I love British television. The shows are insanely entertaining for me and far more graphic than a basic cable show would be here in the U.S. One of my favorite Brit shows is Being Human, a sci-fi comedy/drama.
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| Via BBC America |
Now there is a U.S. counterpart to this show but for the sake of my sanity we will pretend it never was green lit into existence. Being Human centers around three supernatural creatures. They all live in an apartment together and are trying to "be human". Hilarity and drama ensues.
First there is Mitchell (right of picture), a vampire who died during World War I. After a long life of killing humans and embracing his evil side he decides to stop drinking blood and be "human". Then there's his best friend George (left of picture), a werewolf, who has been turned from human to beast recently. He only becomes a werewolf one night a month so he spends the rest of his days trying to live a relatively quiet life. And then there's Mitchell and George's other best friend (and eventual love of Mitchell's life) Annie (middle of picture). She's a ghost who was killed by her fiancee and now spends her days making tea and trying to figure out how to pass on to the other side.
The thing about this show is the writing is so well done for the characters. The story lines weren't always the strongest (they tend to occasionally only make sense when its convenient for a particular episode) but the characters were so strong and realistic I couldn't help but watch. I loved the idea of three supernatural creatures trying to be human and frankly they were able to convey some of the most realistic moments I've had in my life more so than a show about humans.
Take this scene for example.
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I've been there. Oh Mitchell and George how I've been there. I think most people can relate to how something so mundane and simple getting changed can lead to a breakdown. It's hilarious and relatable and scenes like this is what kept me tuning in, not the supernatural element.
Now times have changed since this scene. Spoiler alert but...all three of them die. Annie more so moves on to the other side but you get the idea. So the show has ended. It's over.
Nope. Being Human did something that a lot of British shows do but I think they did it in a brilliant way. They replaced the cast with all new characters. They did this slowly. First they introduced a new werewolf, Tom in the season before they started killing off the core three. He was a supporting character who gradually worked his way up to being a main one. Then came Hal.
Mitchell is arguably the lead in the show. He has the most dramatic story lines, the most screen time, and well he's easy on the eyes. When he died I was thrown. I made plans to boycott the show and give up. What the hell was the point without Mitchell. But then they introduced Hal. In order to introduce a brand new character no one knows to replace a fan favorite it has to be done well and the character has to be great. I applaud Being Human for doing just that and introducing a new leading vampire that I was excited about and grew to love.
The first time we are introduced to Hal is in this scene.
First there is Mitchell (right of picture), a vampire who died during World War I. After a long life of killing humans and embracing his evil side he decides to stop drinking blood and be "human". Then there's his best friend George (left of picture), a werewolf, who has been turned from human to beast recently. He only becomes a werewolf one night a month so he spends the rest of his days trying to live a relatively quiet life. And then there's Mitchell and George's other best friend (and eventual love of Mitchell's life) Annie (middle of picture). She's a ghost who was killed by her fiancee and now spends her days making tea and trying to figure out how to pass on to the other side.
The thing about this show is the writing is so well done for the characters. The story lines weren't always the strongest (they tend to occasionally only make sense when its convenient for a particular episode) but the characters were so strong and realistic I couldn't help but watch. I loved the idea of three supernatural creatures trying to be human and frankly they were able to convey some of the most realistic moments I've had in my life more so than a show about humans.
Take this scene for example.
.
Now times have changed since this scene. Spoiler alert but...all three of them die. Annie more so moves on to the other side but you get the idea. So the show has ended. It's over.
Nope. Being Human did something that a lot of British shows do but I think they did it in a brilliant way. They replaced the cast with all new characters. They did this slowly. First they introduced a new werewolf, Tom in the season before they started killing off the core three. He was a supporting character who gradually worked his way up to being a main one. Then came Hal.
Mitchell is arguably the lead in the show. He has the most dramatic story lines, the most screen time, and well he's easy on the eyes. When he died I was thrown. I made plans to boycott the show and give up. What the hell was the point without Mitchell. But then they introduced Hal. In order to introduce a brand new character no one knows to replace a fan favorite it has to be done well and the character has to be great. I applaud Being Human for doing just that and introducing a new leading vampire that I was excited about and grew to love.
The first time we are introduced to Hal is in this scene.
I was immediately intrigued. He was scary. He seemed to have an interesting backstory. As the season went on I found him to also be a hilarious and a unique character. Hal was the complete opposite of Mitchell. Mitchell was laid back and "cool" while Hal was uptight, high strung, and OCD. He is also one of the oldest vampires alive dying in the 1500s. However, both Hal and Mitchell are trying to sustain from drinking human blood. I was hooked yet again.
Now the way they integrated the new cast was interesting. First they killed off Mitchell and George. Tom and Hal were introduced to be the new main characters along with Annie. It became this (Hal, Annie, Tom).
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| Via BBC America |
She was a human who took a liking to Hal. Sadly, she shouldn't have tried to make a vampire her boyfriend (that never does work out does it?) because she ends up getting killed (I won't say how) and becomes...you guessed it. A ghost. I liked Alex. She was funny and sarcastic and completely different from Annie who had a mothering nature. But I wasn't running away from the new ghost in town. The end of the fourth season officially had the original three departing and the new three of Hal, Tom, and Alex taking reign.
So now the show looks like this.
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| Via BBC America |
It was a slow change. One that could have easily failed. But the writing for these new characters, although different, was just as engaging as the old characters. I'm still in love with Being Human for their characters which is a feat I thought could not happen.
Now we have moments like this.
Different dynamic but still I love them. I applaud the writing on this show for being able to take away the main characters, make me weep for them and want them back, and then have me embrace and love a whole new cast of characters. That's writing at it's finest.
To check out more about Being Human look here
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