Inside Number 9: Episode 3: Tom and Gerri

Perhaps the

 most complex twist,

and screenplay in

general, of the entire

season. 

A great episode.

If I were to pick a single episode of the entire first season of Inside Number 9 to encapsulate the entire series overall, it would be this one. Excellent writing, wonderful performances, a deeply disturbing and genuinely brilliant twist ending. This episode is perhaps the most complete and complex episode of the entire season, and I would not be surprised if this was the story which inspired the entire enterprise.

In the acting department, Pemberton and Shearsmith dominate this episode perhaps more than any other. Sheersmith plays Tom, a deeply flawed yet totally relatable man who stands as perhaps the most detailed and profound character of the entire season. Pemberton matches this with a performance which is simultaneously eerie and engrossing, playing a character who I'm sure will be the subject of a far more intelligent analysis than I could provide. On the supporting front, there are only two other character's of note within the entire episode. One is Gerri, Tom's girlfriend and voice of reason (played by Gemma Arterton) and Stevie, an amusing voice of humanity within the increasingly unstable mind of Tom (played by Conleth Hill). Overall the acting within this epsidoe is perhaps the most impressive of the entire season, bolstered by the excellently witty and tightly crafted dialogue.

There is overall not much more to say about this episode. It showcases the duo's writing and acting skills more than perhaps any other episode and is probably the episode which is most deserving of deconstruction and analysis. I also consider this episode to be the sibling episode to the season's fifth episode, largely due to both episodes dependence on performance. Of the two however I can certainly say that this episode is at least the more chilling and mind-bending, and it stands as a testament to the writing talents of Pemberton and Sheersmith.

By Jack D. Phillips

A Zoom Film Review

Inside Number 9: Episode 3