Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Being Human: Another Fine Mess

George: I'm not the pervert, that's my housemate. And actually, he's not a pervert either.

If I thought I was going to have trouble writing the review for the third episode, I should have seen how difficult I would find it writing this review. I thought it was an incredibly strong episode; addressing just how two men living together can be seen from the outside, the familial love of a parent and child, as well as just how far someone will go for someone they love.

I'm glad that the writers didn't leave the video storyline hanging. I didn't expect them to use it with Bernie. In hindsight, it became pretty obvious that it may happen, but still ... Oh, Mitchell. I'm glad that storyline is over.

The series has gone strength to strength when it comes to their guest characters. First Tully, then Gilbert and now Bernie. I believed the blossoming friendship between Mitchell and Bernie; Mitchell (as well as George and Annie) really needed a friend outside of vampires and his housemates. He just picked someone who could get him in trouble. However, with regards to Bernie's mum, Bernie really needed an authoritative figure to look out for him and keep him safe.

I'm rather thankful that Annie was in the background this episode. Her popping up here and there, causing vases to explode and not really having a storyline made it easier for me to focus on Mitchell and George's dilemma with the community. Being attacked by their neighbours for something they weren't, rather than for what they are, made the realisation that the group really are alone even more tragic and obvious. George's reaction to the misspelling of the word 'Paedophile', along with other small moments, kept the episode light enough with humour so that it didn't get extremely heavy. With a plotline such as this, it is easy to get lost in the situation, and not be able to get back out of the hole. I think I just mixed metaphors. George would not be happy.

Nina's misunderstanding of George's "problem", thinking he was a paedophile, rather than a werewolf, will hopefully come to a head soon. I like Nina and George and I really wish that George could tell her that he is a supernatural being. But I guess they don't make a Hallmark card for that. I hope Nina isn't going to look into George's past to work out what is wrong with him.

The small sections with Lauren, Herrick and Owen kept us in the loop on the other storylines in the series. I find Herrick and his Vampire Revolution starting to bore me. Maybe because it just seemed too out of place in the episode for me, but I don't think Herrick or Seth really needed to be in it. Lauren was a lot like Annie in the episode, with one scene with Mitchell at the bowling alley and then poof! This works for me. I genuinely thought that she was going to attack Bernie or Mitchell, but thankfully, I was wrong.

The episode's climax - Little Bernie, the boy who pretty much started the problem for George and Mitchell, gets hit by a car, along with Mitchell, who tries to save him. Shocking, but sadly predictable. However, I honestly did not expect Mitchell to turn Bernie in order to save him. He came out, so to speak, to Bernie's mum in the ICU about being a vampire and that he could save Bernie. After what happened with Becca in the first episode, you would think we wouldn't change his mind. I honestly thought that Bernie's mum would turn Mitchell's offer down. I loved the set up in the morgue for the scene in the train station. When Bernie arrived and told his mum that he was hungry, I yelled, "Oh my God, don't eat your mum!". I hope that Bernie is seen or mentioned in the future, but I wouldn't be torn if he wasn't.

Bites and Pieces:

-- I loved the Laurel and Hardy figurines. Very cute.

-- How adorable was George, Mitchell and Bernie's little picnic in the house? I used to do that with my sisters when we were little.

-- More dysfunctional George and Nina, please.

Quotes:

Mitchell: Where do I belong? Where do I fit? Who are my people? Where do my loyalties lie? We all choose our tribe. It's that need to belong, to live within boundaries, cause it's scary on the outside, on the fringes. Some labels are forced on us. They mock us, set us apart 'til we're like ghosts, drifting through other people's lives. But only if we let the labels hold. You can piss your whole life away trying out who you might be. It's when you've worked out who you are that you can really start to live.

Annie: For all I know this could be perfectly normal. You find out your fiancé killed you, you become a throwing things about ghost.
Mitchell: Poltergeist.
Annie: See, you know the terms, you know how this works. I mean, do you know if I can channel it because I have been dying to pull that fridge out and clean behind it.

[Looking at a figurine of Laurel and Hardy]
Bernie: Who are they?
Mitchell: Are you serious? They're Laurel and Hardy!
Bernie: Was the fat one Prime Minister?
George: You might be thinking of Churchill.
Annie: Or Hitler - same 'tache.

Nina: Saying 'it's not you, it's me' is a stabbable offence in my book and I can easily get my hands on scalpels.

George: Who keeps their rotten tomatoes? Who looks in their salad cooler, sees their tomatoes are on the turn and thinks 'oh no, no I'll hang on to those in case some paedos move in opposite'?

George: What else have you got up there, some German scat inside Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?
Annie: How many times have you watched it?
Mitchell: I've never even seen any scat. Oh well, just that first time, to see what it was...

Two ... Okay, maybe three out of four Laurel and Hardy figurines.

(I would like to apologise for not posting up a review in the last couple of weeks. I feel dreadful about it, and I promise it won't happen again. After a frustrating week of travelling, electrical storms and losing my money card, I can safely say that I am back.)

Morgan India.

4 comments:

  1. I apologise heartily about how this turned out. I spent about twenty minutes trying to work out why it was all bunged together as one paragraph and why some of the text is larger than the rest, despite it being 'Normal' size. I'm using a friend's computer, so that might be it.

    So, so sorry. I think I'll go bury my head in the Northern Territory desert now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I fixed it, Morgan. Don't panic. :) You just need to input your text under the html mode, not "compose."

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with your review, Morgan. I thought this was an exceptional episode, too. In fact, I wonder if the message is that what Mitchell did to that little boy in the end really was the worst thing he could have possibly done?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh this is a horrible horrible episode to watch. Utterly brilliant, but such uncomfortable viewing. Made more so by the fact that when the show was first on, it was advertised in a quite lighthearted way, and the first 3 episodes weren't that dark. Then this one comes along and completely pulls the rug from under you. Highly compelling storytelling that just leaves you reeling

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.