Being Human UK Rewatch

[H-O-W-L]

Sort of in the vein of Lemming's Red Dwarf Rewatch thread, this thread is going to be about me rewatching Being Human, and commentating on it.

Prelude: What It Means to Be Human

This whole thread will have spoilers.

Being Human is a series that originally aired on BBC3. It started in 2009 and ran until 2013, running for just about three and a half years, and five seasons within those years. It centrally features around a trinity of a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost that share a house together. Initially the series is set in Bristol, but during season 3 the action moves to Barry Island in Wales[nb]Presumably as a cost-cutting measure, and to enable the sharing of crew and tech for the then-ongoing and massively popular Gavin and Stacey, though I may be wrong. I know that Doctor Who was in Wales for similar tax and cost reasons.[/nb]. It's a somewhat unique take on the traditional supernatural mythology, as the rules for vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are all distinctly different from other series and works in the similar "urban fantasy" sort of genre. Predominently written by Toby Whithouse[nb]Though a lot of episodes had co-writers or were written entirely by other writers[/nb] it draws a lot of inspiration from supernatural fiction in the 1990s and 1980s, as well as Stoker's original novel of Dracula. I won't be picking apart the supernatural rules in particular but I'll be noting general inspirations where I can see them.

As a series from BBC3 that had remarkably little off-station marketing, it tends to be overlooked when it comes to retrospectives of recent British TV, especially British drama, and I feel it's well-worth bringing up again, twelve years[nb]fucking hell[/nb] after its initial airing, because I think it's truly unique even if it presents a lot of stereotypical or generic plots. Not only that, but I feel like a lot of the fan reviews on the internet are, in a lot of ways, overwhelmingly glowing because of its uniqueness. I recently started rewatching the series casually (one of several I've done since it finished airing), and there were some moments that cropped up that, looking back, I'd like to dissect and talk about in depth.

Whithouse is probably best known for his parallel work on Doctor Who, ranging from the decent but dated School Reunion to the legitimately tense God Complex. His work on Doctor Who is considered to be the sensible middle-ground of most series (though I haven't seen his two-parter Under The Lake/Before the Flood) he wrote for and generally very safely written, albeit with a terrible clunkiness toward endings and issues with pacing. This is somewhat reflected in Being Human too, but I think that Whithouse's work on Doctor Who is significantly worse in every way, and significantly kneecapped, in comparison to Being Human, as he's forced to write for characters he doesn't handle himself, whom he can't "embody", and whose development is effectively locked into the ongoing series arc.

The Heart of it All

With Being Human, Whithouse is able to embody the characters, get to know them, and portray them himself through his writing. In the show he has very clear internal voices for every character he puts words to, and in the grand scheme of things it's clear he has a love for the characters that sometimes overwhelms the flaws of them. What Being Human strives at overall is moment-to-moment action. Individual character interaction and the general dialogue is overwhelmingly strong, even among its contemporaries or something far more prestigious like Doctor Who or Ashes to Ashes. During what was considered to be the renaissance of med-budget British drama, Being Human, to me, is one series that really stands out as having the balls to give its characters pointless, soft little dead-end moments. The writing is often not far off a sitcom (and it was billed as a dramedy) in that characters will have somewhat irrelevant discussions about meaningless, day-to-day real life things[nb]one of my favorite (and the series' best) scenes involves a general malaise brought about through the plot being dealt with in a seemingly pointless discussion about The Real Hustle.[/nb] despite never going beyond eight episodes a season. This sort of willingness to burn airtime on the real life of the characters creates them as humans in a way that other series of the time wouldn't. A groundedness, if you will.

Of course, Whithouse isn't the only reason the series succeeds to me. The casting is shit-hot, in almost every way. Individual bit parts are poorly-cast or poorly-directed, here and there, but that's the apples you get with any series. Here, the central cast is fucking dynamite. We'll only discuss the first three central characters now, but to give them their plaudits: Russell Tovey brings a kind of dynamic intellectual strength and social vulnerability to George that nobody else could (as proven by his recasting after the pilot, which we'll get to). Aidan Turner gives Mitchell the kind of dangerous bad-boy edge that he needs, and Lenora Critchlow gives Annie the energetic mixture of optimism and underlying pathos required of her character.

This heaping of praise seems to sum up my opinion on the series as a whole, but it doesn't in the least. It's a series that, while I think it stands out and soars above several parallel shows... has some fucking clunkers. I wanted to softball the series at first because I'm going to be hurtling some hard truths into its face from here on out. I have no idea when I'll be writing posts, but it'll be an as-and-when deal, though I intend to watch the series thoroughly while this thread is ongoing.

How It Works

When it comes to the show itself, we're going to be starting at Series 1, Episode 1 - "Flotsam and Jetsam" as it's labelled on the DVD. I'll be providing screencaps throughout, though I won't be breaking down every individual scene in an episode, and my recaps will probably be succinct. I'm expecting that anyone who reads this through will have watched the show, or will be watching it before reading.

The show originally had a pilot that aired in early 2008, and the pilot is canon to the main series despite everything about it (sets, several central cast, mechanics of the supernatural and ethnicities of characters that are later very relevant) being altered between pilot and commission. We won't cover that to start with because I think the pilot is honestly shit, and a very bad place to start off. It got me interested in the show, but more for its potential rather than its content. Where the plot has gaps for the first season (IE references to the pilot), I'll be providing context and clarification. There's also some elements that don't make any fucking sense as-watched (IE supernatural elements that reference source literature, rewrites) that I'll also try to clarify.

There was a site-blog for it on the BBC3 website, written by Whithouse and occasionally some of the cast. I read it when the series originally aired, but I won't be re-reading it or quoting from it now. I think these kinds of secondary sources are frankly bollocks for a show like this. Good fodder for fans like myself, but overwhelmingly bad in the long term. More parts means a more breakable machine. The site only serves to add more lore elements that can crack the mask, to me, and this show -- god, this show -- sure as shit gets overbloated by its later seasons, as good as it remains.

If you want to participate yourself, you can always sail the seas to find yourself a copy of the full show, you can also find it on Amazon Prime and I believe some other streaming services. Make sure you get the UK version, though. The US version? I haven't watched it. I never will. I don't give a shit about it. You can discuss it beneath this if you want, but I won't participate.

So with that in mind, my next post -- when I get around to it -- will be about Series 1, Episode 1 - "Flotsam and Jetsam".

Wolf howl soundbite here.

[Phil_A]

I'd definitely be interested in following this. Being Human was a series I watched and enjoyed at the time but haven't revisited. It had admirable ambition for a low-budget BBC3 series but wasn't without it's flaws. I was also gutted the replacement cast didn't get a longer run as their dynamic was really enjoyable and I actually preferred them to the original line-up in some ways.

[H-O-W-L]

I'd definitely be interested in following this. Being Human was a series I watched and enjoyed at the time but haven't revisited. It had admirable ambition for a low-budget BBC3 series but wasn't without it's flaws. I was also gutted the replacement cast didn't get a longer run as their dynamic was really enjoyable and I actually preferred them to the original line-up in some ways.

Indeed. I heavily agree with that last point, too -- it's something I hope to get to when I get through the series. I don't want to spoil my thoughts in whole but I'll say that Alex is probably my favorite character of the whole show -- for reasons I'll bring up.

[A Hat Like That]

Absolutely loved this when it came out - thought seasons 1 and 2 were excellent and my favourite episodes the ones with the other ghosts (Gilbert mainly, the episode with flashbacks to the 60s was also great). Season 3 was OK, liked the Type 4 episode, but missed 4 and 5 due to being abroad at the time. Watched Season 5 in a day and really enjoyed it.

I think the only bit in Season 4 I watched live was the scene where you find out why vampires need to be invited in.

[mothman]

It just irritates me viscerally that the show was seemingly incapable of maintaining a consistent cast. I don't know what happened there. But a 100% turnover in cast after, what, the third series? Why did that happen? Is it yet another manifestation of the poor opinion the Beeb seems to have for genre material however successful..?

And part of the problem with the show's success must have been the marketing. I remember the first (only?) trailer. It was plainly pitched as a comedy. And it was certainly funny at the start. It got a whole lot less funny as it went on. Not sure you can say this without any credibility given recent events (but then, I'm used to saying things that aren't credible), but it wasn't Buffy. It wasn't even Angel.

[H-O-W-L]

It just irritates me viscerally that the show was seemingly incapable of maintaining a consistent cast. I don't know what happened there. But a 100% turnover in cast after, what, the third series? Why did that happen? Is it yet another manifestation of the poor opinion the Beeb seems to have for genre material however successful..?

Aidan Turner left to be in The Hobbit[nb]comedy 200-decibel snort sound here[/nb] and the floodgates opened, really. Sinead Keenan didn't want to return for a fourth series, and so on and so forth. It was all natural sadly, no real single cause.

And part of the problem with the show's success must have been the marketing. I remember the first (only?) trailer. It was plainly pitched as a comedy. And it was certainly funny at the start. It got a whole lot less funny as it went on. Not sure you can say this without any credibility given recent events (but then, I'm used to saying things that aren't credible), but it wasn't Buffy. It wasn't even Angel.

Agreed. I remember the 2nd series trailers were significantly darker and edgier, and I'll get to that as I write. Infact I have a plan to write a pretty large 'tween-series piece about the shift in tone. I intend to write the first episode within today, or perhaps tomorrow depending on my mood, so we can actually get started. But suffice it to say, the original first-series trailer was like, "Vampire, werewolf, ghost, in Bristol! Funny things will happen, ho ho ho!" whereas the series was always very grounded and dark with realistically funny moments and cringe-comedy elements that come out of a natural life, while keeping a constantly dark tone. Series 2 ramped up the darkness significantly (in a poor way, IMO, but we'll get to that) and then Series 3 is one of the blackest-toned series ever put on British TV, IMO -- and IMO S3 is the strongest due to its centralized tone. S2 lingers on letting go of S1's levity a bit too much for me.

I was a wee teenager when the series first aired -- a gothy girl no less -- and so the series was like fucking crack to me considering that most equivalent series of the era tended to focus on the heart-to-heart interaction and not so much the darkness and grimness. The real-life purchase of such a modern-fantasy world. There are flaws in this, but I'll point them out as they appear. The series' uncompromising violence, swearing, and odd flash of tits was frankly miles beyond similar supernatural-genre/vampire-fiction stuff. It manages to do this while keeping a realistic and believable tone, without delving into the utter twattery of say, Vampire the Masquerade, something I've seen it compared to (in fact I swear Toby Whithouse wrote a dedication for one of the V20 books -- if anyone knows if this is true please let me know.) in recent years.

But everyone I mentioned the series to, whom had seen just the adverts, they thought it was pish. Even after the legitimately good S2 and S3 trailers[nb]IMO the S3 trailer perfectly encapsulates the series[/nb], the S1 trailer, which was significantly more goofy and comedy-focused (I can't find it on Youtube anymore sadly, but suffice to say it was pish) stuck in people's minds.

[H-O-W-L]

SEASON 1 - EPISODE 1 - "Flotsam and Jetsam"

And so we begin. I've not written like this before, so please let me know if this is unfollowable, but I'm effectively going through the episode in chronological order.

- The first part of the episode begins with a pretty well-written speech by Annie, over footage of the main three, and their respective ends.

Everyone dies. Uh, actually, can I start that again? Everyone deserves a death. I WAS going to die of old age. That was the plan. Mitchell was going to go down in a blaze of gunfire and glory, not cold and alone and shit-scared. He didn't think Death would smile at him first. Death was always a certainty, the punch line we could all see coming, but not for Mitchell. For a vampire, death isn't the end but the beginning...

So here we are. Overlooked and forgotten. Unnatural and... supernatural. Watching the dance from the sidelines. At least I was surrounded by friends and family. At least I got that bit right. You know the worst thing about being a ghost? It's lonely. You'll give anything for that crumb of comfort. That feel of skin against skin that says, "It's okay. I'm here." It's a hunger. The most basic instinct. You might even drag others into this world of the dead. Even if it means turning them into monsters too.

Then there are the ones like George. The ones that should have died. But shattered and bloody, they walk away from the train wreck. But what's the cost? They're scarred. Transformed. They're monsters now too. Aberrations. The stuff of nightmares. The big bad wolf. So. What have we got left to look forward to? Us refugees. The flotsam and jetsam of death. Maybe, if we still deserve such a thing as mercy, we find each other.

In this sequence we also see Lauren's death, too -- she's a vitally important character, and the fact they introduce her into the story here[nb]though they miss a vital element in that Mitchell isn't shown converting her, as he is in the Pilot, meaning you could easily believe him merely biting her turned her into a vampire. In Being Human, converting someone into a vampire requires drinking them to the point of death, then introducing some of your own vampiric blood into them. This is vital to bring up later on in this very episode.[/nb] is very wise, especially since they ignore the need to re-introduce other details from the pilot, such as Herrick's status as leader of the vampires, Annie's presence in the house, George meeting his ex at the hospital[nb]again, brought up in this very fucking episode. Jesus. They really do expect you to have watched the pilot by this point, but I didn't want to cover it first because, again, it's shit, and it was also not available on DVD or in any general release form (iPlayer was in its infancy) by the first airing of the show.[/nb], you name it.

- Within this very monologue we get our first Gratuitous George Arse Shot^TM. Take a drink. Or inject some heroin. I'm not your mother.

I'll be keeping track of these as we go along, but I'll be censoring them. Russell Tovey has a pretty decent arse, and that's good -- we'll be seeing so goddamned much of it. I do have to bring this up, as weird as it may seem, because it's something I respect about the series: They aren't afraid to show nudity where it makes sense, and they really aren't scared to show unflattering nudity. Yes, Russell Tovey has an alright arse and is decently-built, but him being bare-arsed in the dimly-lit woods is hardly a PHWOAR moment, and we'll be seeing him in several far more unflattering states -- as well as other werewolf characters -- in greater undress. Can anyone tell me if the US series had the [cowboy voice] cojones to show such arse mileage? Also note the blue day-for-night tint.

- The George transformation in this intro is often remarked on as being poor -- all of the werewolf transformations are called poor by a lot of the fanbase but I honestly think they're pretty fucking good. They went ahead and used practical effects, and they're not the most convincing practical effects out there for sure, but goddamn it, they didn't just slap a CGI asset-shop wolf in and call it a day. I can't imagine how shit it must have been to wear all that latex in the English woods at night.

Ahh, it's happening all the time now, and not just with people like you, but with normal people. I was outside putting out the recycling and a van drove past and the guy shouted "Slag!"

Quotes like this are why Annie remains the strongest character throughout the series, even if she often has fuck-all to do because the writers don't understand the coolness of having a ghost for a useable character.  It seems like a really faint cringe comedy moment on its surface but when you peer into it you can see it roots down into the series' core of... well, being human. She's not in love with the idea of being called a slag, but the mere fact she can be involved in something as simple, everyday, and pointless as drive-by van-man abuse is a source of great joy for her in a way that it wouldn't be for a normal person.

What Being Human's core concept is -- and the supernatural layer often enclunkens this into intangibility -- is picking up the pieces of your life, re-establishing that thread to a kind of normality, after a traumatic event or after developing a condition. Whithouse talked about how George, Mitchell, and Annie were all somewhat inspired by real-life conditions[nb] (Mitchell by STDs and alcoholism, George by AIDS and intermittent explosive disorder, and Annie by agoraphobia, OCD, and social anxiety) [/nb] around the time of the first series' airing, and it's what I think carries the series through its rocky periods and the more crumblingly shit episodes -- it's relatable. Not everyone here, not everyone who will read this, has had the kind of traumatic experiences that parallel the Trinity's, but almost everyone can relate to the idea of finding a "new normal", and, as much as I'm loathe to mention it (as this is being written during the 2021 COVID-19 Uk lockdown, for future references), I'm sure everyone nowadays can understand what it's like to have your life drastically disrupted and have to adjust to a whole new set of operating parameters. It's beautiful and horrible in a way.

I'll be focusing on Annie a lot as she's probably the most under-rated character in the series, and tends to act as the series' protagonist since she's present for almost everything. Not only that but her character lasts the longest and has an INSANE arc over the 4 seasons she's present.

Fuck me, that was a lot of words about one single throwaway line. Let's move on.

- George gets exasperated with Annie making tea. This was brought up in the pilot by Mitchell, but the exchange about it here is more organic. In the pilot Mitchell mentions "It makes her feel normal", which is clunky as fuck to me. Here you're left to interpret why she's doing it, which is better than it having a direct cause given writ by the characters, if you ask me. I also like how organic it feels for her to be making tea (and sometimes coffee). It could come across as a "WACKY BRITISH THING THAT BRITISH PEOPLE DO" but when you sort of get down to the idea of it -- Annie justifies it with the other two being around her, as if she's doing it for them -- it does loop into a legitimate cultural trend. I know that if I was in Annie's state I'd probably do some similarly banal task, like making food I couldn't eat or something like that.

- Annie goes on a legitimately funny ramble about George's "time of the month", resulting in a very good reaction shot from George and Mitchell. Shots like these are common and make up the backbone of the series. They're usually used quite well though.

- The establishing shot of the hospital (showing off Mitchell's retro car, model unknown to me) has Wondering by Dirty Pretty Things playing over it... for no reason. It fades out before the actual shot of the two in the hospital starts. This is a trend in the first episode, and I'm not quite sure why. It reminds me of Miami Vice in some ways, but really serves no purpose.

- George and Mitchell openly talk about ghosts, George's transformation, and Annie's death in the locker room, infront of everyone else. Bit weird, that. This doesn't continue through the show (in fact several characters call each other out for doing similarly stupid shit) but it sticks out here.

- The shots of the CCTV showing an invisible vampire (along with quiet whispers of 'Mitchell!' in the soundtrack) are legitimately quite creepy, and a great way to bring up this series' interpretation of vampire image-capture (IE they can't be seen on camera or in mirrors).

- Here's Seth! He's a good character, and well-portrayed by Dylan Brown. He steals almost every scene he's in, and has a legitimately slimy voice with such a great range of visual emotions. He's the right brand of bastard to show that vampires are cunts. He reminds me of a kind of Stoker version of Super Hans.

- The line "Bit Jacob's Creek-y for me, but there you go!" in reference to a man's blood is one of my favorites. I have stolen it for Vampire the Masquerade campaigns.

- Lauren's memorial is covered in photos of her at parties and family events and stuff.  Sidetrack but I've always wondered if they take these photos specifically for shows like this, or just use the actors' pre-existing ones?

- George goes down to the former isolation ward to transform, only to find a bunch of builders already in there renovating it. It was brought up in the pilot as his new transformation place, and its appearance here without that context is -- well, you can make an educated guess on its existence in the plot without that context, but I dunno, seems odd to me. The scene where it appears could have been completely written out, as several other elements from the pilot already have been-- but it works, as it ends up.

- First scene of Mitchell hearing Becca's pulse. More of these show up through the first series but later on don't tend to be a thing -- Vamps just stare with a high-pitched whine. The idea that vampires can hear people's pulses though is sort of a key to the way the series handles their addiction, and it's a good one.[nb] The game Vampyr did something similar with its intro, where a nearly thirst-dead vampire can only see the pulsing life force in people's circulatory systems. I imagine with the right budget BH would have done something similar.
[/nb]

- Mitchell is in a good state in this episode, shown by his willingness to drop Becca and help George find somewhere to transform immediately. In later episodes (and seasons) this becomes an almost impossible scene to believe with how Mitchell as a person changes. Not a criticism, it comes organically, but worth noting.

- Unconvincing CGI moon! We'll be seeing a lot of that at the end of each episode.

- When The Sun Goes Down by Arctic Monkeys on the soundtrack. I hate how "obvious" a choice it is. The show moves away from this sort of obvious pop choices soon, don't fret.

- George blunders into about five different people while trying to find somewhere to transform (along with a creepy wanker who asks "what [he's] running from".) You'd think after finding the first group of campers he'd decide that's too much of a risk and fuck back off to the car, but this is George all over -- he's a scared, anxious twat most of the time, but he's also sort of a risk-taker and limit-pusher. It belies 'The Wolf' inside him that isn't just a result of his curse. He does a lot of reckless things throughout the series just like this as we go on.

- "I've just hoovered!" - good line.

- Smack My Bitch Up by The Prodigy plays in the house during George's transformation. Good choice, not just because I like it.

- "This isn't like when you were six having your cat have kittens. It's private." "You've seen me since I've died, I think the rules of privacy have got muddy " - I like this. George tries to prosletyze in some sort of wankerish, mawkish way and the other two re-ground him and point out he's being a bit of a dick. While I agree with George's general sentiment that it IS private, and I agree to his right to not have Annie there, it is sort of great to see a character try to start a philosophical rant and get shut down. Too many writers want to flex their balls by having characters go on long tracts.

- Mitchell goes out of his way to save the telly. Not the minibar or the optics stand (which I think has a bottle of Stella in it??!!) though.

- #2 on the George Arse counter. It's only been 14 minutes since the last one.

- The slow-focus on Annie's shrinking, terrified face to cut down on practicals is very clever and works to great effect. Even someone who's dead and (almost) gone is truly sickened by what they're seeing.

- The shot of the staring wolf mask is probably the worst in the show's entire run from what I remember. We might see worse as we go along but those fucking cartoon eyes, mate. CBBC levels.

- The level of wreckage in the house after the transformation is ludicrous, honestly, but the shot of a peacefully-sleeping George (Arse counter #3) in amongst it is very nicely done.

- In the discussion between George and Annie about how Annie shouldn't be there for Annie's arrival, I 100% agree with George. Annie seeing Owen would be a terrible fucking idea for her, and obviously for him it would be bad too, but primarily for Annie it would be such a blow -- as we see moments later when she sees that he's moved on. George is fully on the right side of the discussion if you ask me. He often has moments like this where he actually speaks in the name of sanity but is overridden.

- Owen first appears, played by Gregg Chillin. Another well-cast role, but he's playing it very low and slow here. It makes sense for his character to escalate as it does as we go on, but the portrayal here is almost a mile off what it seems like in the next couple episodes alone. What he says about Annie becomes fucking sickening when you move on to further episodes.

- The discussion of the tenants before George and Mitchell is represented quite well in this often very creepy prequel.  I'll link some of the prequels when they become relevant but like the blog I think they're sort of needless supplement for a show like this, which has an hour a week to fill. The prequel is well worth watching, as it shows how fucking creepy Annie can be when she puts her mind to it. She's often shown in the series as being the soft wee baby of the gang, whom has little to no badness in her, but this prequel shows that she really is capable of some dastardly tricks when she wants to. The pilot has a similar scene where she attempts to drive George and Mitchell out (later remade for S2 and deleted from the final cut) too.

- Shit cringe exchange about the pigeon between George, Owen, and Mitchell. The spit-take that Aidan Turner does with the beer is so real and funny though, it makes it almost worth it. Great exchange where Mitchell ribs him for being an awkward toss too.

- Annie's clothes change (her sleeves and leggings roll up and her shawl opens) between her listening on the landing and coming down the stairs. This is a character element -- Annie's clothes change depending on how she's feeling and how 'strong' her ghostly presence is. The less layers, the stronger/more confident she feels, and vice versa. Her hairstyle changes similarly at some points, too, though she remains stuck in the same outfit. It's a plot point.

- Heeeere's Herrick! played by the always-amazing Jason Watkins. A scene-stealer no matter what he's in, I think Herrick is his best role to date. Much like Seth, it's clear that Watkins truly embodies the character, and it's impossible to imagine anyone else in the role after he slips into it. In the pilot, Herrick is portrayed by Adrian Lester, but in the pilot Herrick as a character is far weaker than the final version, and Lester is sorely miscast.

- Herrick's intro, doing a legitimately remarkable magic trick (making two cards disappear in his hands, then pouring coins from them while rubbing them together) is a smirksome little bit of visual language as to his nature as a deceiver. He's the Satan of the show before satanic elements rear their head, and is always, always slipping some sort of Faustian shit from between his lips. He's also almost always in his police uniform, which fits very well. It's not a fancy, clean-cut suit like the pilot version of Herrick wears, it's an off-the-rack outfit seen every single day of our lives, with a jacket that's clearly not fitted to him (just an off-peg size) and a kind of rugged utilitarianism that fits its role as a disguise rather than a villain's costume. It makes Herrick grounded. The idea of him being this slick-suited esoteric wanker as he's written in the pilot makes his whole role as the arch-arbiter of vampires completely unbelievable, whereas his final-show version being clad in a day-to-day street copper's outfit does the exact opposite -- it makes it believable that he'd hide in plain sight 24/7.

- Herrick brings up his (quite fucking mental) plan of bringing up vampiric existence to humanity for the first time. He also starts some casual chatter with Cara, played by Rebecca Cooper. Cooper does well in this scene, but her character slides into complete and total shit within her very next appearance. Soak up her grounded, enjoyable humanity here -- it's gone when we see her next.

- "What was that, more tricks?" "No, it's, erm, manners." - GREAT exchange.

- Herrick's reaction to the hot chocolate he bought from Cara being shit is fucking hilarious and makes me choke every time.

- "How noble of you to take on the curse of immortality so your friends could wither and decay in hospitals and old people's homes! ... I'm kidding! Just teasing you" - Herrick's nature comes to light. Like I said, he's the Devil of the setting right now.

- His rant about the willingness of other people to be converted into vampires (and the ongoing rant about 'eden') is the perfect kind of megalomaniacal bullshit that a character like Herrick needs. He salts a shred of sense and understandability into a spider's web of insane despotic rhetoric. A million little caveats and contractual obligations laden into what seems like a nice easy bargain. Third time I'll say it, but he is the Devil. The Faustian demon offering a bargain that's too good to be true.

- "I hear you're on the wagon." "I wouldn't expect you to understand." "Good! I don't. It's mental" - another great exchange. Herrick has a lot of these. He gets a lot of diamond lines that work really well. He's one of the few characters in the series that has an 'interrupt' sort of dialogue, where he'll cut someone off and slip an insult into their guts like a knife.

- "Everything's about to change, and nothing can stop it." - Arc words. Take a drink.

- George being able to smell Becca's minty shampoo is because he's recently transformed. 'Wolf Senses' linger before and after their full moon day. This isn't explicitly brought up until like, season 3, but it's always in action from the start.

- The "playground" exchange between Mitchell and George is one of the moments I mentioned in the intro -- it means really nothing, overall, even if it leads to Mitchell and Becca's date, but it's an example of how the show respects the characters enough to give them purely "pointless" interactions. It lets them... sigh... be human for a moment or two.

- Lauren shows up again. She's played by Annabel Scholey, who I've heard mixed things about (even in this series) but here I think she's really well-cast[nb]Have I said anyone is miscast, yet? There are miscastings I'll bitch about, don't worry.[/nb] because she brings a kind of... immaturity to Lauren that is totally necessary to her character arc at this point. Her attempt to ramble at George about "monsters under the bed" only to be repulsed by his werewolf stench is what I mean. She tries to have a cool vampire moment -- to indulge in the beast she thinks she's been forced into being -- and gets utterly fucked over. She doesn't have a meltdown as she does in later instances like this, but it's clear she's heavily unsatisfied and leaves in a visible huff.

- George and Mitchell arguing about Lauren is one of the first points where I think the two would have permanently parted ways, in a realistic scenario. George is clearly fucked off -- rightfully -- by Mitchell's fuckup, and Mitchell has no good words for it like he does in the past..

- Mitchell is a cunt for agreeing to go on a date with Becca. He does it purely out of a mixture of thirst and spite because George just slugged him. This is not out of character. This is the first crack in Mitchell's mask. It takes three seasons to reach full arc, but when we get there it's worth it and moments like this become clear.

- Annie's cute mirror montage where she tries to make herself up[nb]wait what how the fuck does that work[/nb] and figure out how to approach Owen is a really well executed little slice of her character. She's anxious, she's unsure, she's not very self-confident, but god almight she's trying. She's tenacious and optimistic even though there is no fucking way this can go well. Friendly Ghost by Eels plays over it. Also, note the five(!!!) mugs of tea that appear by the sofa during the montage. A nice little detail. That and the telly being on shows that Annie, despite being dead, still has her tics and hobbies. Stuff like this is why I love the show, little residues of the characters living beyond their scenes.

- Janey Harris played by Sama Goldie has her first appearance. Goldie does as good as she can with the role, but this character is shit. Complete shit. Instead of just moving on and finding a new partner, Owen has found a completely unlikeably-written, vapid, sexist stereotype of a woman who exists purely to be clownish. I don't want to give Goldie shit for it because frankly she does as well as she can, but this isn't a fucking Being Human character. This is a Gavin and Stacey character transplanted in. The over the top fake tan is really one of the worst parts. I think the character should be guttered and rewritten as just another person instead of this overly-clowned "gold digger" wannabe-WAG stereotype. Her character only gets fucking worse, and every moment she's on screen is an active drain on the tension and nuance of the character of Owen. When I started rewatching I began to dread Owen's scenes as a crock of shit but then I realized it's just the way Janey is written. She only has silly lines. She has no character of her own. She exists as DLC for Owen's main game, to use a video game analogy, and it really shows. Again -- Goldie does the best she can with the role but man oh man is it a bad role. You can't polish shit to a mirror sheen.

- Annie has some great reactions behind George when he and Owen are talking. Crichlow fucking excels at expressions throughout this show, though Tovey comes in a close and hard second.

- Annie brings up being stuck in her death outfit -- this is an ongoing complaint for the ghosts in this show.

- George's talk with Annie about "losing everything all over again" after seeing his ex (something that actually happened in the pilot, but in a shit way) is a great one, and one of those moments that gets to the emotional heart of the show -- the relatability of it in the real world. His talk about him contracting the curse is also suitably creepy, though I think they should've gone into more detail about him "being offended" by the Wolf. It's a key part of his character[nb] It brings to mind the Standpipe part of Chapter 9 of IT by Stephen King, where Stan Uris (also a Jewish character, incidentally) talks of his offense at the sight of several illusory undead children brought to life by IT's presence.[/nb] but it's barely explored in detail as to why he feels so strongly about it -- and it's mostly because George was raised Jewish and, while lapsed, still has a strong root in his faith. The idea of someone with a grounding in faith, in religion, being not specifically scared by the sight of something supernatural, but more offended by the sheer disregard it has for their faith, their life, everything they've been brought up to believe, is a great concept for horror. It works on a deeper, more guttural level than raw fear to me -- and I'm an atheist.

- Their talk of Janey Harris at the end of this heart-to-heart pisses me off. I should clarify -- I don't think Janey Harris is sexist as a character merely because she's merely a bad person, merely because she's vapid and vain, it's because that is all the character has. She's a woman and she's vapid, that's all she is. It's not a good representation of anyone, let alone a woman, but the mechanisms by which she is a ditzy "gold digger" type are very specifically gendered. Her name is coded to be as girly as possible and her represented life is entirely centric around Owen's dick. We never meet or hear of her family, we never see her outside of scenes with Owen (and later Annie, but Owen comes in anyway) and we never see her interact in any way other than to be The Replacement Annie, and it doesn't work in a way that shows Owen as a "replace the goldfish" type. She isn't a Replacement Annie because she's the fucking opposite of Annie, both in a metanarrative sense and in an internal sense. This is even brought up by the show and it's fucking mind spinning they didn't think to address it. Her scenes feel like first draft directions for this reason.

- Sarah Counsell has a bit part as a nurse in the next scene. It's a great bit part, and the way she says every line is fucking hilarious. The visible disdain she has for her job, the exhaustion in her eyes, is very relatable.

- "I would've asked but that would've looked like I gives a shit." - Line of the episode.

- Let's actually talk about Becca, played by Jessica Harris.  I don't like her character for similar reasons as I don't like Janey, really, but I suppose with a character like this there isn't a lot you can do overall. I guess it's something about the way she's been directed to act. She's too awkward in a way that isn't entirely believable for me.

- God I love Lauren in the pub scene. The way she twists the knife in Mitchell for being such a life-wrecking cunt is absolutely perfect, but it does bring up the thought... why the fuck did Herrick & Co. let Lauren stay in Bristol? Her merely walking the streets -- where her death is known to have occurred by several people who live and work in the community -- is a potential risk of questions. Granted, they find her a useful weapon against Mitchell later on, but here it seems like they've just sort of shrugged at the idea she will run into all her family members, whom know she's "died". It's not brought up with other conversions in the show, because other vampires who are converted don't have their deaths faked. In fact, having Lauren's death faked is a pretty significantly stupid affair to me, since it was clearly Herrick & Co. that cleaned up her death for Mitchell. Just have her disappear for a day (or however long it takes for vamps to wake up) and say she was spending all her time with Mitchell, then have her sever her threads to family/friends to live the vampire life. Instead of cleaning the situation Herrick has made a loop de loop of risk.

- Watch Lauren's face throughout this whole scene. It's great. I also like that she dresses in a way that borders between gothic, slightly sensual, and overlaid with vulnerability. Always bare-legged with a low-drooping cleavage, but with her arms and hands covered at least in part, and always with and high boots. Sometimes sunglasses in day scenes. Something the show does well is the visual language of character emotion via dress. It never, ever falters even until the climax of the run.

- "They pass me 'round, I'm like this orphan." - Mitchell really is a fucking cunt for converting Lauren then ditching her. The second crack in his mask is the full revelation that he didn't just feel guilty about killing her and want to get away -- he truly ruined her life and abandoned her.

- "I want to kill my parents, my lovers, I want them to know!" - the way Scholey delivers this line is really good, the shake in her voice and the tremble of her muscles, it shows Lauren in the narrative of addiction that vampirism represents here cleanly: She's a junkie. She thinks she's on top of the world. She's high as shit, doesn't care who knows it, and wants to tear down the towers around her while utterly jazzed up. This wears off, peters out, and stumbles into a fireball when she wears off the high, and it's great. It's why I highlight Lauren here (in future episodes I'm going to gloss over her because her arc gets repetitive -- it really is something that only could've lasted a couple episodes and her and Mitchell's 'love' dynamic gets sour fast) because it gives you a good insight into what it's like to enter Mitchell's world on his grounds, as another vampire. It makes it clear just how much control (and how many prebaked lies) Mitchell really has.

- George rushing to save Becca is pretty noble when you think about it. He might have to fight (even try and kill) Mitchell in full feeding mode. He has no idea what Mitchell is about to do (and honestly I get every impression Mitchell intended to bite Becca, though whether he'd kill her is another story) or what state he might rush into, and yet, to save his friend's soul and potentially save Becca's live, he sprints right toward the danger. Like I said earlier, he is a reckless risk-taker when he wants to be, and very often he's the most moral and noble of the gang. His morality is written as slipping in Season 2, but as I'll discuss I don't think it ever really does slip until the fourth season -- I think he remains a pragmatist in the context of the world he inhabits. I'll discuss it more as it comes up but suffice to say I think George has a really good arc up until Season 4 (his last season), where his character is directly annihilated via laser-guided torpedo and completely shredded forevermore.

- Lauren cutting Becca's throat is the first example of true grisliness of the series, and IMO one of the most effective. She's an innocent character -- whose portrayal I have issues with -- who gets fucking mangled by this world of the night. Lauren's attempt to bring Mitchell back by twisting Becca is... sickening, but great. It makes sense and I think the dilemma being clear-cut for Mitchell shows that he's still got SOME semblance of morality still despite LOL NO fact he left the house with the goal in mind of basically doing the same thing to Becca as Lauren has.

- Herrick talking with several other coppers about Becca's death is a great little hint that maybe more than just Herrick is a vamp, within the police force.

- The final shot of the episode, of George and Annie discussing how Mitchell probably did save Becca, in a way, from the situation she'd been put in is really sort of where the supernatural heart of the show lies. Anyone not inducted into that world of the dark is infinitely better off, even if it means they have to die in the process. Though it does raise the question of whether Becca became a ghost or not. We don't see her so I imagine not, but that would've been interesting.

- The episode ends on another shot of Creepy Woods Wanker... whom will be very relevant, next episode.

So that was Episode 1. I don't have any post-watch thoughts other than it's a ... very rocky start, for the show. It has to both reintroduce our characters and establish their new portrayals as well as begin the new ongoing plot thread of Herrick as well as handle the start of Lauren and Mitchell's pretty large arc, and throw in Tully (Creepy Woods Wanker) for the next episode too. While the hour-long format of BH does lend itself well to these multi-strand plots that continue forward into the season in future episodes, the fact that the show is basically trying to put its shoes on while have a wank and eat a sandwich means it feels like it's doing almost too much. A more safer start might've been slicker overall.

Fucking hell, this took me just about three hours to write.  In future I think I'll do much shorter episode recaps, but I think this episode deserved a nice long dissection, if only to focus on the character elements that reoccurr in their infancy.

This is my first time writing this sort of thing, again, so I'd love to hear your feedback.

[All Surrogate]

Yes, Russell Tovey has an alright arse and is decently-built, but him being bare-arsed in the dimly-lit woods is hardly a PHWOAR moment

Encountering Russell Tovey bare-arsed in dimly-lit woods scores very highly on my PHWOAR-o-meter.

One day ...

[Mister Six]

Are you not starting with the pilot, H-O-W-L? It's in continuity even if they recast almost everyone.

Mint show, although I think they got a bit broad and cartoony in places. Thick werewolf's nerd girlfriend, played by the posh lass who's mates with Bran in Game of Thrones, is played like a CBeebies character. Can't believe nobody asked her to tone that down.

Season one also suffers from trying to pack 13 episodes of character development into six or seven episodes of space, but they got better at making it work in later seasons.

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

Yesss fantastic thread. I don't remember a whole lot but I do recall really wanting to be Lauren

[H-O-W-L]

Are you not starting with the pilot, H-O-W-L? It's in continuity even if they recast almost everyone.

I do intend to cover it between Seasons 1 and 2, but I feel like starting off on it gives you a terrible impression of the series and I'm expecting not everyone who's read this thread is rewatching and may be starting off for the first time.

Mint show, although I think they got a bit broad and cartoony in places. Thick werewolf's nerd girlfriend, played by the posh lass who's mates with Bran in Game of Thrones, is played like a CBeebies character. Can't believe nobody asked her to tone that down.

That's in Season 4, one that careens back and forth between clownishness and pitch black sincerity. And yeah, I intend to talk about that episode because it's kind of fucked up and significantly weird. It does, however, introduce my favorite character of the entire series (Alex).

Season one also suffers from trying to pack 13 episodes of character development into six or seven episodes of space, but they got better at making it work in later seasons.

Yuuuup. That and, as I'll bring up as Herrick's plot develops, they palpably did not expect a second season until late in the writing. As the show goes on, the plots escalate from small-scale but still potentially global threats like Herrick to legitimately massive, achingly overwhelming plots that encompass all of reality as we know it. Doctor Who Finale Syndrome, almost, though it doesn't get out of hand, it does become quaint and almost silly to look at Herrick and imagine he'd start or even succeed at this mass-conversion plan when you get to series 5.

[Mister Six]

I do like how small and crap Herrick is compared to most TV villains, though. There's a pleasingly British modesty to that first season that's a bit lost in the more ambitious later ones.

[H-O-W-L]

I do like how small and crap Herrick is compared to most TV villains, though. There's a pleasingly British modesty to that first season that's a bit lost in the more ambitious later ones.

Oh, I agree. It is a flaw of the latter series that they become more big and bombastic in terms of villain. It's why I love season 3 so much,

Spoiler alert

because Mitchell is the villain.

[close]

[mothman]

In case you prefer to keep your canine and Tovine enthusiasms separate.