Being a member of the unnatural or supernatural seems cool on the surface. Long life, youthful appearance, super strength and the rest. What’s not to like? Try everything. A vampire, especially one trying to kick the blood habit, has to deal with not drinking from everyone it meets. A werewolf must lock itself in a cell one night a month to prevent innocent bystanders from being gutted. And a ghost has to endure seeing its loved ones move on with their lives. By comparison, death seems the better alternative. Such is life, if that’s what you call it, for roomies Mitchell, George and Annie in Being Human.
Mitchell is the cool, calm sort. Like Angel and Bill Compton and Edward Cullen, he’s a hit with the ladies. Too bad he has a tendency to turn his dates into fellow bloodsuckers. As he succinctly puts it, “My relationships don’t end well.” However, as with all “good” vamps, he desires to hang up his fangs. His boss, a creepy bugger named Herrick, tells him to choose a side. Mitchell seems intent on picking human, much to the chagrin of Herrick and his brethren. Apparently, there’s a war of sorts on the horizon, likely pitting mortal vs immortal. There’s always a war coming. Can’t we all just chill together in harmony? Nah… too boring.
George is the nervous ninny of the group. He struggles talking to chicks and lacks poise in a crisis. He also has terrible luck. Both girls he likes end up dead. When trying to find a quiet place to turn doggy, he selects the most crowded forest on Earth. Oh, and his two best pals are a vampire and a ghost. Basically, he’s a nice guy, which means he gets shit on constantly. I wonder if the An American Werewolf in London way in which he was attacked was meant to be an homage? Seems probable.
Annie is pretty happy-go-lucky for an apparition. She enjoys brewing endless amounts of tea and is quite thrilled that certain folk can see her. On the other hand, she’s not over her fiancé, Owen. Unable to touch him or speak to him proves difficult. Not to mention when she catches him with another woman. Nothing worse than a ghost scorned. The reason why some and not others can see her has yet to be explained. I’m guessing it has something to do with her state of mind.
There are a few changes to the popular lore regarding creatures of the night. Similar to Edward Cullen in Twilight, Mitchell can walk around during the day. His skin doesn’t turn to diamonds or anything, but he does need shades. Hell, I need shades whenever I go out too. Also, Mitchell eats food. In this episode, it was pizza. Uh oh, I too enjoy pizza. Could I be? Only one way to find out. I have been noticing my girl’s neck lately. It’s quite lovely. Ahem.
Overall, it was a solid debut for Being Human. A middle finger was inexplicably blurred out, but I got over it quick. I dig the characters. The special effects are credible. Best of all, only five episodes remain. I prefer shorter seasons to longer. The Brits know how to tell a story without dragging the damn thing out for months. I can honestly say I’m looking forward to next Saturday’s installment. Until then….
Clacked by Scott Tunstall 
on Jul 26, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
I kind of liked it, too. I’ll watch all the remaining eps for sure. Annie is my least favorite character, and I don’t see why she can hold teacups but can’t drink from them. You’d think it would be difficult to touch and feel more than to eat or drink. And, if you can do one, why not the other? She just doesn’t fit with a werewolf and a vamp, in my opinion.
I was kind of proud of George running after the chick at the end. Granted, it didn’t turn out well for her, but he seemed to get some balls by the end of the ep. Good stuff for a first episode!
I agree… I liked it (more than Keith, I think) and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. I too love that it’s short!
It’s a decent enough series, more ambitious than Moonlight, but I felt I had watched it all before. It’s especially disappointing because I had found the pilot exceptional and was hoping it would become one of my all-time favorite shows, but the changes in the main cast, writing content and tone, and production values killed everything I liked about it in the first place.
I lucked up on this. A friend mentioned the plot on FB so I checked it out. I enjoyed how it seamlessly injected a spot of humor in it and I liked the interaction between the roommates. Only 6 episodes? Ugh. I am gonna get hooked on it and then dumped like I was with HEX.