Instant Review: Being Human (US) – “The End of the World As We Knew It”

Ooh, lots of things happening in this week’s episode of Being Human (US)! For those who have seen the episode, the title is very appropriate, don’t you think? I also think “True Colors” would be an apt title, since we got to see the true colors of many characters this week, some of which were unexpected…unless you’ve seen the original, that is.

The following contains spoilers for the episode and for series one of the original BBC series.

My goodness, where to start? Let’s pick up with the werewolves, shall we? When we left Josh and his new buddy, the hick creepmeister Ray, they had beaten up a few vampires the night before the full moon. Ray was quite pleased, but Josh felt remorse and hated the idea of losing control. In fact, Josh had already decided that Ray needed to leave after their transformation the next night but, as they were preparing to change, Ray dropped the bomb that he’d been searching for Josh for two years and was, in fact, the werewolf who injured Josh and cursed him. After the big reveal, Ray still tried to plead his case. It was a gift and the two of them should find other werewolves and band with them to be stronger. With more werewolves, they wouldn’t have to be afraid of vampires and they’d be safer and stronger together than apart. Josh countered by saying they’d also be more dangerous to those around them, but Ray didn’t care about that. They began to change (and we got shortchanged AGAIN!) and then it was morning. A fully-clothed Josh threw Ray his clothes, forgave him for the initial attack (since he was an animal and couldn’t help it) but said finding him was wrong and warned Ray to stay away. Ray told Josh that he’d see things differently in five years, or ten, and then Josh would seek him out. Rather than further engaging him, Josh just walked away.

Meanwhile, Aidan’s having more problems with the vampires. Aidan issued a warning that the hospital was off limits for recruitment but Bishop wasn’t scared of his erstwhile protege. We saw Nurse Aidan giving palliative care to a dying man, then the priest giving last rites, then covering the man’s face and wheeling him off with a toe tag. And then the man woke up in the morgue and received Vampire Lesson One from the same priest who administered the last rites! When confronted, Bishop said they were recruiting strategically now – important, rich or well-connected people who volunteered – and the hospital was definitely the place to do it, regardless of Aidan’s ban. Bishop – older, stronger and, more importantly, still feeding – tossed Aidan around like a rag doll saying it was time for Aidan’s “little experiment” to be over and he needed to come back into the fold.

Aidan confronted the priest who was, in fact, a real priest (“ordained and everything”) who, since becoming a vampire six years ago, had developed an interesting take on Christianity – “perverted theology” in Aidan’s words. God created the world in His image, so vampires must be part of that image. Adam and Eve were immortal before the Fall, also proving that vampires were part of the Divine plan. And then there’s Jesus rising from the dead…(don’t think you haven’t considered the “Jesus-as-vampire” theory!) Their encounter ends with Aidan, weakened by not feeding but still stronger than the vampriest by virtue of being roughly forty times older, smashes the priest’s fangs out with a candlestick. Near the end of the episode, the vampriest goes running to complain to Bishop and asks to be “fixed”. Bishop comforts him (well, appears to) but says fangs don’t grow back, though the vampires protect their own. When we last saw the vampriest, he was being escorted away by a vampire bodyguard and looking very uncertain and scared. I predict a well-aged stake in his future.

Getting back to the idea of true colors though, possibly the biggest surprise for new viewers was the reveal of how Sally actually died. Turns out Danny’s got quite the temper and accused Sally of infidelity when she took her engagement ring off and accidentally dropped it down the sink. Danny became so enraged he pushed her against the wall right at the top of the stairs where Sally ricocheted and rolled down, cracking her head on the tiles of the landing, dying instantly. Sally had flashbacks and the plumbing seemed possessed until she finally remembered the full horrific details. When a plumber came to inspect the source of the nasty sludge filling the sinks, all he found was one small hair clog, not enough to cause the problem…and a ring. Sally’s engagement ring. After that, the sinks suddenly and mysteriously drained.

Bridget had told Danny about “hearing” Sally before and felt Sally must be still around. She tried to sense Sally’s presence and Danny caught her at it, berating her and making her feel bad for not respecting how it must make him feel as her fiance. We got to see some of Danny’s temper turned on Bridget and maybe we’ll see Sally try to save Bridget from harm at Danny’s hands. I can’t wait for Danny to get his comeuppance (though he’s nowhere near as creepy yet as Annie’s fiance Owen from the original series) and I would love to see how Meaghan Rath handles the big speech Annie delivered at the end of episode 5 of Being Human series 1, the one about finding a safe place “with locks…and big dogs…and never, ever turn out the light.” I’m sure the American equivalent has been written and maybe even shot, but I dearly, dearly hope that, of all the lines in the original, that speech makes it through unchanged. And I want to see Danny kack himself.

I loved the little domestic scene at the end of the episode. Josh, getting back in touch with his inner George, cooked a full roast dinner to share with his housemates. Sally reminded him that she and Aidan couldn’t eat, so Josh (in an uncharacteristic dig at the defenseless) told them to be like “the anorexic girls I knew in high school” and just push the food around and pick at it. Aidan gamely tried some asparagus and Sally just watched, then Sally and Josh shared their revelations about who caused their current states. Interestingly, Aidan didn’t talk about his day and I think (okay, I know) that’s going to come back and bite them all in the butt later. But rather than error by omission, it seemed like he was protecting his friends because they both had a lot to deal with at the moment. I’m betting it’ll become error by omission soon though as he just won’t find the right time to lay all the vampire politics on them.

So yeah, another excellent episode, deja vu, blah, blah, but I’m still enjoying the hell out of the Syfy Being Human. I’m really liking Josh now and quite warming up to Sally. I can’t wait to see her get her haunt on. Still not that keen on Aidan yet, though Sam Witwer does have some moments of really good acting. I just don’t have a bead on the character yet. And speaking of not having it down yet, remember last week when I mentioned Ray’s inconsistent accent? Turns out he’s played by Montreal local Andreas Apergis. So if he’s French Canadian, that would explain the weird accent fluctuations. I’m going to have to track down something else this guy’s been in to see if he’s that creepy all the time.