Mother's Ruin - Inside No.9 S8 E2 (2023) follows two sons who aim to discover what secrets their mother has taken to the grave. This is a fun episode! It keeps the tension high and is paced very well with some great performances and impressive cinematography.
The cinematography for this episode is very impressive! There's some great mood lighting throughout and strong colour palettes that help to set an ominous and unnerving tone. Also related to the visuals, this episode goes hard with the gore and is probably the most brutal episode of the show to date!
The sound design is also quite impressive; it doesn't try to be over the top but really adds to the experience and immersion. The score is equally as eerie and helps to build up tension throughout the duration.
As usual, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith give strong performances that are full of life. Shearsmith is incredibly intimidating, he's always brilliant at playing mysterious and dominant personalities. Additionally, the dialogue is well written and includes a lot of fun little jokes to lighten the mood.
Lastly, this episode has a very eerie and unsettling tone to it, with steady pacing and a gradual build up of tension and mystery. As expected, there are many twists and turns and tonal shifts which are pulled off very well! Finally, the story is pieced together well at the end and concludes perfectly.