The Dresden Files: What About Bob?

What a difference a week makes! Now I know The Dresden Files is unlikely to be the next Lost or Battlestar Galactica, but with more episodes like What About Bob? it could make the break into the big leagues.

Starting with a "previously on ..." (always a good sign for continuity), then jumping straight into the meat of the episode with Dresden's new girlfriend (whatever happened to Susan?) stealing Bob's skull, What About Bob? is a lot darker and more sinister than recent episodes (particularly last week's Charmed-lite debacle), exploring both Bob's backstory and Harry's childhood, his father's death and his subsequent upbringing by his creepy uncle, Justin Morningway (Bob's original owner).

Sprinkled with flashbacks and tie-ins to earlier episodes (including Detective Murphy's brush with black magic in The Boone Identity), the story ups the ante for Harry as Murphy reopens the five-year-old investigation into the death of Justin Morningway, suspecting that Harry may not be as innocent as he always claimed. Tensions rise as their friendship is put to under severe pressure, and even Bob's loyalty is sorely tested as a surprising Big Bad (who, sadly, doesn't appear to be sticking around) offers him the chance to regain his corporeal form.

Magic is well used, the direction and editting is great, the story holds together and everyone acts their socks off - making What About Bob? the best episode of the series to date and sealing it with a well-deserved A+ Grade.

However, it's not certain yet whether we'll get any more episodes of this calibre as The Sci-Fi Channel in the States hasn't decided yet whether to renew the show. Fans have already taken it on themselves to apply a bit of "people power" here.

Meanwhile work on The Dresden Files RPG continues apace, as is highlighted in an excellent interview with the Evil Hat team of Rob Donoghue and Fred Hicks over on the latest The Game's The Thing podcast.