I have a confession to make. Well, two actually. 1) I very rarely catch a show when it first rolls out. I usually wait until about the third season; and 2) I have never caught the UK version of Being Human.
I felt those two factors were important to note because they make my review, or have the potential to make my reviews, entirely dissimilar to my reviews for my favorite show ever, Supernatural. I review those on the fansite I am on staff at http://saltedandburned.com.
Supernatural fell into my “tv rule of 3”. See, I’ve been hurt. I’ve fallen for a show, only to have it taken from me too soon. I have become afraid of committing to a show. I tend to wait until there is enough of a story for me to immerse myself in the storyline and the characters. I mean, when you think about it, who REALLY likes the awkward beginning stages of a relationship? Not me. And then sometimes, the networks do to a tv show what FOX did to me with Fringe--move it to the same time slot as my favorite show. Gee, which show am I going to watch? And no, I do not have a DVR.
Also, after I found out there would be an American version of Being Human, I decided not to get on board with the UK version. I hear it is a wonderful show. But sometimes preconceived notions can hurt the viewing experience. We tend to compare the shows, and we have expectations. I wanted to attack this show with fresh eyes, with no idea what was coming at me. So, without further ado, here it goes…
Last night I caught the pilot episode of the American adaptation of Being Human. I knew that Jeremy Carver had left Supernatural to do *something* but I have to admit I did not know what that something was. Jeremy Carver is one of the Executive Producers of this show. Fellow Supernatural fans know Jeremy Carver for such episodes as “Mystery Spot”, “Changing Channels”, “Point of No Return”, “A Very Supernatural Christmas”, just to name a few. We will miss Jeremy’s contributions to Supernatural, but I am very excited for the opportunities presented by this new show for him! Not only is he an executive producer, but he is also one of the writers on the pilot episode, entitled “There Goes The Neighborhood, Part 1”. The other writer is Anna Fricke, and the director is Adam Kane.
To summarize, this episode really gets us moving as far as what is going on with the characters, while providing a little bit of back story as to how they got there. Aidan (Sam Witwer)and Josh (Sam Huntington) are nurses at a local hospital. At least I believe they are both nurses. Aidan is specifically called a nurse, I don’t remember Josh being called one but he is wearing scrubs. Aidan is a 200+ year old vampire. Apparently, he lived in this place that seems like a real den of iniquity for a long time, where potentially he was gorging himself on human blood. According to next week’s TV Guide, Witwer calls his character a “drugged out psychopath” for that earlier period of time and now he is a “recovering blood addict”. He is tortured by this past and is attempting to change himself. He wants to find some form of normalcy, some type of humanity. He talks Josh into looking for a place where they can be just regular guys. Josh was turned into a werewolf two years prior and has been evading his family. They find a house that Josh falls in love with instantly, and move in…only to find out that one of the past tenants never actually moved out…Sally (Meaghan Rath) was living there with her fiancé, Danny, when six months ago, she went to sleep next to Danny and woke up dead. After six months of one sided conversations she is ecstatic that the boys can see and hear her…
And now that I’ve set up a little bit about the scene, it is observations time!
What is it about two guys hanging out that demands “couple” jokes? How about when Danny, talking to Aidan and Josh assumes they are a “couple”? It was funny and reminded me of the Supernatural “couple” jokes.
I think the most likable character of the three for me right now is Sally. She is disarming, and has the most comic personality. “I can’t even move dust.” Even the way the guys react to her is funny. I think my favorite line of the episode is when Aidan says to Sally “Are you trying to scare us with Bon Jovi?” Aidan and Josh-- I am still up in the air about. I am not sure if I have seen enough redeeming about them yet to make me care whether they succeed on their attempts to find normalcy. Interestingly enough, the guys, especially Josh, want Sally gone. Sally, in typical ghost fashion, is there because she can’t let go of something. She isn’t sure why she is still there, but clearly isn’t ready to give up on this reality yet. She is the most human of them…and they want to ditch her…even though they are trying to be more human.
Oh, and Hai Mark Pellegrino! Wow we’ve seen a lot of him lately, he has been on everything from Lost to Supernatural, and he is always a treat to watch. On Being Human he plays a vampire named Bishop who seems to run the nest. Incidentally, he is also the vampire who turned Aidan. He comes across as very controlling and powerful and is attempting to get Aidan back into the fold. Aidan took off from the coven/nest/whatever it is called in the Being Human’verse, and has been attempting to live off of blood bank blood. He is trying not to take human lives. We know Bishop is keeping tabs on Aidan. We also know when Aidan slips up, like he did in the beginning when he goes out of control during sex and kills Rebecca, he still calls on his old buddies for assistance. Also, there seems to be a plan there. Aidan, when talking to Bishop, mentions Bishop’s attempts at “recruiting”. It does appear that vampires are infiltrating various areas of society—police, mortuaries…Aidan told Bishop the hospital was off limits…Hmmmm. What is the master plan there? Also, we see a flashback of a wedding scene with blood everywhere and Aidan there. I’m sure we’ll find more out about what that means.
Unlike Aidan, who has been a vampire for a long time, Josh has only been a werewolf for a brief time. He has severed the ties he had before becoming a werewolf. He sees himself as a monster. He doesn’t think the people in his life would understand. When his sister comes into the hospital to see her girlfriend and sees him, it is the first time they have seen each other in about two years. When Josh turned, he said don’t worry about me and took off, leaving his family behind. We see that Josh wears a Star of David which he takes off when he is going to turn. His sister Emily, in talking about their parents, alluded to Jewish parents worrying. It would seem then that religion is an important aspect of at least who Josh was and may have a profound impact on why he feels the way he does about becoming a werewolf.
About the relationship between Aidan and Josh, it seems like Aidan is taking on a big brother kind of role where Josh is concerned. Aidan finds Josh a place he can use as a prison during transformation. He also picks Josh up the next morning after Josh turned in the woods bringing his clothes and Star of David necklace.
We don’t have much information yet on Sally. She has no clue why or how she died. Did she just have a coronary? It is an old house. Was it carbon monoxide poisoning? Did Danny do something? The last doesn’t seem likely, based on Danny seeming like a nice guy…but you never can tell. All we know about Sally really is that she was engaged and she was working on getting her Masters.
As far as pilot episodes go, the set up was good. The characters seem a bit angsty for just starting out, but then again, the show appears to be about finding some normalcy so that makes sense. I don’t recognize these actors really from anything. I could do an IMDB search, and I am sure I will at some point, but I guess I would say if I have seen them in something it wasn’t anything that really stood out for me. That isn’t to say that the show won’t be great, or that these actors won’t shine in these parts, just that for me it is a little early to tell. However, the show has made me curious enough to tune in next week to see where this is going…and isn’t that usually how relationships begin?
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