Danvers?

Verdict

Island of Death was another great episode to continue my way through the ninth series of Jago & Litefoot! I am really enjoying the story arc for this series as the Fata Morgana ship takes our main characters to some random and unique places. A remote island here is exciting and with the episode being titled as it is, it's obviously going to be pretty ominous! It was good to revisit some of the ship's crew and passengers with Aubrey and Lady Danvers in particular getting some time to shine. The captain was good and I liked that there were some real life issues of the storm impacting the stability of the ship and it needing repairs, although the timeframe for them to be stuck on the island did feel a little long. I did love though how Litefoot was keen to explore given the opportunity as that's exactly what I would be like too. I wouldn't be wasting time standing around! I love to see the world so this is a scenario I would have grabbed with both hands. Jago was somewhat less keen and was getting a little more involved with Lady Danvers than he might have bargained for. He knew he wasn't exactly up to her standards from a class perspective, but she was prepared to throw that all out of the window. She was going to shake societal norms to their core and bind them together. That was good fun as Jago wasn't exactly on board, although he wasn't exactly off either. I think there could still be more to come from those two in the future. Danvers being taken over by the Kibu was intriguing and her gibberish kind of speech was amusing. That must have been difficult to script and record! The historic potential for the Kibu was good and I really liked how well informed Litefoot was about the longevity that was possible for this kind of creature. Seeing the larvae and pondering on what kind of monster the fully grown article could be was also good and a great threat to incorporate into the episode. I thought it worked well that Danvers was the presence and focal point of the Kibu threat throughout. It was also lovely for Jago and company to appeal to the true article still stuck within. A battle of the minds is always fun. I must admit, I was not a huge fan of Nerville right from the off and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about the twist regarding him being the sole member of the Brotherhood of Kibu. That felt a bit random, especially considering how pompous and arrogant he was. He was also oblivious to almost everything around him and I couldn't really take him seriously as a threat. But it was fun for him to stand up to the challenge presented and I did actually like the scale of Kibu's life. Knowledge and mythology almost passed down for generations. The fact the Brotherhood was invite only and he was the only member was perfect for the kind of personality we had gotten to know. I do think the resolution was a little ambiguous though. I do enjoy the idea of Jago delving deep into his own acting and dramatical abilities rather than just managing a theatre and actors, but it feels like the Kibu is just dormant. All that happened was that it was sent to sleep and whilst I do appreciate the absence of Danvers will make the connection weaker, surely it could just find another potential host? I liked it a lot and it was lovely for Litefoot to be so impressed with his chum Jago, but it did feel a tad unfinished. Overall though, a really strong episode again and I'm liking the vulnerability of being at sea or an island like this. Judging from the cliffhanger though of a corpse having a ticket for the very cruise they were on, it appears things will get a bit closer to home for the finale and I'm all here for it. A great listen once again!

Rating: 8/10