Being Human S05E02
Sticks and Rope
So, with the sad news that series 5 of everyone’s favourite supernatural series about a ghost, werewolf and vampire is to be its last, one wonders how the writers are going to cram everything in. But cram everything in (or at least a good deal of plot) they do, with stories involving the devil and his plans, the mysterious Mr Rook trying to keep the things that go bump in the night locked up, Mr Crumb unable to control his urges, as we’re also treated to a nice little character study of the newest addition, Alex the ghost.
Previously just the sassy Scottish one, here Alex is given a chance to shine, taking a little ghost boy under her wing and doing all the big sisterly things she can’t do now for her own brothers. Filled with nice little sibling play fighting moments and the strangest dodgem ride you’ve ever seen, it gives us an extra insight into the world of the one character we know the least about thus far. It helps that the ghost child is thoroughly charming and his backstory, although nothing original in Being Human, gives him a suitably tragic arc. And there’s a lot of fun to be had in the cultural differences between a Victorian child and the more tomboyish Alex.
The B story, involving Hal and Tom vying for the employee of the month prize at the hotel starts off as something seemingly quite trivial and reminiscent of the Being Human of old, but throughout you have the devil himself, in the guise of Captain Hatch, planting seeds of doubt into the minds of our resident vamp and wolf. Phil Davis clearly relishing his role here, playing Hal and Tom off each other and knowing exactly what makes each of them tick, and then later when outlining his plan for the world.
And throughout the B story we get the return of the wonderful Hal/Tom back and forth that was so much fun last series; the food fight was exceptional but the best part was Tom getting blamed for running off (and Hal’s reaction to it) because Hal didn’t show up on the CCTV being a vampire and all.
And then we have the men with sticks and rope, returning to the series after a lengthy absence. This episode marks the first time we’ve actually seen them on screen. The main point of them in this episode is to show that the barriers between this world and theirs are coming down, as a result of the devil becoming stronger. It’s a strong thread that will hopefully build and build to a winning conclusion and hopefully not rushed in during these final four episodes.
3 and a half nerds out of 5
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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