SyFy’s Being Human, season two – CliqueClack Preview

by Katie Schenkel

After taking a look at the first two episodes of the season, I'm starting to think this American remake can finally come out of the shadow of the British original.

Last year in April, the first season of the US version of Being Human ended and I wallowed about having to wait until 2012 to deal with the cliffhangers. Well … 2011 went by quickly, didn’t it? And fans of the show can once again enjoy Aidan, Josh and Sally. CliqueClack was lucky enough to get a preview of the first two episodes (January 16th’s “Turn This Mother Out” and January 23rd’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?”). The good news is, if the two episodes I saw were any indication, this season should be strong. The bad new is, this is a preview … so no big spoilers.

After the season finale last spring, I ended up watching the UK series up to the first few episodes of series 2. And I will say, I can understand why people thought SyFy was trying to copy the BBC … they had a lot of similar story arcs. However, I think both series did some things better than the other. The British version had the characters bond faster (some of this is due to them knowing each other for a few weeks by the time of the pilot). The girl vampire character in the UK was also far less annoying than Rebecca. However, the US version had the more compelling antagonist and I liked the rules of the US’s monsters much more (especially the ghost rules).

What I’ve found in the first two episodes of season 2 is that they look to be going in a totally different direction with the characters. One of the best aspects of the two episodes is Nora and Josh. Their relationship feels so real and even though there is some definite tension for different reasons, you believe the love they have for each other. Compared to George and Nina in the UK version, they get on the same page a lot faster and don’t drag the audience along as much. And in general, Nora is pretty adorable. There are a few scenes where she tries to communicate with Sally that are awkward but very genuine. The only part that frustrated me is that they answer one of the burning questions from last season, but it takes until toward the end of the second episode and it’s sort of a throwaway line … as if we’re supposed to know it already. Maybe they did say something about it in the first episode, but I didn’t catch it.

I have a feeling Sally is going to get so much better now that her storyline isn’t her murder. We’re past it and that’s a good thing. We’re going to get to see her interacting with more ghosts and they don’t all find their doors in one episode — we get to see them again! I got really tired of characters only showing up for one episode … that does not character development make. There seems to be some similarity between Sally’s new story arc and Annie’s series 2 story arc, but the fact that Sally’s ghost powers are very different from Annie’s means that there is going to be a definite split between the doppelgangers.

With Aidan, it looks like a very different storyline, which I love. We were baited in the finale with the mentioned of “her,” the apparent leader of the vampires whose very name should be feared. While her casting seems a little cliche, “she” is actually intimidating. But more intriguing is her daughter, who Aidan will have a whole lot of contact with coming up. Last season convinced me that Sam Witwer can handle serious scenes, and this season looks to give him plenty of dramatic moments. Aidan will have to walk a very fine line, and it looks like his ethics are going to turn to a shade of grey.

The first two episodes are already setting up the plot threads for the rest of the season, and they are going away from the UK show. More than that, the trio finally feel like close friends. For that reason alone, I’m looking forward to season two.