Being Human

I'm surprised there aren't more people on Chud into this show. It's pretty great and it wears its influences on its sleeve. In particular the werewolf design and transformations whilst being direct homages to An American Werewolf in London are done spectacularly well and pretty much all practically. Really great design work.

The show itself is fantastic and it's definitely evolved past it's initial sitcomy style. It's less about the joke of a vampire, werewolf and ghost being housemates and more about how these characters rely on each other to deal with their maladies. The mythology set up in the later half of the first season was actually quite interesting and the show's three leads are great in their respective roles, Russell Tovey in particular is amazing as George the werewolf.

The second season has just started and it definitely seems a lot darker. In fact aside from a bit of cheeriness at the end it's sort of lost its sense of humour a little. The drama is good enough to sustain it for the time being, but I kind of hope it doesn't become TOO dark and edgy.

I read that there is going to be a US version (on SyFy) next year or some such. I watched the first season, it had its moments. As for Demons, its wants to be Supernatural (the concept of a BBC/UK version Supernatural is a great idea) but..its filler till the new Dr Who episodes show up. From some reason The uncle (always be Gene Hunt to me) sounds a lot like Ray Liotta

I thought someone started a thread about Being Human for a second there.

Who'd have thought a TV show about a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost cohabiting a flat could get so heavy. It's damn near depressing at the moment.

I'd say "dark" rather than depressing and the writers do balance the drama with a usually well written joke every once in a while. Will write up a more detailed account of my feelings on the show tomorrow; but long story short my second fav British TV show ever next to Spooks.

Can I catch this in the states anywhere?

Really liked Season 1 when it ran on BBC America last summer. Hope we don't have to wait forever for Season 2. Agreed that it's a surprisingly weighty show for such a jokey premise.

Mitchell's turn to the dark side whilst cliche was handled with so much fucking gusto I was actually impressed. He's actually kind of terrifying as a villain, can't wait for the finale on Sunday although I don't really see how we're going to get a third season (despite it being confirmed).

when does season 2 come to BBC in the states or has it already.

SPOILERS for the End of Season 2





I loved the finale of this, nice change of pace from what you would expect. With all the major action beats in the second act.

Mitchell is magnificently scary as a villain, love how brutal and primal the vampires are in this. Also Annie’s ultimate fate was perhaps one of the most depressing things in the entire series, just something about the unknown and the tedium about the afterlife is utterly unsettling.

Loved that final moment too.

What do you mean? Why wouldn't we get a third season?

From what I'd heard the show was bobbing around in the ratings at the start of the second season and as such Toby Whitehouse resolved to write an all out conclusion for the show by the end of the 2nd Season. You could see elements of that with the Vampire genocide, Annie wanting to pass on and Mitchell turning evil. As such what we got is a quick turnaround to maintain the season.

Just catching up with the 3rd Season. Lia was a decent episode, although it looks like we could end up with more of the same. Definitely not as radical a departure in tone that Season 2 was. Still lots of stuff to like and I like relationship George better than mopey single George. 

Spike, have you caught any of the American version?  I'm not familiar with the original series, but I've really been surprised by how good the American version is.  I'm curious as to how the two compare and contrast.

Are you completely caught up? The last 2 episodes have been REALLY great. This season feels a little closer to season 1 which is a good thing to me. Really excited to see where they take a certain returning  character.

Fully caught up now.

 

The last three episodes were all kind of amazing. Loved the werewolf finale in The Pack and the return of Herrick and the influence he has had on all the characters is fantastic. It was great to see each character’s moment of darkness in his return episode and I’m genuinely impressed with the show for making Mitchell so unsympathetic. I think a lot of other shows would try and hand wave his actions in Season 2, but the show is really playing him off like a sociopath. His intimidation of the police officer and conniving with Herrick feel like a natural progression from the second season.

 

Also surprisingly Nina has now become my favourite character in the show. I kind of like how she’s a part of the group but has enough of an outsiders perspective to call Mitchell up on his shit.

Im completely with you except for the George's parents storyline. I mean the whole faking death thing was kind of a good reveal but I wasn't thrilled with the other man thing. I have always dug the show because despite being about 3 supernatural creatures it always portrayed human emotions well. The idea that he "causes" her to cheat and then "wins" her back by walking in, announcing it, punching the guy and then they are back together with no issues is down right bizarre. Im not sure if im in love with the idea that you can cause someone to cheat. I mean you can cause someone to leave you but cheating falls on you. Also the idea that she did it in an attempt to get him to react to be kinda shitty. I don't feel like any self respecting person would put up with that. Also she kind of used the coach even though he was a dick. I don't know something about the whole "im cheating and it's your fault but thats alright because you've come back to claim me like a trophy" that irks me. I don't think having someone prove they love you by fucking someone else and then gauging their anger level is good thing. And im going to go out on a limb and say that it probably won't save your relationship either.

 

 

Everything else has been 110% though. The ending of The Pack was pretty great and it was something I figured the show would never do given budget and a tendency to shy away from action sequences. Also interesting that they killed off their villains so quickly. The rich S&M vampires are gone and the vampire hunter werewolves are backing off. I figured that all would come to a head much later in the season. I must admit im dying to find out how this whole Herrick things shakes out. The opening ep where Mitchell has to go to the other side and learn about the werewolf shaped bullet was fucking great writing. Mitchell playing victim was getting old and I wonder how will he be redeemed for the train massacre? Or will they actually have the balls to off him? I only say that because I know every year they just barely skate by and get renewed, Could it be that they actually finish things off this season? Thoughts Spike? Your the only one watching this thing. Please don't let this turn into the Nikita thread where it's just me and Duke and then Duke talking to himself.

 

The show is doing fairly well in the ratings and the move to BBC Wales seems to suggest a lot of confidence in the show. I’m actually kind of irritated at the BBC Wales thing but you can tell that Season 3 has had a bit of extra funding and creative freedom so I can’t grumble too much.

 

I do know that Aidan Turner, who plays Mitchell, has landed a fairly substantial role in the Hobbit so I’m assuming that Mitchell is out for the count by the end of the run.

 

Whilst it feels like they’re burning through their subplots it’s interesting to note that they’ve hinted at far bigger, and more dangerous, villains than the rather localised threats we’ve dealt with. This season has established a larger organisation of Vampires based in South America, has set up the afterlife as being vaguely antagonistic, has started to make more explicit mention of older Vampires (not counting Ivan and Herrick most Vamps in the series are under 100), and there’s also the nature of Herrick himself. They could end the series here and now and it would make sense, but there’s plenty of scope for expansion in Season 4.

 

One of the only missed opportunities this season is that the actress who played Daisy became a fulltime cast member on Outcasts which meant that the character seems to have been sidelined when she could have been a fairly major antagonistic force. The one thing this series has shown is that Adrian Lester, who plays Herrick, is a pretty fantastic actor. I actually pitied Herrick at the start of episode 5 and was kind of amazed at how he seamlessly transitioned into quite a major antagonist whilst still keeping that sense of weakness. It was kind of great seeing the Flashback to calm and collected Herrick at the start of episode six and contrasting it against the more broken and spooky Herrick.

 

To be honest my predictions for the end of the series are

 

• Mitchell either dead or a villain
• Nina either dead or ousted from the group
• Herrick revealed to be something more than a vampire
• George to become angrier and more wolf like
• The death of the older vampire hunter
• The younger vampire hunter becoming part of the group
• A reveal of the South American Vampire Organisation

 

I could be wrong on all of these, but the series feels transitional to me.

 

 

Yes I am very interested in this bigger vampire organization. Mitchell said something to the effect of "is it true the old ones sleep in coffins and all that shit". Hinting at the idea that the old ones might actaully be those vampires Bram Stoker wrote about. If so why are they different? Is that what Herrick is becoming maybe? Maybe once you die and get brought back you become another breed of vampire. Notice the dead things(plant fruit) around Herrick, he seems to be affacting things differently.

Yeah, Herrick in the flashback made it seem like resurrection wasn’t just a one time thing. That the old ones picked pupils who could continually renew them if and when they died. Given that we’ve not seen any of the old ones (aside from Ivan who seems to have survived through being intelligent rather than cheating death) and that Herrick is obviously different it’s reasonable to assume that the old ones are also different.

 

Or it could be that his resurrection was messed up (his protégé was Mitchell after all) and that is why he’s acting so weird.

 

The one thing I kind of enjoy about the show is how hazy the overall mythology. There’s a lot of world building going on, but the show views it as periphery and as such the larger vampire and werewolf societies are more flavour than a part of the show. I don’t know if the show could maintain it’s focus on its central characters if it suddenly expanded its scope. I mean the show is at its best when it’s little more than a stage play (Episode 5 is probably the best episode of the show and it’s remarkably stagey in its construction) focused on characters.

 

But yeah, this is definitely one of the most underrated shows on British TV. I think it sort of lacked the immediate hook of Luthor or Sherlock, and it’s easy to write the show off due to its concept but I’ll be damned if Toby Whitehouse hasn’t created one of the most gripping character dramas on British TV.

Well I don't think there is enough money to expand the scope too much so I don't think we have to worry about that. Still to see one old one would be fantastic. Truth is though I would like to see if there is some kind of werewolf society.

Shit just got real. It's a shame as I rather liked Nancy. Good to see the Old Herrick back as well, that shot as Nina walks into the house of death was kind of amazing. 

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Well im officially jazzed for the finale. However I gotta call bullshit on Herrick killing that werewolf. I mean as normal full strength Herrick he couldn't beat the George werewolf but memory loss weak Herrick could beat mcnair-wolf? Also don't know if I like them connecting Mcnair to Herrick's creation that way but whatever really minor shit really.

Wow so I must admit I really was impressed. I don't think I can think of any other show where they had the balls to kill off their main character. Not a main character but THE main character. Seriously they took him darka nd then killed him off, you got some fucking balls Being Human. I must admit that I am slightly disappointed with Herrick. They bring him back to full strength only to off him rather quickly. His death scene was good though. So where will they go next season? They set up quite the war however with their vamp it seems like they are going to have some problems when the fullmoon isn't up.

Really good stuff.  I hope the godawful Syfy version leads some folks back to this original series.  Many people need to see it. If Buffy/Angel fans went that batshit over those series, I imagine there'd be some Scanners-level action happening over this one.  Fingers crossed.

Well from what I read people are already flipping out over Mitchell's death. The typical "I will never watch again" bullshit. Quite honestly if they hadn't killed him I would have been pissed.

Yeah, after the Box Car 20 Massacre there was no going back to Series 1 hijinks for the gang. It had to be done.

 

But don't be surprised if we find Mitchell in some dark & slimey vampire purgatory to be rescued from at some point.

Yeah I would be pissed though. This is such a huge leap forward for them it would be a shame to fuck that up. It does seem as if they are trying desperately to stick with it though. They made a huge fucking point to drive home the whole stake through the heart = forever dead thing. Also something I just thought of......when vampires die there are no souls right? Never see them walk through the door. Do they just cease to be?

 

That'd be my guess. I'm curious to see George become the alpha male as he declares war against the old ones. He's never been a particularly interesting or dynamic character but I hope that, with the new circumstances & responsibilities, he changes in a BIG way.

It would be nice and maybe we could finally get a good shot at a werewolf in action on this show.
 

 

Mitchell is gone for good. Aidan Turner is going to be filming for The Hobbit and originally Toby Whithouse wanted to leave a door open for Mitchell to return once filming was complete, Turner said that it wouldn’t be satisfying and pretty much begged for his character to be permanently killed off. I liked the finale it was very Being Human in that it completely defied my expectations of what was going to happen.

 

The only niggle I had was the rather undramatic way they dealt with Herrick, I understand that essentially his entire purpose was to further corrupt Mitchell but it felt like it was a lot of work for a rather underwhelming result. I also found Wyndham to be a little jarring, I’ve never been a fan of villains who are all talk. I’m also not sure how the series is going to function without Mitchell, you kind of needed him to counterbalance George and Annie. George on his own is perhaps a little too petulant. I also found Lenora Critchlow to be a little weak as Annie in the episode. I think the show often doesn’t know what to do with her and she came across as kind of simpering and feckless in both parts of the finale.

 

Agreed. Bringing Herick back didn't feel 100% right and I was hoping he would be some kind of new super vamp or something but nope. The new vampire villain is fine but mI was hoping we wouldn't meet an official old one yet and if we did he would be "different". I guess this one is because he didn't have to be invited in but I hope thats not where it ends. I need there to be something special about the old ones beyond them being....old. I mean Herrick was supposed to be all super powerful but he was almost done in by a teenage werewolf not in werewolf form. Although a starved memory loss Herrick managed to kill a werewolf so.................

 

So yeah I think if they are able to properly evolve George he will be fine. As far as Annie goes it seems they are preppiing her for something bigger. New baddie said "your more powerful than you think". I don''t know if I want them randomly adding a new character to replace Mitchell. Im sure that other werewolf wil be joining them though.

Alright so anyone watch the first episode of season 4? Im both excited and skeptical of the whole thing. Now 3 of out 4 leads are off the show. At least they killed George off on screen with a sweet heroic send off. Nina didn't even get that although they way they worked it didn't get in the way. So now we have Annie, Junior Mcnair wolf, a baby who is human.....I guess and I guess that new vampire and his ghost pal. I dig that the war is coming and I will give it to them for throwing in an action sequence finally. And yeah the half werewolf was kind of fun. Right now everything is still working for me but the questions is, will the show continue to work so well like this? The show's strength was always the friendship with the 3 and then 4 of them but now only one stands.

 

Also what the fuck is up with the future storyline? Can ghosts time travel?

I'm not sure I want to continue to watch the UK version..every actor I liked is gone, good guys & bad guys.  Maybe this future timeline thing will freshen it up. I'll give it a couple more episodes.

So we got a fourth(technically fifth) creature, succubus. Funny because I was just getting into Lost Girl. Anyway I like the direction things are going but there is clearly going to be alot of loose threads at the end considering we only have what? 3 episodes left.

Ok wow that was pretty good. Seems that have now replaced the entire cast and yet I am still really excited to see more. Im all kinds of interested in this clean up crew. However.......what exactly was the baby for? It was this mythic baby that wasn't supposed to exist only to die in a fire at less than a year old. Couldn't they have just sent Annie in there earlier with the bomb and blew it without the baby? The baby's destiny was to die young for no apparent reason? The prophecy was really about blowing all of the vampires up and Eve was technically there so......

 

Anyway really strong exit for Annie. Only thing missing was a shot of George, Nina and Mitchell waiting for her, which of course is impossible.