Genre: Horror | Drama | Comedy
Air Date/Time: March 31 at 9/8c
Network: BBC America
Created by: Toby Whithouse
Director: Daniel O’Hara
Writer: John Jackson
Summary:
In an old B&B in a sleepy seaside town, we join Annie (Lenora Crichlow) and her housemates Tom (Michael Socha) and Hal (Damien Molony). With a newborn baby to look after, it’s never been more difficult to live life under-the-radar as a ghost, a werewolf, and a vampire. There are also other vampires to deal with: lurking in every corner of society, waiting for the Old Ones, powerful older vampires, to arrive and take over the world with brutal force. Worse yet, there’s a malevolent ghost on the loose and someone’s seeking to expose the existence of werewolves – not to mention all the diapers that need changing.
When a show that I enjoy and look forward to puts out a mediocre episode, I tend to get angry. Particularly when there are only 8 episodes in its entire season. My first draft of this review was pretty bitter. I’ve now calmed down and re-watched, and this episode is… fine. It’s fine. Lots of people will like it. In my view, however, it’s a waste of potential and talent.
It doesn’t help that they start the episode with the bane of my viewing existence, the whiner song. That’s ok, I was able to shake it off. We meet a new character, and she is earnest and geeky, very Hermione-ish, and becomes friends with Tom, and their relationship is the basis for this week’s title. A bit of a groaner, but that’s okay. The setup could be a good vehicle for Michael Socha’s talents but sadly it isn’t written well enough. It’s just… fine.
Hal also makes a new friend, and she is absolutely gorgeous. But in spite of Hal’s previous protestations of prowess, he exudes absolutely NO sex appeal around her, so either this is a setup and she’s not what she seems or the production is handling the character of Hal poorly and he is meant to seem somehow attractive. I understand that he is barely hanging on to his control, and that he’s been out of the “dating” scene for half a century, but he comes off as asexual and meek and completely inexperienced. I can’t tell if it’s Damien Molony’s interpretation or just how the part is written this week, but … it’s fine.
The Annie story is okay, and we learn one new thing about ghosts. Her new “friend” is a grumpy older man who is somewhat unappealing, but we don’t really care much about him, or about Annie being stuck with him. He’s irritating, but not much more. After a shocking start, this storyline could go in a lot of different directions, but it takes a relatively unexciting and uninteresting road. Lenora Crichlow does what she can with the material, so overall, it’s fine.
Cutler, the seemingly nice vampire with a hidden anti-werewolf agenda, meets a vampire who believes she should be head of the region, and brings two assistants with her. One of them provides the few honest laughs of the episode, but again, there seems to be so much more that could be done with the scenario, and it just doesn’t get there. It’s isn’t a horrible storyline, it’s just – well, you know.
There are no apparent production issues this week; editing, sound, lighting are all great, and the music – not the songs, but the music – goes a long way towards enhancing the feel of each scene, and is particularly good when there is pending danger.
Look, I’m hoping that my overall bashing of this episode will reduce your expectations so that you can be free to enjoy it, knowing that it’s not really up to par but that it’s okay. Every other episode of this season was just so much better. I’m sorry to say that this week’s offering almost makes me pleased that the newly-commissioned Season 5 has only six episodes; maybe they’ll be forced to make it a bit tighter. With only two episodes left in the current season, I expect a lot of ramping up to come, and am hopeful that this under par performance is just a blip.
I give Being Human: Season 4, Episode 6 “Puppy Love”, Three Out of Five Stars.
