Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart

When your crush’s heart is literally linked to a homicidal alien king, dating gets complicated.

Extended Storyline

It’s a new day at Coal Hill Academy — which means it’s time for another round of “Why is this happening to me?” featuring our traumatized teens. April wakes up sweating, shaking, and very much not herself. Since that whole “shared heart with an alien warlord” incident, she’s been having nightmares, violent impulses, and the occasional urge to conquer lesser species. Standard high school behavior, really.

While she tries to act normal (which, in Class, is code for “pretend you’re not about to explode”), April’s emotions begin manifesting physically — her eyes flash red, her voice deepens, and she accidentally shatters her bedroom mirror just by being angry. Her mother, still paralyzed from a car accident years ago, looks at her daughter and immediately knows something’s off. And she’s right: Corakinus, leader of the Shadow Kin, can feel everything April feels — and vice versa. Somewhere in the Shadow Realm, he’s clutching his chest and yelling about “human weakness” like a goth Shakespeare villain.

At school, Ram tries to comfort April, though “comfort” mostly involves him awkwardly standing nearby and offering snacks. Their friendship (and possibly more) deepens, mostly because no one else can relate to “oops, my heart’s in another dimension.” April, meanwhile, finds herself experiencing Corakinus’s power — his rage, his instincts — and in an unsettling twist, she can summon his swords. (That’s not a euphemism. Actual flaming Shadow Kin blades. Which she now owns. Sort of.)

Meanwhile, in the world’s least effective alien witness protection program, Charlie is struggling with the moral weight of the Cabinet of Souls — that lovely weapon containing the essences of his dead people. The Doctor left him with the cabinet for “safekeeping,” which is Time Lord for “I didn’t want to deal with it.” Miss Quill, forced to obey Charlie due to her neural implant, is rapidly running out of patience. She wants freedom. He wants revenge. Tanya wants to pass her GCSEs. It’s a lot.

As April’s mental link with Corakinus strengthens, their emotional states begin to merge. When she feels angry, he feels it too — and when he attacks in his realm, April mirrors his movements on Earth. During one particularly heated argument with her estranged father (who conveniently reappears just as her life’s gone full Shakespearean tragedy), April loses control, nearly summoning the Shadow Kin right in her living room. Her mother tries to calm her down, and April, horrified, realizes just how close she is to becoming the very monster she’s connected to.

Meanwhile, the cracks between worlds are widening again — because of course they are — and we get our first glimpse of the Petal Creatures. Tiny, floating, deceptively cute alien organisms that multiply whenever they come into contact with blood. What could possibly go wrong? Tanya discovers one in her home, and for once, Miss Quill actually looks concerned. Which, coming from her, is roughly equivalent to a panic attack.

The climax sees April finally embracing her shared connection to Corakinus — but on her terms. Rather than letting him control her, she decides to fight back through the link. In an incredible moment of defiance, she forces a mental confrontation across dimensions, appearing in the Shadow Realm itself, sword in hand, fueled by pure human rage and unresolved trauma.

“Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart” ends mid-conflict, with April standing her ground against Corakinus in his own realm, ready to fight him — literally heart-to-heart — as Ram shouts helplessly from Earth. To be continued… because apparently even BBC Three realized this was too much teen melodrama for one episode.