It’s been a long wait since we saw Mark Pellegrino’s head cut off, the door disappear, and those scratch marks unveiled. Luckily, this season premiere dives right in and advances those plots head-on. Will Aidan drift back to the dark side? Is Nora now a werewolf? Will Sally enjoy her high school reunion? Hmm, one of these things is not like the other.
Recap:
Picking up about a month after last season, Aidan is trying to control the fracture left by Bishop’s death and help his “orphans” reintegrate into vampire society. Mother (Deena Aziz), a higher-up vampire, arrives to meet with them, commands that all the orphans be slaughtered, and says her daughter will be the new boss of Boston with Aidan by her side. Unfortunately, the orphans won’t have this and decide to fight back, only to be slaughtered anyway. Meanwhile Sally, still upset about missing her door…attends her high school reunion, oddly enough. She meets two other dead classmates, one who killed himself and the other a shallow queen bee who died of Malaria (and Sally hilariously hates.) Sally accidentally helps her new nemesis find her door, to Sally’s dismay; but on the upside, she also learns that ghosts can “sleep” and “dream.” She tries this out…but a nightmare, where a creepy shadow monster comes through her door, certainly isn’t what she expected. Finally, Nora keeps trying to get Josh to open up about his lycanthropy, in case she herself is now a werewolf. Unsurprisingly, she is one, and she starts turning. Josh rushes to her aid, only to be cornered by Hegeman, armed with a command from Mother and a werewolf-killing gun. Smash cut to black.
Review:
If nothing else, this show’s greatest asset is its ability to take characters who should be incredibly unlikeable and somehow makes us root for them. “Turn This Mother Out” shows that in spades; Josh kicks his wolf-whining into overdrive even though the secret’s out; Sally reverts to a jealous high school mentality; and Aidan is basically a puppet for the vampires. Yet, by a combination of smart writing and strong acting, it works. Josh’s complaints are justified and in-character; Sally is adorable and hilarious; and given the torturous events last season, Aidan’s minimal amount of fighting back is probably a smart move.
Like last season, we started off with a voiceover from Aidan. Opening monologues can be hit-or-miss—lest we forget the much-maligned voiceovers in the early episodes of Everwood and Heroes. I don’t remember any monologues from season 1 of Being Human being particularly bad, but few of them stuck with me for being memorable. Luckily, Sam Witwer can use his unique inflection to make anything at least sound interesting, which worked for this opening. The idea of “freedom” (a theme for this episode and the series in general) was nicely explored, but it did seem like it dragged on for much too long. Take it from a long-winded writer: no matter how philosophical you get, the more you say, the less likely it will be retained.
Of course, the main conflict that carries the overall show is the vampire plot. Generally, I find the vampire stories the least interesting of the trifecta’s journeys; Sally’s and Josh’s stories are always more grounded and cerebral, while the vampire mythology is grand and complex. It’s not that the vampire conflicts are bad, and they’re exhilarating when they get intense–“Going Dutch” is easily the best episode of season 1–but in episodes like this, where’s it’s mostly set-up, it’s a bit uninteresting. I get that the point of having this very alien world is to contrast the “human” world, but the downside is when we explore it, it feels a little too alien in the otherwise grounded show universe…even one with werewolves and ghosts. Admittedly, though, the fight sequences in Being Human are always great, so this episode’s brief one was no different. Despite that unflattering hairdo, Mother is a competent fighter.
Weird as Sally’s high school reunion plot might be to pick up after last season’s events, it was handled well. There wasn’t focus placed on what people thought of Sally so much as what she thought of other people, particularly those two other ghosts. While it was minor, I appreciated the casting of a younger actor to portray a kid who did actually die as a teenager—but still write him like someone of an older age. It was a smart move, as it was to have a kid who killed himself be one of the few very chill, not-tortured ghosts around.
I was unimpressed by the “girl Sally hates” plotline at first. Though I appreciated Sally’s (admittedly cliché) rant quite a bit, it seemed like we’d be getting a retread of the “popular girl actually hated being popular” thread that felt old when Cordelia did it back on Buffy. But luckily, it got turned on its head when it led to the girl finding her door, all thanks to Sally’s epic tear down. It’s a little cruel to Sally—not only did her big “knocking you off your high horse” speech actually save her rival, but it made her even more jealous given her door situation. But hey, what’s this show without torturing the characters, right? At least Meaghan Rath got to have some lighthearted fun this time around.
Should Nora have straight-up told Josh she was scratched? Obviously. But, I don’t really blame her, given Josh’s attitude. Like I said, Josh seemed to be in maximum “I hate my life as a werewolf I want to be normal” mode, and the only reason we don’t want to punch Josh in the face is because Sam Huntington is so gosh darn adorable. But Nora probably knew that adding a huge layer of guilt wouldn’t have been good idea. I really felt for her conversation with Josh in the car (you know, the one with vodka and puking—nice analogy, by the way.) I’m glad her secret didn’t drag on too long, though I guess it would have come out soon no matter what. I hope she sticks around all season, because Kristen Hager is a wonderful addition to an already superb cast.
Along the same lines, it does seem like Josh is being too hard on Aidan given his situation, but it’s also understandable considering Josh’s limited experience dealing with them. One of the the ultimate ironies of Aidan’s journey is that the majority of the problems for both our heroes and villains would stop if they just left each other alone. If the vampires ignored Aidan, and Aidan in turn went on with his life, no one would interfere with anyone’s business. Josh wouldn’t have any reason to defend Aidan, so no one would be trying to kill Josh. The vampires could carry out whatever plans they want without interference, and everyone would be happy and free. But none of them can go a second without sticking their heads in the other side’s business—whether out of adherence to tradition, or shades of heroism. Josh can’t see why Aidan doesn’t just leave the vampires alone, but Aidan still has a responsibility to his brethren (and knows he can’t get out that easily.)
A minor thing I enjoyed was the wonderful job at setting up the Hegeman cliffhanger, but then making us forget about it. So much was packed in between those scenes that I didn’t expect him to show up during Josh’s transformation, even though it was clearly mapped out. That’s some nice writing and directing there.
Also, I should note that Being Human has some of the best music selection on television. If I don’t mention the music in a review, it’s probably because it blended so well into the episode that I couldn’t specifically pick it out. However, as a standout, I enjoyed the song playing with the brief montage before the final scene of the episode. I haven’t been able to find the name of the song online, so if anyone uncovers it, please comment!
Obviously Josh is going to survive the bullet, and I’m fairly certain Nora will too. But what will be the aftermath? Who’s this mysterious daughter? And what’s the shadow after Sally? We’ve got some new mysteries and scenarios, and the dynamics have shifted–exactly what we should get from a season premiere. This might not go down as one of the most memorable episodes ever, but it certainly moved the pieces in the right place, and for that it did just fine.
