Being Human gets real – did it blow the hatch?

A few days ago, fellow Clacker and Being Human viewer Carla got to preview this week’s episode and reported back to me. Without giving much away, she told me it was a pivotal and even “blowing the hatch” episode for the characters. I think the hatch nearly got blown last night (boy, does that sound dirty or what!), but it was at least an exciting episode and easily the best since the pilot.

It was pretty awesome to see two of my hypotheses about the show confirmed. First, that Ray was the one who first turned Josh (you might remember my revelation this last weekend). The only part I really got wrong was that Ray didn’t mean to attack Josh and his friend, but he still wanted to get a pack together to take on the vampires. Ray didn’t disappoint with his announcing the truth to his protégé … you can tell he was really hoping for a less horrified reaction. When Ray called his lycanthropy a “gift,” you knew Josh was going to go nuts. It reminded me of an abusive father trying to reconnect with his son … can you really blame Josh for being not only angry, but repulsed by how nonchalant Ray acted? Sam Huntington really went all out in this scene — it was intense and very real. Oh, and him standing up to the pretty nurse was awesome. That’s right Blondie … he came in on his day off, what are you going to do about it?

The other guess I got right was that Danny did kill Sally. It is official! I’m especially proud that I called it in my very first review of the show. I was a little frustrated when we discovered he had an anger management issue since we had never seen any hint of anger in him. Looking back though, you can argue a lot of abusive partners hide their rage from others. Plus, Sally’s denial about his verbal abuse isn’t uncommon in these kind of relationships. That being said, I still wish there was some hint of that rage in earlier episodes. I did appreciate Aidan’s immediate anger about Sally’s death, and his willingness to kill for her was great. I’m guessing the open-minded-about-ghosts Bridget will either figure things out or will be threatened by Danny and Sally will have to find a way to help her.

Did anyone else find the vampire priest to be incredibly ridiculous? Maybe it’s because I grew up Catholic, but when I think about people using God to justify killing other people, I think of the Crusades and Imperialism (and we all know how swimmingly that stuff worked out). I think Aidan said it best when he called the guy delusional — I mean, the priest did suggest Jesus was a vampire, so it’s not like delusion was a big surprise. I also found it interesting that the priest cited the story of Adam and Eve as his proof for their right to immortality; the way I was always taught (in Catholic school, no less), the stories of Genesis were not meant to be taken literally. But we’re also talking about a guy who thinks God wants him to eat people, so something tells me he’d reinterpret a lot of the Bible for his own benefit. Anyway, he was certainly an interesting character. I’m not sure how much more we’re going to see of him since Aidan destroyed his fangs, but I didn’t see Bishop’s cronie snap his neck, so who knows?

What brought the episode together was that last scene with the three roommates around the dinner table. Having Josh initiate this very human custom — and voluntarily share Ray’s revelation — is a step in the right direction for both their relationships and the actual series.

Fellow Clacker Carla was also able to sit in on a conference call with cast member Sam Witner. Apparently, Witner mentioned that he and his two cast members had great chemistry immediately, but were asked to tone it down for the first few episodes. After last night’s episode, the three characters will be getting much tighter. I feel like it was a mistake for them to be directed that way since the performances have felt so stiff so far, but hopefully this chemistry will show in the rest of the season. Carla also told me the show has a person on set whose job it is to make sure that Witner and Sam Huntington never touched Meaghan Rath (Sally) and that Witner was never in direct sunlight. The More You Know!

Clacked by Katie Schenkel
on Feb 15, 2011 @ 08:33 EST5EDT