ORBzine - Being Human TV Review
[Season 1 !Season 2 !Season 3 !Season 4 !Season 5 ]
Becoming Human
[ Season 1 ]
Being Human [Pilot]
Shown 18th February 2008 [Monday]
Being Human [Season 1, Episode 1]
The Household AKA Flotsam and Jetsam
Shown 25th January 2009 [Monday]
The BBC promoted this as being a half-hour sitcom. As a result, the audience's reaction to the reality (a 1-hour drama) was one of confusion and disappointment. The show has a decent idea at the core of it, but the deceptive and misleading trailer certainly did not do it any favours. This is not exciting enough to be a thriller or funny enough to be a comedy. It is basically a Drama.
This is the first proper episode of the series. The pilot, when the Vampire and Werewolf first move into a haunted flat in Bristol, was in a more comedic tone. Now, with the three flatmates living together, it is a much more serious drama.
Mitchell the Vampire (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) is having issues with the others of his kind. His superiors have plans of their own, and his ex-girlfriend is out for blood.
Being Human [Season 1, Episode 2]
One Of Them AKA Tully
Shown 1st February 2009 [Monday]
George the Werewolf meets another one of his kind. The stranger takes on a Mentor role. This comes in useful when George tries to deal with a new nurse named Nina. Naturally, this works out for the worse.
Being Human [Season 1, Episode 3]
This Is Your Death AKA Ghost Town
Shown 8th February 2009 [Monday]
The guys set Annie up on a date with another ghost.
Being Human [Season 1, Episode 4]
Tribes AKA Another Fine Mess
Shown 15th February 2009 [Monday]
Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) befriends a neighbourhood kid. Unfortunately, the boy nicks the video that Lauren sent ... and things go downhill for Mitchell and the others!
Being Human [Season 1, Episode 5]
Mortality AKA Where The Wild Things Are
Shown 22nd February 2009 [Monday]
Annie the Ghost finally confronts her ex. Things do not go the way she expected them to, but the story arc gets concluded.
Mitchell the vamp (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) teams up with the main vampire society.
Being Human [Season 1, Episode 6]
Putting Away Childish Things AKA Bad Moon Rising
Shown 1st March 2009 [Monday]
Herrick demands that Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) faces him for a duel.
Being Human [Season 2, Episode 1]
Cure and Contagion
Shown 10th January 2010 [Sunday]
Season 2 comes to life, no pun intended, in a manner reminiscent of Buffy: Season 2 . A couple of new vamps come to town - the man is a tough guy who has a history with the male protagonist vampire, Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ), while the woman is mentally unstable.
It is a lot more grown up than Buffy, of course. Drusilla never had graphic sex scenes with Oz the werewolf, for example.
The Ghost gets a job as a barmaid. She is very enthusiastic, as always. The Werewolf has issues with his GF - it does not take a bite to infect, just a scratch ...
The human hunters have plans of their own, of course. The Ghost's BF gave them enough info for them to close in on our heroes. They do not know or care about the Vamps' aborted plan for world domination. All they care about is keeping track of our heroes ...
Being Human [Season 2, Episode 2]
Serve God, Love Me and Mend
Shown 17th January 2010 [Sunday]
A gay vamp's BF turns up dead, drained of blood. Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) must take over Herrick's job of arranging the cover-up.
George has problems with his GF.
Annie loves her new job, working as a barmaid in the pub. She even agrees to go on a date with a regular. But he has a frightening secret of his own ...
The Xian extremists maintain surveillance. They have something nasty planned ...
Being Human [Season 2, Episode 3]
Long Live The King
Shown 24th January 2010 [Sunday]
The bodies are mounting up, and the human collaborators are uneasy about the situation. Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) tries to get the vamps organised. Has he got what it takes to enforce discipline?
George is till torn up over losing Nina. The pub landlord is also lovesick. Annie decides to interfere in both their lives - with humourous consequences.
Ironically, the humans are more monsterous than some of the undead! And we finally get to meet The Professor ...
Being Human [Season 2, Episode 4]
Educating Creature
Shown 31st January 2010 [Sunday]
Annie meets another ghost, an RAF veteran named Sykes. He can teach her how to read auras and defeat the gatekeepers.
George turns his life around. He gets a better job, teaching English as a Foreign Language. Her even manages to control the werewolf. But the side effect is that he develops a terrible case of Tourettes Syndrome, and a violent temper.
Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) starts a Bloodaholics Anonymous support group. He even gets Ivan the Elder to participate. But this requires a moral compromise.
The Full Moon comes round again. The Xian fanatics have Nina as their new test subject.
Being Human [Season 2, Episode 5]
The Looking Glass
Shown 7th February 2010 [Sunday]
George decides to move in with his new GF, who he has only known for two weeks. Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) tries to talk him out of it. Annie is pre-occupied with baby-sitting for a ghost baby.
The local Chief Constable tries to get Mitchell to execute a Paedophile. Mitchell's view on this kind of thing is influenced by his previous associations with Herrick, and we are given a wonderful extended flashback to a kill-crazy rampage back in 1969. Mitchell's choices are questionable, but this provides a plot reason for pushing him into the arms of the lady doctor.
Being Human [Season 2, Episode 6]
In The Morning
Shown 14th February 2010 [Sunday]
The lady doctor and her associates lay a trap for the Vampires.
Annie helps a psychic who has lost contact with the spirit world.
Being Human [Season 2, Episode 7]
Damage
Shown 21st February 2010 [Sunday]
Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) and Daisy are on the warpath. The hunter is now the hunted, and they are not happy about it.
The Xians use Nina to approach George and Annie. They are both eager to get cured, especially when George's condition asserts itself again ...
Being Human [Season 2, Episode 8]
All God's Children
Shown 28th February 2010 [Sunday]
The Xians have Nina, George and Annie in their lair. But something else is down there, knocking them off one at a time.
Where was Daisy the vamp when all this was happening? Well, the epilogue shows how she brings about the return of a villain for the next Season's story arc! That said, if it is such a relatively easy task to revive a Vamp, why do they not bring ALL of them back?
Season 3
Being Human [Season 3, Episode 1]
Lia
Shown 23rd January 2011 [Sunday]
Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ), George and Nina have relocated to Wales, where they think they are safe from all the trouble in Bristol. But tonight is a full moon, so George and Nina need to find a safe place to transform.
Mitchell is obsessed with saving Annie from Purgatory. He makes a trip there himself, but must confront his own terrible past.
Another werewolf (Robson Green - Soldier, Soldier) and his son are in town. They're being hunted by the local vamps.
Being Human [Season 3, Episode 2]
Adam's Family
Shown 30th January 2011 [Sunday]
Annie is recovering from her imprisonment in Purgatory. She obsesses about Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ), and tries to help him get a job as a cleaner at the local hospital. With hilarious results.
George and Nina encounter Adam, a teenage boy who has been a vampire for the last two and a half decades. He is immature, sexually frustrated - not someone Mitchell wants around, in case he gets dragged off the wagon. There is another alternative - a clique of perverse middle-class vamps.
This is the jump-off for Becoming Human - the Internet-based kids-friendly spin-off version of the show.
Being Human [Season 3, Episode 3]
Type Four
Shown 6th February 2011 [Sunday]
Annie meets a fellow dead girl ( Alexandra Roach ) - but this one is a zombie! It turns out that someone at the hospital has been creating zombies, then disecting and experimenting on them.
Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) has a fan - more of a stalker than a groupie. The fan is obsessed with the Box Tunnel events ...
George discovers a secret that Nina has been keeping from him. Nina's pills do not work when she is in werewolf form ...
Being Human [Season 3, Episode 4]
The Pack
Shown 13th February 2011 [Sunday]
George and Nina are desperate for help. They discover that another werewolf (Robson Green - Soldier, Soldier) and his son Tom (Michael Socha - Once Upon A Time In Wonderland ) are in town. The newcomers are waging a secret war on vamps ...
Annie and Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) try some sexual experimentation. Naturally, there is a lot of room for things to go badly wrong ...
Being Human [Season 3, Episode 5]
Herrick
Shown 20th February 2011 [Sunday]
Herrick is back, at last. But he is an amnesiac ... or is he?
Our heroes' relationships start to strain under the pressure of the situation.
This episode starts tying up the plots, and kicking off the story for real. This season was a slow starter, but this ep really makes up for it.
Being Human [Season 3, Episode 6]
Daddy Ghoul
Shown 27th February 2011 [Sunday]
Female cop Erin Richards shows up, to follow up the tip-off on the Box Tunnel massacre. Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) does not have the wit to deflect her properly, while Annie and Herrick both give her hints ...
George's dad dies, so he goes to the funeral - and sees the ghost. He has to help the old man end his unfinished business.
Being Human [Season 3, Episode 7]
Though The Heavens Fall
Shown 6th March 2011 [Sunday]
Annie does her best to persuade the female cop ( Erin Richards ) to continue investigating. Strangely, even when the cop discovers evidence of Mitchell's vampirism (and worse), she carries on regardless.
McNair is back in town. He has unfinished business with Herrick ...
Being Human [Season 3, Episode 8]
The Wolf-Shaped Bullet
Shown 13th March 2011 [Sunday]
Herrick is back, and he wants to test Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ). The natural way is to set Mitchell against George - is he the The Wolf-Shaped Bullet? Or is it McNair's son Tom (Michael Socha - Once Upon A Time In Wonderland ), who is still on the warpath?
We discover how the flirty ghost can make a prophecy about the The Wolf-Shaped Bullet, while Annie has been a ghost a lot longer and still has no ability to see the future.
The epilogue is overly drawn out, just as the epilogue of the previous Season was. The Ancients have sent in their clean-up team, led by Sam Tyler's dad from Life on Mars . This certainly sets things up for Season Four.
Becoming Human [Season 1, Episode 1]
All God's Children
Shown 20th March 2011 [Sunday]
Our teenage vampire moves to a new town, and joins a school so he can blend in better. He ends up in detention with a girl werewolf and a chubby boy ghost. Together, the trio decide to find out how the ghost came to die. His unfinished business is to find his murderer.
Being Human [Season 4, Episode 1]
Eve of the War
Shown 5th February 2012 [Sunday]
After the shock ending of the previous Season, it turns out that another regular character has been killed - off-screen, as well. The survivors are split between hunting the vamps and guarding the baby.
Some of the vamps are actually portrayed as decent people. The Old Guard want to conquer by violence, but the younger ones are more realistic.
Flashes to the future show a vampire apocalypse in 2037 CE. The handful of humans and werewolves who survive are trying to fulfill a prophecy of destroying the vamps. This involves the baby ...
Being Human [Season 4, Episode 2]
Being Human 1955
Shown 12th February 2012 [Sunday]
The survivors have visitors - another ghost, wolfman and vamp who all live together. This sets up a new trio to replace the original flatmates. There is a very different vibe to the original George/Mitchell relationship.
Being Human [Season 4, Episode 3]
The Graveyard Shift
Shown 19th February 2012 [Sunday]
We get a bit more of the new vamp's background. His name is Hal, he is centuries old, feared throughout the vampire communities, which explains why his bloodlust is so much stronger than any other vamp that we have seen. He still has to get a job to pay the rent - he helps the wolf-boy out in the greasy spoon café. Which brings them into contact with a wannabe Goth girl.
Annie forgets to be low-key with the baby, showing it in public. Naturally the vamps soon discover this, and come after it again.
Being Human [Season 4, Episode 4]
A Spectre Calls
Shown 26th February 2012 [Sunday]
A new guest comes to stay at the B&B. He is a ghost, so he should fit right in. But he is creepy, a bit like a David Walliams character. And he starts to manipulate our heroes, pitting them against each other like Spike did in Buffy Season 4: The Yoko Factor . But is it believable that Annie would take his word over those of her so-called friends? Especially since most ghosts she has met have manipulated her ...
Being Human [Season 4, Episode 5]
Hold the Front Page
Shown 4th March 2012 [Sunday]
The young vamp, Adam, makes a reappearance. He has a new girlfriend - a middle-aged matronly school-marm. Adam in uncharacteristically smitten with her, but his bloodlust has completely dissipated. She can see Annie, although she does not believe in Werewolves or vamps. Also, all men (including the supernatural residents) start to obsess about her and have unhealthy dreams. Which makes her a Type Five, if there were such a thing.
Adam and his GF have a posse of paparazzi on their tail. One of them is overly inquisitive. The vamp lawyer is still plotting.
Being Human [Season 4, Episode 6]
Puppy Love
Shown 11th March 2012 [Sunday]
A geek girl comes to town. It turns out she is a werewolf, so she becomes Tom's love interest.
A Vampire fixer comes to town to prepare for the Old Ones. Cutler the vamp solicitor does not like being elbowed out, so he persuades Tom (Michael Socha - Once Upon A Time In Wonderland ) to help him out.
Being Human [Season 4, Episode 7]
Making History
Shown 18th March 2012 [Sunday]
Hal the vamp goes looking for Cutler the solicitor now in charge of the vamps. It turns out he sired the fellow, back in the fifties, to get free legal advice. And ironically, his protégé now uses his own murderous tactics against him.
Future Eve takes Annie into limbo, and shows her the future. Tom (Michael Socha - Once Upon A Time In Wonderland ) will die in a cage fight, killed by his own guilt. Hal will become poster-boy of the Vampire regime. And Annie will fade away. Unless they kill Eve ...
Tom the werewolf prepares to eat the Old Ones. But Cutler the solicitor's plan is more convoluted. Luckily he loves to monologue.
Mr Snow (Mark Gatiss - League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse ) and the rest of the Old Ones come to town ...
Being Human [Season 4, Episode 8]
The War Child
Shown 25th March 2012 [Sunday]
Cutler gives his presentation to Mr Snow (Mark Gattis - League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse ), but it does not go as planned. Of course, he has another plan for achieving infamy.
Tom (Michael Socha - Once Upon A Time In Wonderland ) plans to bomb the Old Ones. It will be a suicide mission, of course, but none of them have anything worth living for.
The ending is predictable, really. Lots of loose ends get tied up, and characters written out. Sort of a jump-the-shark kind of ending, but given how the Season started ...
Being Human [Season 5, Episode 1]
The Trinity
Shown 3rd February 2013 [Sunday]
Hal's lust for human blood seems to have fallen, and he has returned to his anal retentive self. The others let him go, so he and wolf-boy can get jobs at a local hotel. One of the residents is a creepy old git, but nobody seems to notice.
Hal accidentally kills a local loser, Mr Crumb - I mean, Cram. Naturally he feels guilty, so he brings him back - as a vamp. This naturally goes horribly wrong. Luckily, the Government's Men in Grey are there to handle things.
The Men in Grey have been around since the time of Cromwell. Founded by Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder General, one might assume. But the Ministry wants to shut them down to save a little bit of money. In all fairness, they did absolutely nothing for the first few Seasons.
Hal has flashbacks to 1918. The Vamps and werewolves were at war. But they discovered the Devil was manipulating them. So they team up, and get a Necromancer to help summon the Devil so they can kill him. This naturally goes horribly wrong.
Being Human [Season 5, Episode 2]
Sticks and Ropes
Shown 10th February 2013 [Sunday]
The Devil's plan is coming to fruition. All he needs is for a vamp and werewolf to fight. Why the flatmate conflicts of the first few Seasons was not enough is not explained. Vamps were persecuting Werewolves for most of the Twentieth Century, it seems. There used to be enough werewolves to form their own army, while now Tom (Michael Socha - Once Upon A Time In Wonderland ) and Tully are the only living ones we know of. And with the Old Ones gone, most lesser vamps (except the newly-made Crumb) seem to have died too.
Hal and Tom compete to be best at work. But no matter how much Hal slacks off, and no matter how much effort Tom puts in, the snobby boss lady always prefers Hal.
The hotel is haunted by a ten-year-old boy who died in the 1850s. The Scottish girl ghost Alex is assigned babysitting duties. After all, she looked after her wee brothers after her mum left. But the guardians of the Underworld are after the ghosts.
Being Human [Season 5, Episode 3]
Pie and Prejudice
Shown 17th February 2013 [Sunday]
Lies abound. Tom (Michael Socha - Once Upon A Time In Wonderland ) brings home a fellow werewolf (Julian Barratt - A Field In England ), a self-help guru who is down on his luck. The fellow soon incurs the wrath of Hal, who sees through the BS (but refuses to admit when his own flaws are pointed out).
This all seems a bit familiar. We get a replay of events from Season One, with a small attempt at putting an original spin on things. For example, the Civil Servant responsible for supernatural clean-ups is having a crisis of his own.
Being Human [Season 5, Episode 4]
The Greater Good
Shown 24th Feb 2013 [Sunday]
With the Government shutting down The Archive, saving itself 100 million pounds a year, thirty-five werewolves (and an unknown number of vamps) are released into society. Luckily, Hal and his flatmates are on hand to provide support.
Hal and Alex the ghost girl stage an intervention for Crumb and his Asian friend. Meanwhile, Tom the wolf-boy (Michael Socha - Once Upon A Time In Wonderland ) provides support and advice for an institutionalised werewolf. Everything seems to be going well. But on this show, it will always end badly.
Mr Rook, former head of The Archive, despairs over what it will take for the Government to do anything. Crumb's sororicide was not nearly enough. Even when Mitchell (Aidan Turner - The Hobbit ) did the Box Tunnel Massacre, the Archive did not bother to get involved. But poor, desperate Rook becomes another pawn in the Devil's game.
Crumb manages to convince Alex the Ghost girl to go on a date with him. Things will go badly, of course.
Being Human [Season 5, Episode 5]
All Care, No Resonsibility
Shown 3rd Mar 2013 [Sunday]
Ghost-Girl Alex still has her suspicions about the Captain. She gets Hal to request help from Mr Rook at the Archive.
A young woman named Natasha comes to work at the Hotel. Tom (Michael Socha - Once Upon A Time In Wonderland ) gets conflicted emotions about her, and refers to female characters he encountered in Being Human [Season 4, Episode 5]Hold the Front Page and Being Human [Season 4, Episode 6]Puppy Love . Can he sort out his feelings for her?
Hal has problems of his own. He has a craving for human blood again. He needs to find a willing donor, or he will go on a kill-crazy rampage.
Being Human [Season 5, Episode 6]
The Last Broadcast
Shown 10th Mar 2013 [Sunday]
This is the last ever episode. It picks up where the previous ep left off - Tom (Michael Socha - Once Upon A Time In Wonderland ) wants to kill Hal.
The Devil wants to kill everyone - or rather, get them to kill themselves. The result is like the infamous horror movie flop The Happening . The Devil uses Mr Rook's pass-codes to access the Emergency Broadcast system. All he has to do is make The Last Broadcast on television, and order everyone watching to kill themselves.
Our heroes try to save the world. But The Devil tempts them with the gift of Being Human ...