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Being Human: Flotsam and Jetsam

Annie: "Everyone dies. Actually, can I start that again? Everyone deserves a death. I was going to die of old age. That was the plan."

You would think by now that people would be getting sick of shows featuring vampires and werewolves; and in honesty, Twilight initially ruined my love of the supernatural. However, with the slew of US supernatural shows such as True Blood, Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries, it only seems to be fair for the UK to try and one-up all of these teen fan-based shows with one of their own.

Enter Being Human.

When I first heard of Being Human (BH), I had a horrible thought that it was going to be like a sit-com; the premise says it all: A vampire, werewolf and a ghost all live together in Bristol, England, while trying to live normal, social lives surrounded by 'normal' people.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Immediately, I fell in love with the series. The characters of Mitchell (vampire), George (werewolf) and Annie (ghost), instantly won me over. Especially Mitchell. I love Mitchell.

This episode of BH is more of an introduction to the characters, as well as bringing in the Big Bad, Herrick (and/or Lauren, depending on how you see it) and the impending Vampire Revolution. The Vampire Revolution sounds a lot like a British version of when the vampires 'came out' of the closet in True Blood. Except it's scary. And British-y.

The supernatural lore in BH isn't all that different to the lore on other supernatural shows, but thankfully it is a lot better than the lore seen in Twilight.

Vampire lore:
  • Vampires can walk in the sun, but it hurts their eyes.
  • Their eyes go black when they're all vampire-y.
  • Vampires don't have to live on blood; Mitchell and Herrick both drink coffee, although their craving for blood is still as intense.
  • Their body temperature is cold, so they wear layers and coats, etc. in the summer.

Werewolf lore:
  • Werewolves only turn one night of the month, instead of the traditional three.
  • Vampires consider werewolves to be dirty, inferior creatures.
  • The process of a werewolf shifting looks extremely painful and a lot less fluffy than Twilight werewolves.

Ghost lore:
  • Ghosts can be seen by humans at times, depending on their mood.
  • They can't eat or drink.
  • Ghosts can be seen by other supernatural creatures.
  • They don't seem to be able to walk through walls.

For a show competing against US heavy-weight shows dealing with the same, supernatural lore and mythology, Being Human definitely holds its weight. I love the fact that George doesn't look the typical way werewolves do in shows. He's nerdy, huggable and has no idea how to communicate with women (See Quotes). He's a puppy compared to his werewolf persona. The relationship between George, Mitchell and Annie tended to make me forget that I was watching a show about vampires, werewolves and ghosts, only to spring the supernatural on me when I wasn't expecting it.

And I love Mitchell.

Bites and Pieces
  • While watching this episode the first time around, I thought Becca was going to become a love interest for George. Guess not.
  • I love Lauren. I feel bad for her, but she makes a great, personal nemesis for Mitchell.
  • Someone needs to shove a big wooden stake into Seth's ... heart.
  • I don't like Owen, and Annie's fawning after him annoys me. Janey seems like a hoot, though.

Quotes

Mitchell: We've got work and then it's his time of the month.
Annie: Oh god, I used to hate that. Curl up on the sofa, Pride and Prejudice, if anyone spoke to me I'd bite their head off. Of course, that's probably likely for you. The, the biting.

Seth: What blood type is he - A positive? Bit Jacob's Creeky for my taste but there you go...

Mitchell: I'm sensing a trip to IKEA. You know my feelings on that.

Annie: Okay I've written a list of questions for you to ask him.
Mitchell: [Reading the list] 'Are you screwing Janey Harris?
Annie: She always fancied him and believe me, if she knew when I died she'd have been here before the ambulance crew.
Mitchell: Aw, [Reading the list] 'Has my sister had a baby?'
Annie: They've been trying for ages. I blame her husband, his name's Robin and he works in a Post Office.

Herrick: [To Mitchell] How noble of you to take on the curse of immortality so that your friends could wither and decay in hospitals and old people's homes.

Lauren: Before I died I had this one odd last thought, and now I'm going to make it yours. You know all the things you were scared of as a kid, all the monsters under the bed? They're all real. [She blackens her eyes. George doesn't react] Okay I'm new to this but aren't you supposed to weep or scream or wee yourself?

George: You smell like a Polo .... Have you got a hole?

Three out of four undrunk cups of milky tea.

(I promise that the rest of my reviews will be less lengthy. Just had to get in all the lore.)
Morgan India

9 comments:

  1. Hiya, Morgan. I'm totally chuffed you're reviewing this show. I was a relative latecomer to Being Human, but once I'd sunk my teeth into it, I loved every minute. George is my favourite character. The patter between him and Mitchell has me in stitches.

    At first, I wasn't sure whether I liked series Annie over pilot Annie, but she has grown on me. Lenora Crichlow being so hot helps, naturally... lol.

    Looking forward to reading more, and a big, king-sized welcome :o)

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  2. Welcome, Morgan! I'm a recent convert to Being Human and have only seen the first few. The concept sounds silly, but it's so not; I was surprised at how terrific the show is. I guess when your favorite show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you shouldn't judge a show by its blurb, huh?

    I like all three characters, which is a great thing when you have a three character show. And I agree that I absolutely love Mitchell. He's absolutely my guy.

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  3. Welcome to the site Morgan! I completely agree with your love for Mitchell, except being a guy and not into guys... anyway. Great review, I think George has some of the best lines, but he is oddly not my favorite character.

    Having gotten through most of Season/Series 1 I am totally hooked. But I'm bummed by how few episodes there are. Again glad to see a new writer on here!

    Keep up the excellent work!

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  4. Thank you guys, so much. I was panicking that this review wouldn't work, so I'm super duper glad that it got the tick of approval.

    I think the limit of episodes works in favour for the show, as it won't tire out story-lines quickly? But I do think 6 episodes in the first season doesn't give me enough time to look at Mitchell.

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  5. Wow, I keep finding these great shows through this site. I've been rewatchin Wonderfalls lately, but I guess I found a new show to watch :)

    Thanks!

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  6. Great to see Being Human reviews on here, it seems like a good fit.

    My favourite character of S1 is undoubtedly Herrick, he's such a great villain and superbly acted by Jason Watkins. I lone his little dialogue with Mitchell, where Mitchell says he doesn't expect Herrick to understand his sobriety.

    "Good. Because I don't" comes back so quick but so calm and matter of fact.

    The writing in general sparkles, not seen writing this good outside the Whedonverse in a long time

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  7. Yay, Being Human reviews! By far the best British SF/Fantasy now that LOM/A2A has ended. Can't really comment on this episode as its so long since I've watched it, can't remember who half the characters mentioned in the review are!

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  8. Glad you're reviewing this show, Morgan. This site has been lacking in Mitchell for too long now.

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  9. I have cable in Maryland...and they just posted the first 2 seasons of BH (UK) On Demand! Yippee! And I don't have BBC America in my plan...but can still watch these for free(try to figure out cable TV...) I have been watching the US version - and do like it a lot - but now I get to see what all the fuss is about with the UK original.

    ReplyDelete

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