Being Human S05E06
The Last Broadcast

HUGE SPOILERS TO FOLLOW. DO NOT READ IF YOU’VE NOT SEEN THE LAST EPISODE.

Gah! It’s like Inception all over again!

But before I talk about that final shot, I’d be remiss not to mention the stellar hour leading up to it, culminating in the bravest series finale I’ve seen in a good long while.

Most of last week’s hanging plot threads are resolved within the first five minutes as the fight to defeat the Devil/Captain Hatch takes centre stage. But not in the way you’d think…

Yes, the trio does confront the devil in a TV studio as he attempts to broadcast through the emergency signal to everyone in the UK after having successfully demolished much of Wales, but then the episode takes a turn for the intimate as Hatch offers each of the trio a chance to live their lives over again; he offers Alex the chance to be with her family again and not choose to go on that fateful date with Hal, he offers Tom the chance to live without the werewolf curse and with Alison (his crush from last year), and to Hal he offers the chance to never become a vampire, thus saving countless lives over the centuries. It essentially boils down to the series’ mantra; each of these characters simply wants to be human and their struggle to do so. Each scene gives us exactly what the characters want for themselves, and what we want for them too, but things are never that simple in the Being Human universe.

Hatch offers them the easy way out; to live in the dream world while he wreaks havoc in the real one.

They’re surprisingly low key moments that you wouldn’t expect to find in a normal season finale, which are more often than not ‘find-the-bad-guy, kill-the-bad-guy, celebrate’ sorts of affairs, and while this episode does have that, it’s the above reunions and character moments that will stick in the memory long after the fight with the devil has gone.

Well, that and one other thing.

The little Blade Runner homaging final shot that turns the whole climax on its head.

With the devil seemingly vanquished and our gang achieving, literally, what they’ve always wanted, to be human, and we join them sitting on the sofa to watch some Antiques Roadshow. The very definition of mundane life. The camera moves from our happy trio to the mantelpiece in Honolulu Heights, full of items from the shows past, including amongst others; George’s Star of David necklace, Nina’s baby scan, Eve’s bib, one of Hal’s dominoes and finally, the little origami wolf that the devil made for Tom in the dream world. The camera starts to tilt, a move that throughout the episode has been associated with the devil, we’re given just enough time to process this revelation and then BAM!

Credits.

We’ve just been Inception-ed.

It’s an audacious and daring way to end the series. Did they win? Are they in one of the devils illusions? Or did Tom just get really really good at origiami? Crucially, does it matter? The trio have achieved humanity, but (possibly) in a fake world. There

are little clues and hints throughout the episode that lead us here but it’s still a gut punch, but only if you choose to interpret it that way. There are various interpretations you could arrive at; one that’s a happy ending, one that’s the aforementioned sucker punch and one that’s slightly ambiguous.

Always leave them wanting more. Being Human has certainly done that.

5 out of 5 Nerds

Note: I’ll be doing a wee top 10 moments list from all 36 episodes (is that all?) of Being Human that’ll be going up soon. Keep ‘em peeled and send me your thoughts as well if you like. You can find me on Twitter at @Jonny_C85.