Phew! I can\u2019t have been the only one biting my nails in the closing moments of this week\u2019s surprisingly emotional episode of Inside No. 9<\/a>, which takes place at a serial killer-themed escape room. Or so we think.<\/p>\n CTRL ALT ESC is one of those episodes that really pulls the rug out from under us, revealing in the final act that this is no family day out, but rather a matter of literal life and death \u2013 but not in the way you might expect.<\/p>\n At the start of the episode, Jason (Steve Pemberton), Lynne (Katherine Kelly<\/a>) and their daughters Millie (Kalli Tant) and Amy (Maddie Evans) receive a warning from technician Doug (Reece Shearsmith) that \u2018Doctor Death\u2019 could return to this supposed lair at some point during their experience.<\/p>\n That, combined with a passing commitment to the \u201cauthenticity\u201d of the escape room, intentionally alludes to the most obvious scenario \u2013 that this is indeed the home of a stock slasher villain, ready to slice this nice family in twain.<\/p> Fortunately, this is just one dark option avoided by writers Shearsmith and Pemberton, who opt to tug on the heartstrings rather than maximise the brutality as they did with Mulberry Close\u2019s disappointing twist<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yes, this is not an escape room at all, but the fading mind of a comatose Jason, who is mere minutes away from having his life support machine switched off as a tearful Lynne, Millie and Amy bear witness.<\/p>\n Doctor Death is, in fact, his actual doctor (played by Peep Show\u2019s Angus Wright in an enjoyable surprise appearance), who doesn\u2019t appear to have bullied Jason\u2019s family into this decision, but nevertheless is portrayed in the most grotesque manner imaginable.<\/p>\n Perhaps a tad unfair, but it creates atmosphere and spooky vibes, which is important.<\/p>\n Shearsmith and Pemberton\u2019s script, brought to life by director George Kane, boasts a breathless crescendo, with Doctor Death stepping in for the kill while Jason scrambles to find the single-digit patch code that will break him out of his personal hell.<\/p>\n Aided by a clue from Doug and his previously stated tip that mirrors are often used by escape room designers, he eventually spots the reflection of the \u2018EXIT\u2019 sign, on which only \u2018IX\u2019 are lit up \u2013 or, in roman numerals, \u20189\u2019.<\/p>\n Hey, that\u2019s from the name of the show!<\/p>\n This being Inside No. 9, there was no telling which way Jason\u2019s fate would go, but I for one am pleased that we got the lighter of the two options. Far from being any kind of cop-out, it felt richly deserved.<\/p>\n After all, CTRL ALT ESC ranks as one of the more earnest episodes of the show, spending time establishing Jason\u2019s loving marriage to Lynne as well as the usual father-daughter friction between himself and his eldest, Millie.<\/p>\n Their reconciliation proves to be a particularly affecting moment as he admits that, on a selfish level, he doesn\u2019t want her to go to university, but on a rational level he knows that it\u2019s the best thing for her.<\/p>\n It must be said that \u2013 his competitive streak aside (charades can get heated) \u2013 Jason seems like a genuinely wholesome guy, with a desire to be the best support he can for his family.<\/p>\n There would have been no pleasure at all in seeing him meet his maker; but the fate of Mulberry Close\u2019s Val (Vinette Robinson) also seemed rather cruel, so naturally I feared the worst this time around too.<\/p>\n Instead, there\u2019s genuine elation in seeing Shearsmith and Pemberton offer a rare kindness to their typically ill-fated characters, which is only heightened by the fact that we\u2019ve had three particularly venomous twists in a row (see Boo to a Goose<\/a>, The Trolley Problem<\/a> and the aforementioned Mulberry Close).<\/p>\n Suffice to say, season 9 was due a happy ending \u2013 and this one is as good as it gets. I\u2019d like to imagine a happy future for Jason and his family, in which they never have the misfortune of stepping Inside No. 9 again.<\/p>\n Inside No. 9 airs Wednesdays at 10pm on BBC Two. Catch up on BBC iPlayer. <\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our Comedy<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what\u2019s on. <\/strong>For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/b><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n We can all breathe a sigh of relief. *SPOILERS FOR CTRL ALT ESC AND MULBERRY CLOSE* <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":52314,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/inside-no-9s-ctrl-alt-esc-was-right-to-avoid-the-darkest-ending-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/inside-no-9s-ctrl-alt-esc-was-right-to-avoid-the-darkest-ending-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/inside-no-9s-ctrl-alt-esc-was-right-to-avoid-the-darkest-ending-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/inside-no-9s-ctrl-alt-esc-was-right-to-avoid-the-darkest-ending-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/inside-no-9s-ctrl-alt-esc-was-right-to-avoid-the-darkest-ending-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/inside-no-9s-ctrl-alt-esc-was-right-to-avoid-the-darkest-ending-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/05\/inside-no-9s-ctrl-alt-esc-was-right-to-avoid-the-darkest-ending-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"We can all breathe a sigh of relief. *SPOILERS FOR CTRL ALT ESC AND MULBERRY CLOSE*","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/52313"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/05\/475585-bae0063.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"475585,Inside")
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