Square Eyes #8 – A Wolf shaped waste of time and and uneventful returne

Two big sci-fi drama’s had rather important outings this week. The one from the UK, “Being Human” completed it’s third run and US show “The Event” returned to our screens after a very long hiatus. It’s a shame that both were massive disappointments.

I’ll start with “Being Human”. I’ve watched this supernatural drama about a Vampire, two Werewolfs and a Ghost who live together, since it’s very first episode in 2009 and was very much anticipating the finale.

After all, the plot had been building up for weeks. Right from the start there was a prophecy from purgatory that Mitchell would meet his end by a wolf shaped bullet… Oooh exciting! Then Herrick came back, the uber villain from the first series and quite frankly the only villain in the show that’s ever been any good. Fantastic. And then to top everything, Mitchell goes and gets arrested which will lead to the discovery of all the worlds vampires (remember, if he has a photo taken, it wont show up… he’s a vampire.

This is set to be a cracker.

But it wasn’t. If anything I found the episode a great big yawn-fest. The three things I was looking forward to were answered very unsatisfactorily within the first 1/2 hour.

Vampires weren’t discovered because Herrick busted Mitchell out of prison with far too much ease. I understand he killed some of them, but where were all the guards that had been standing there previously, guarding the MASS MURDERER they had spent weeks finding?

Then the ‘wolf-shaped bullet’ prophecy was answered. The girl who first mentioned it in purgatory, Lia (played by Lacey Tuner) revealed that she had actually made up the whole idea. Yes, the prophecy had self-fulfilled itself due to Mitchell’s actions, but that’s still a lame explanation.

And then we come to the thing that annoyed me the most. Herrick is a brilliant character. I’ve been waiting for his return for ages. He is the absolute epitomy of a villain and is a joy to watch. So imagine my annoyance when less than an hour after he made his proper return, he was killed by Mitchell. Riiight…

And this left me thinking what was the point of the last seven weeks?

But still, there was 15 minutes to go, maybe these 15 minutes would save the episode.

They didn’t. Instead, they decided – in the finale – to introduce some new villains who apparently make Herrick look like nothing. NO! I hate that idea. I hate bringing in new characters that have had nothing to do with the rest of the series, just for the finale. I don’t know what Toby Whithouse was thinking when he wrote this shocking episode.

There was a final shock left. Mitchell was eventually killed by a Werewolf, George (and I must say Russell Tovey’s performance throughout the episode was still as fantastic as ever), who staked his friend in the heart. I would almost applaud this shocking move if it wasn’t for the fact that I reckon Mitchell will be back next year. And that will probably be by some unexplained circumstance just dreamt up to give Aiden Turner more airtime.

So as you can guess, I was less than impressed by that finale, but at least “Being Human” had a great series up to that point, unlike Channel 4’s “The Event”.

Where to start with this one… Well, “The Event” is the story of aliens that have been living on Earth for years (and for ease of the story look just like us) and now they want to escape/invade/do something (I’m not too sure). And I guess that this will be the event.

This show started so well. After the first episode, I thought I may have found a replacement for my beloved “Lost”. But sadly as the series went on, nothing really happened (very ironic for a show called the event) and this caused viewing figures to fall and the show to go off on hiatus for several months.

Last night it returned, with the promise of amazing revelations and answers.

But sadly it failed to deliver anything substantial. We found out some stuff – The aliens are now bringing more people to Earth, one of the main characters is actually an alien and didn’t realise it, the aliens have been building a big dish thing. And to be fair, some things did happen – lots of the aliens escaped captivity, Zeljko Ivanek got shot a bit (as he does in everything he stars in) and there was an almost touching moment when Layla and her little sister (who had been kidnapped) were reunited.. ahhh.

But the problem is, none of this really had any substance. I was expecting some sort of game-changing revelation – and judging by how OTT the music was, so did the shows composer. I mean there were dramatic crescendo’s and people staring into the mid-distance every time anyone said anything no matter how unimportant it was. I’m sure the shows star Jason Ritter couldn’t have farted last night without a big trumpet finale.

I decided to give the show a chance last night after the lacklustre first ten episodes. My verdict – I’ll give it one more chance. Despite my scathing review, there’s still potential in this show, but it’s fast disappearing. I can only hope that something happens to improve it, but I don’t expect it too. Even Heroes never became this dire.

And so I’ve come to a conclusion. We need a good sci-fi show. “Being Human”, “The Event” and “Outcasts” have all failed me recently. I guess I’ll have to wait until “Doctor Who’s” return. Only just over a month to go…

 

Square Eyes #4 – They’re still Being Human!

BBC Three’s ‘Being Human’ has for me always been a show of varying success. When it’s at it’s best it can be some of the best drama on the box, but at other times it leaves me disappointed, being ‘just another vampire show’. So how did last night’s Season 3 premiere.

We were left on a massive cliffhanger at the end of the last series. Mitchell (a vampire) and George (a werewolf) had escaped their fate, but Annie (a ghost) was exorcised and dragged through the door into…. Purgatory it seems.

After moving to a new house on Barry Island (no Gavin and Stacey jokes please), Mitchell keeps seeing Annie on a TV set. She’s stuck in purgatory, which seems to be some sort of cage like environment. And hereon in lies the plot to episode 1, get Annie back.

Now I should point out that the things I love most about Being Human is it’s quirkyness and imagination. I loved the original tagline of ‘a Vampire, Werewolf and Ghost sharing a house in Bristol’. It had the spirit of a supernatural show, but with a funny slant. There was of course a serious story, but a lot of humour. I thought this humour was pretty much lost in series 2 which I found far too dark for the original tone of the programme.

And I do think humour retuned to this episode. Russell Tovey as George gave an amusing performance, particularly the scene in the bedroom and at the bedside of a dying patient (sounds quite grim, but was funny in the circumstances!)

I also love Toby Whithouse’s (series creator) clever visions 0f the afterlife and his re-invetion of Vampires (that don’t sparkle) for the 21st century.

I was therefore thrilled by Whithouse’s portrayal of purgatory, an endless corridor, filled with all the things you did wrong and right in your life. Mitchell finds himself here and having to go on something of a journey to remember his horrific past and realise the pain he’s caused others. I understand that this storyline was partially necessary to claim back Annie, but at the same, isn’t this what Mitchell has been doing for the past two years of the show…. a bit unoriginal!

But hey, the darkness subsided when Mitchell was reunited with Annie and was able to take her home to George and Nina. The ending was at best cheesey, but it was nice to feel that some happiness has returned to the show as it can at times feel all too depressing!

There was great, believable acting all round. I do think the cast of this show are great and a true credit to the reason this show succeeds!

But of course, I couldn’t possibly end this review without mentioning Robson Green. No it’s not an obsession of mine, he’s one of two new characters making their way into the show. Robson plays a man called McNair who it turns out is also a Warewolf. He has quite a nasty opening episode as he is thrust into a cage battle which he would easily win, like it or not, as he transforms to his wolf form. He later escapes this as his son (also a warewolf) saves him.

I’m not too keen on these new characters. I just worry it might have a bit of a ‘Heroes’ effect on the show (as in too many people with powers were brought into the show). But it’s early days and like him or not, Robson is a very established actor. Maybe he can bring yet another angle to this diverse show.

So in short, I enjoyed last nights Being Human. It wasn’t an amazing episode, but it was an captivating watch and it felt like the ‘true’ Being Human was back.

And next week…. Henrik’s back!