Review: Being Human 1.5

Mitchell meets old lover Josie.

"If you don't do this then you have done to yourself the one thing that Owen could never do; you have finally died." George to Annie.

In this first half of the Series One finale, the very tightly scripted series shows its salt, working purely on main character motivations and plotlines without going off into Freak-of-the-week tangents like Episodes 2-4. Everything from the past four weeks payed off in a spectuacular climax to the series, leaving an excellent cliffhanger leading into the sixth episode.
     Mitchell's storyline came to a head this week, having rejoined the Vampires after his experiences with Bernie. The Vampires are planning a mass-conversion, leading to a coup, and Mitchell is quietly refering influential people for Herrick to "recruit". While in the hospital, Mitchell meets the dying Josie, who was his lover in the 1960s. Concerned for her wellbeing, Mitchell refers her to Herrick. Josie is repulsed by the idea, and rejects his proposition. She later tells George, who along with Annie has been ignorant of Mitchell's activities.

Herrick reveals all.

    Back at the House, and Annie, after recovering last week from her existential slump, decides to haunt Owen. She starts out practicing with George, and when she tires it on Owen he is visibly shaken. However, once given a few moments to recover he simply belittles her more and finds the situation funny. Disheartened, Annie then goes and haunts Janey, Owen's new girlfriend. She warns Janey about Owen's abusive behavious, but before she is convinced Owen returns home and tells Annie about the fact that he was having an affair with Janey even before she died. She returns home, paralysed.
    Mitchell discovers an area of the undertakers' where the Vampires have been hiding humans in squalid conditions as food. Outraged by this, Mitchell confronts Herrick but he fobs it off with a, "Really?" speech. They prepare to kill one another. At the house, George returns home from the hospital and inspires Annie to help him raid the Undertakers'. They manage it pretty successfully, with the lecherous Seth weakened by George's Star of David. As Mitchell is about to start fighting, the two storm in and they all escape, thanks to Lauren, who stakes Seth.

Lauren dies.

     On the way back, Lauren asks Mitchell to stake her, which he does, saving her from losing all of her humanity. When the three retreat to the safety of the House, Owen comes round. Using their respective "talents" and Annie's knowledge of life after death, they scare Owen insane. After Owen is locked up, Annie's door finally opens, but a tearful farewell is interupted by Herrick arriving at the door and staking Mitchell.
     George, notably, didn't get a storyline of his own this week, which suited me fine as her stood as the human catalyst to the inhuman exploits of the other two. Nina was only in the episode for a few minutes, but again that didn't matter as at the moment she doesn't play a large part in proceedings. More notably, this is the true finale of Annie's storyline and character development - everything after this would feel slightly off pace with this very tightly-scripted journey presented in the first series. What else is there for her to do, after having accomplished her goals as a Ghost. The decision to keep her character on was ultimately to the show's detriment, as Annie's lighthearted attitude doesn't sit well with the later series' darker overtones.

The gang assembles.

     Mitchell's storyline had the potential to come off as an overarching dystopian path into villiany, but aside from voluntarily converting one man and a room full of five tortured people, the "takeover" didn't come across as well as it could have. It would have made much more sense to show the development of this over the series as a whole rather than trying to squease the arguments into one hour, as it comes across as far too dramatic and silly for purpose. Lauren's end, while flagged throughout the episode by a more sobre and sarcastic portrayl, came out of nowhere storywise. Her character, from the beginning, had been seen to relish her vampirism and had never shown any doubts about it. It was, however, a touching scene that no doubt enriched Mitchell's character - or it would have, had this not been the last ever mention of the character in the series.
     The trailer was very skillfully made, not providng any insight as to whether Annie, Mitchell or both would leave or not. Join me next time, as I look at the finale of Being Human Series One.

Thanks.