Being Human S1 Ep4 "Wouldn't It Be Nice (If We Were Human)

Photo courtesy of Syfy.com

Greetings-

I'm still really digging this show. Let's hope Syfy keeps it around for a while. Everyone probably knows by now that I'm into vampire television. I'm a fan of "The Vampire Diaries",  "Forever Knight", "True Blood" (even though I've only seen the first season), and I even enjoyed the short lived ABC series "The Gates".

There's just something about vampires that speaks to my nocturnal nature. When other kids were pretending to be super-heroes, I was secretly hoping that one day I would become a vampire.

Guest starring is Andreas Apergis (voice actor in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood) as Ray. Also a very special appearance by a pair of Zubaz pants.

Anyway, enough about my childhood fantasies. Let's get on with the latest episode. Here's what TV Guide has to say about "Wouldn't It Be Nice (If We Were Human)":

Josh befriends a werewolf who doesn't like vampires; Rebecca seeks out Aidan's help to evade the vampire clan; Sally learns a new trick.

Like the rest of my TV columns this week, I'm stepping away from doing a blow by blow recap and just giving you my initial thoughts and reactions after watching the show.

First half hour:
Ray:  A bit creepy at first, but tolerable. However, by the midpoint of the episode we find out that Ray is a full out bigot when it comes to vampires. Detestable character by this point of the show.
Aiden:  He's definitely not as strong as he thinks when it comes to the lust for blood. He tries to teach Rebecca how to stay away from drinking the blood of humans, but at this point it's almost like watching an alcoholic trying to teach another alcoholic how to stay away from whiskey by having them drink light beer instead. The blood lust scenes are very sexy in a dark way.
Sally:  She learned how to travel outside of their house by using her mind in last week's episode, which was pretty darn cool. I felt even more excited for her when she actually made something happen on the physical plane tonight. She learned how to cock-block from beyond the grave.
Josh:  What can I say? I think it's great that he's beginning to shed some of the awkwardness and starting to gain some self-confidence. Just goes to show that we can learn something even from the most deplorable of sources.

Second half:
Okay, so maybe this dose of self-confidence wasn't such a good thing for Josh. I gave a good old fashioned face-palm during his attempt to hit on the hot blonde nurse in the hospital cafeteria. When he chews Aiden's ass for asking him about his attempt at dating suicide, I almost wanted to hit him in the eye.

I may be getting more emotional as I get older, but I was really touched when Sally decides to let go of the past and communicates to Bridget that it's okay for her and Danny to be together. I got a little misty eyed. It got a little bit dusty in my house during that scene.

Rebecca learns how hard it is to control herself. It's not easy trying to control your desires.

I really want Ray to come to a bad end. Bringing Josh to the vampire den was not a good idea. Ray puts Josh in a position where he has to let his inner wolf out in order to defend himself. I like Josh better when he's awkward. However, this, along with Rebecca's struggles show how hard it can be to repress our baser instincts.

A little bit relieved to see that Rebecca is gone for now. Aiden is barely strong enough to keep his own urges in check. He doesn't have the strength that he wants to have. Danny needs to just grow a pair. Sure it may seem silly to try to talk to someone that you can't see, but he really needs to try. He's got something to get off his chest.  Not sure what he wants to say, but if it's important, he needs to just say it no matter if he believes that Sally can hear it or not. It was nice to see Marcus get the snot beat out of him, but not at the expense of Josh's likability. While some of the things that Ray said to him at the end of the episode may hit a little close to the truth, we don't need Josh to go down that road.  He needs to strike a balance between his inner-wolf and his humanity.

Seems that toxic relationships aren't only limited to humans.

Next week, Bishop is back.

Favorite Quote:
Josh:  I think the wolf eats its own poo.

Until next time,
-Bill-

Being Human S1 Ep 1 There Goes the Neighborhood Pt. 1

Tonight marks the premiere of the Americanized version of the BBC's supernatural drama.  Here's what TV Guide has to say about tonight's episode.

After a bloody night out, a vampire and a werewolf decide to become roommates to look out for each other, and they find a townhouse that's haunted by the ghost of their landlord's fiancée in the opener of the series following three supernatural beings who try to live like humans.

I've only caught parts of 1 or 2 episodes of the Original on BBC America, so I won't be able to make any comparisons between the 2 versions, but I'll be back after the show with my thoughts.

So far so good!  I'll definitely be tuning in next week.

Decent effects, much better than the CGI work that goes into Syfy's original movies.  Josh's transformation at the beginning of the episode wasn't the best werewolf transformation that I've ever seen (That honor still belongs to the transformation in An American Werewolf in London), but it was very nicely done.

Seems we have some mysteries to unravel with this show, which is always a good thing in my opinion.  As long as the show runners don't drag the mysteries out too long, it should work out just fine.

We don't yet know how Josh and Aidan met and we don't know how Josh came to be a werewolf.  We do know, however, that it happened about 2 years ago and he was so freaked out that he ran away from his family and hasn't had any contact with any of them until his sister ends up at the hospital that both Josh and Aidan work at.

Seems that Bishop is some kind of Vampire boss in some sort of Vampire Mafia.  Bishop was responsible for turning Aidan.  Sometime in the recent past, Aidan decided to leave "the Family" and try to run away from his true nature.

It's always great to see Mark Pellegrino back on television.  He seems to have beefed up a little bit from his time playing Jacob on Lost and Lucifer on Supernatural.

We know that Sally died sometime recently (of course she did, duh...that's why she's a ghost), but we don't yet know how she died and neither does she.  All she can remember is going to bed and waking up a ghost.
Sally can't leave the place where she died (although from the promo for upcoming episodes, it seems that she learns how to leave the house), and she's really upset about the whole deal.  She'd love to be able to leave and be with her fiancée, but she can't.  Very easy to sympathize with her.  When she's not brimming over with excitement that someone can finally see her and that she has other people to talk to, you can damn near feel her sadness coming right through the television.

Near the end of the episode, we see Bishop take Aidan to some kind of Vampire groupie whorehouse type place, where the women let the vampires drink from them.  Bishop believes that he has Aidan back under his power again, but things aren't always what they seem.

Also near the end of the episode, Josh leaves the hospital, but his sister Emily follows him wanting answers.  Josh makes it to his "cage" and both he and his sister end up locked in moments before the transformation.

As I said earlier, I've only seen parts of 1 or 2 episodes of the BBC series, so I look at this show with a fresh pair of eyes.  It's nice to watch something without always sub-consciously comparing it with the original.

Until next time,
-Bill-

Main Cast:
Sam Witwer (Smallville, Star Wars:The Force Unleashed I & II) - Aidan (The Vampire)
Meaghan Rath (The Assistants) - Sally (The Ghost)
Sam Huntington (Superman Returns) - Josh (The Werewolf)
Mark Pellegrino (Lost, Supernatural) - Bishop
Alison Louder (The Mummy:  Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) - Emily