h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ah, but you are forgetting the underlying metaphors - werewolf is anger management issues. Or perhaps more generally emotion management issues. Nina, for eg, seems much better adjusted than George ever was. And then there's McNair & Son (Bespoke Vampire Killers - I can just see their business card now!) who seemed far less angsty about the whole change thing.

One thing that does annoy me with George is when he's getting beat on by the vamps he never comes out with the 'well, I already killed one of your elders' line.

Ep 2 good, bit slower than the rollercoaster of 1 but more convoluted. Annie would have got a few sharp words if I'd been mitchell though.

Anyone else see a big werewolves vs. vamps thing kicking off?

And anyone else catch the first ep of Becoming Human?

No spoilers here, but just to say...
Taking into account the trailer for this sunday's episode, comments made by the cast on Alan Carr Chatty Man (and no, I don;t mean Leanora's blatant self pimping ) and what we've seen in the eps so far - I think it is fairly clear what the arc is this series, who's involved and how the various characters introduced so far are involved.

Could be interesting and, depending on the outcome, could have quite large implications for our quartet.

Anyone else seen all the above TV and think similar things?

Last night's offering was a tricky one to judge: I wanted to like it but all the jumpy-out and gore really put me off. Can't stand things jumping out, even when I know it's coming, and I've got no stomach for gore. It was a good take on the zombie mythos though.

It also felt like a bit of a repeat from last week - a lost monster who needs help from the gang - and I want the main story arc to get going, 3 eps in and we're only now starting to see it emerge. This episode did give us a glimpse of it, with the werewolf pregnancy and the mention of Cara digging up trouble in Bristol. *Please* let this lead to the reappearence of Daisy/Herrick/both very soon.

While I'm not sold on the Annie/Mitchell relationship - it feels vaguely incestuous to me - I'm glad Mitchell has got something lighter to do, I'm getting bored of him being so depressed. His scenes getting drunk with George were a hoot, in fact pretty much any scene where the trio/quartet interact is a delight. The stuff with Mitchell's fanboy was disturbing in the extreme and the scene on the train had me gripped - effective but no more please. Aidan Turner has a beautiful smile and I want to see it!

George and Nina were, as always, the stars. I'm not surprised Nina was abused by her mum, it goes a lot way to explaining her toughness and her Starbuck-y nature (though thankfully without the collosal levels of emotional mess). I think them two get the heart of the show a lot better - they are demons living as humans and stuff like the smell from Sasha drives that home. Feel sorry for Sinead Keenan though - that's the second time this series they've inflicted that ridiculous hairstyle on her.

Not seen last week's episode yet - I'm playing catch-up toinight.

Just wanted to stop by and ask have either of you been following the "becoming human" online mini-show from the BH blog?

It stars Adam the vampire from Ep. 2 trying take Mitchel's advice to be with good people and solve a child-murder (the ghost in his own trio), so mixing the usual dark material with the light comic goofiness.

I didn't much warm to Adam in the series, but in this I've been impressed, two episodes in and I'm eagerly awaiting the third, which I guess means I am enjoying it.

remind me on FB in the week and i will watch on the iplayer

That.Was.Epic!

Certainly in the running for the best episode of BH and already its one of my favourite bits of TV of 2011.

The opening scene with Annie and Mitchell was really sexy and almost had me wanting them to be a couple, which is quite a trick. The lighting, the music, the chemistry between the pair of them made for a scene that was intimate without being pornographic. Then I was reminded why I don't want Annie and Mitchell to be together: she's too innocent and he'll mess it up big style, because that's what Mitchell does.

There were a couple of really good scenes that highlighted it for me, first of all with Annie talking about stuff they can do together, which was just adorable but highlighted how naive she can be and then later with Annie feeling through the random girl (nice callback to S2) - I guess the inclusion of those scenes mean the writers have something far more interesting than a sappy romance so I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt.

The wolfy stuff was superb, absolutely superb. McNair and Tom are fantastic characters (though I do find Micheal Socha's resemblance to his sister a touch distracting) and I loved the twist with them, didn't see it coming. The dog fight sequence was excellent - film quality work. We knew Nina and George wouldn't hurt each other so that little bit of tension was lost but the thought of Mitchell cowering in the cage for the night was wonderfully creepy.

One thing they are doing much better this series is integrating the different plot threads: S1 had an episode each for George and Annie, two for Mitchell and then the 2-part finale. S2 had its wolf plot, its vampire plot and the twain barely met. This series has been weaving the stories together much better, which I guess is inevitable with the wolf-shaped bullet storyline, and it makes the episodes as a whole much stronger.

I really could go on and on and on but I should probably stop.

finally got round to watching it.Been a bit meh about it but needn't have worried. Good ep, although I'm curious as to how McNair knows that Mitchell will 'get his'. Glad they made the McNair story twist interesting - they were just secondary characters but they really gave them some personality and storyline.

Annie is wonderfully drippy again And not annoying this week - good stuff. Liked the Mitchell answer to the 'who are we kidding' question. Mitchell looks like he is getting worried, he's going to do something daft isn't he? Nina, I'm watching Nina. I'm thinking she's not in a good place whilst George is going all happy stuff and determinedly not seeing any negatives. Be interesting to see where she goes and what 'shape' her story takes...

Next week looks very interesting too

How much do I love Nina? Let me count the ways...

The scene with her and Mitchell was electrifying and brought my pet theory (that Nina is the wolf-shaped bullet) right out into the open. Which makes me think it's a red herring after all. I liked the reminder that she doesn't really care about Mitchell and never really has, if he poses a threat she'll take him down. Getting angry with George for what she considered cold-blooded murder was a nice way of showing that, while she might be a cold b*tch, she's a fundamentally moral person.

What really impressed me was that the writers trusted the audience to keep up: the early tension of the episode came from George, Nina and Mitchell's different experiences of Herrick. Similarly with Cara we were reminded of her first appearance and how sad what happened to her was. It wasn't spoon-fed to us, just trusting that we'd keep up. Nice to have TV that doesn't assume I'm an idiot.

Herrick was back and it was glorious, I had my doubts but Jason Watkins plays it so well, he makes your skin crawl every second he's on screen. Love having him back.

This series is just taking the p*ss, nothing should be allowed to be this good.

Blimey.
I'd not been able to catch last weeks one till this week so ended up with a 2hr double bill of Being Human

That was rather good. Herrick being evil and nasty and scheming again.
Nina not quite getting what it was all about - bit late to quibble about agreeing to murder when she's having a baby with a someone she saw commit one... But then I feel their using her protective motherly instincts to drive that story - and you can kinda understand how she doesn't want to have a baby living in shared accommodation - she wants her little family nest.

Mitchell/Nina - blimey, good dynamic

Evil PE teacher, porsche and golf clubs? Was this episode set in the 1980s? Loved it though. Did George's did remind anyone else (a bit) of George from Drop the Dead Donkey? No? Ok, just me then.

Reinforced the werewolves not dead bit (cos they can see, but not identify, ghosts). Quite touching scenes in a way.

But overall I can see this leading to an interesting climax - will she or won't she? It's all shaping up to be about forgiveness, friendship and family and loyalty isn't it? Good intentions with bad effects. Nina's gonna have some thinking to do I suspect...

Been doing my own bit of Being Human catch-up.

Up to Episode 5: Herrick's Return

Squeeeeeeeeee! I MISSED HIM

Ivan's Nihilism was a joy but nobody but nobody does evil like Herrick.

"Don't you look ugly when you're crying?"

LOVE IT!

me.

Good was it? Not watched it yet (doing an essay)

Not sure if good is the right word but a lot of stuff happened.

Right, I've had to think and I'm gonna take a leaf from Galigan's Doctor Who reviews and do an episode review followed by a series review and speculation for the next episode. I think there's something going on and I want to write it down, see what you guys think. Apologies to Clive, but it's going to be majorly spoilery for ep.7

So, Herrick's back and the gang are ed. It took just one look from Watkins to make you realise he'd found himself again and it was terrifying. The guy is amazing, to switch like that and without it seeming abrupt even for folk like me who believed his amnesia to be genuine. McNair and son were also back, bringing news (and parts) of Daisy - I'm sad to see her go, because she was fantastic, but I'm also grateful we were told what happened and that she was talked about in the script. The cat-like and wild was a very apt description.

Mitchell has messed up big time and taken Annie down with him as he was always going to. Annie often annoys me with her naivety and inconsistency, but Critchlow can really do the big scenes. We know that underneath all the weakness Annie is a powerhouse, but when is she going to show it? Offering to be with Mitchell after he gives himself up was good, redemption isn't a one-way street, and just at the last moment Mitchell made the right choice twice. She gave him strength.

Nina's down, possibly out, and all because Herrick didn't want to lose face. The momentary reprieve was pretty chilling in its own way: Herrick wanted to hurt George via Nina but then seemingly decided he didn't have to, he could inflict that pain himself. We're a month away from the full moon, so that seems unlikely to resolve anything this time. We've all been looking for the wolf-shaped bullet, but now one of the wolves has a vampire-shaped bullet aimed right at his heart. Can't help but enjoy the symmetry in that.

Right, series stuff:

I strongly believe the series has been intentionally set up as a Greek/Shakespearean tragedy - there seem to have been a lot of devices that are classics of the genre, which means it may well get all Hamlet (though, since one of the characters can't die, maybe Othello would be more apt).

We've had a chorus: Lia and the wolf-shaped bullet which have driven the series despite being wrapped in ambiguity. The chorus has informed the behaviour of one of the major characters. There's definately an air of "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" to Lia's 'prophecy' and I think that'll come to fruition in the finale.

We've had a character who, by doing good, provides for their destruction. Nina did the good and moral thing in protecting the amnesiac Herrick, but ultimately it was stupid, naive and it's cost her and everyone she loves. There's a strong resemblance between her actions and those of Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet. Similarly an interesting parallel can be drawn between Annie and Emilia, Iago's wife in Othello: both knew their loved one was up to something but didn't see it until it's too late. Emilia emerges as a powerful character in the final act of Othello but is ultimately unable to prevent the tragedy or her own life - I wonder if the same thing will happen to Annie.

Finally, we've had an inhuman villain whose origins are left deliberately obscure: Herrick is more than just a regular monster, even other vampires are afraid of him and he's utterly unreadable. There's a lot of similarities between him and MacBeth's witches and Iago in Othello.

I find it hard to believe this is coincidental - it seems too structured to be anything other than fully planned. Which makes it absolutely awesome.

So in the last episode, I'm pretty convinced almost everyone is going to die, even Rozencrantz and Guildenstern.

We've seen Lia's coming back, Nina is still alive but critically injured, Nancy Drew was moving around when we last saw her so I'm thinking vampire, there's still the posh vampire pervert wife on the loose and Tom and George are unhurt. We were shown very clearly that McNair was writing something, which will be important.

The big question hanging over the end of ep.7 is where did Annie go - after Mitchell was arrested, she wasn't seen. Where was she?

My money is on George and Nina surviving, but the cub dying. They'll probably take Tom in, creating The Pack McNair was talking about. Herrick will be dusted (please let Herrick be dusted!) and Mitchell will be gone as a sacrfice to save George/Nina/Tom thus completing the wolf-shaped bullet. Annie went through Death's Door, bringing Lia out, and I think she's going to go back behind it, maybe become one of the Men With Sticks and Rope.

Annie, Mitchell and Herrick will all be gone, the wolves will continue on with their lives. Vampires, werewolves and ghosts won't be revealed to the world (too True Blood) and Nancy the vampire will still be around if they decide to do S4, but I really don't think they will.

darnit, browser just crashed and lost big long post!

anyway, basically say - yeah, wow, that was quite a bit to deal with!

As you've already spoilered the thread I too shall make some similar observations.

It is indeed quite the tragedy. I'm intrigued by the relationship of Herrick to the Old Ones. The "you're off limits" remark - either the elders know Herrick is back and are letting him do his thing. Or Herrick didn't have any amnesia and has put his claim on George and Nina in already. Then again, if I were 'the family' (as it were) then I'd be pretty annoyed at Herrick - after all, he's responsible for the mess in Bristol really, and thus by extension the train murders. And now it looks like his meddling is messing up Wales and risking their long fought anonymity for personal reasons.

I can't quite see how Mitchell is to get out of this 'alive' without help from outside - especially as he doesn;t really want to himself. But if he does, I can quite see Annie taking the role of his conscience. Redemption and punishment all in one. Reminding him and stopping him from losing himself at the same time. Quite the punishment. But that assumes he'll survive. Plus we George on his way, will there be a George vs. Herrick round 2? If so what might McNair and son have in the way of influence on that?

Shame McNair has gone - but yes, I think the note must play a part in the conclusion. And nice they wrapped up the story for Daisy although shame she's gone. BH has created a couple of really good, strong, complex female vampire characters - and then killed them off pdq, shame on you BH!

Next week should be good

as for season 4, well, absolutely nada on the web, although there is a petition up:
http://www.petitiononline.com/bhseaso4/petition.html

I'll post my thoughts once I stop crying. It might be a while...

so george becomes the new buffy

well!

Kinda not decided if that was all it could be or not.
Clearly shows why last week was so packed so they could give this story the time and space it required, which is good.

OK, downs - when will they let Annie use her powers? Even big baddy reckons she's pretty darn powerful. Didn't think the Lia bit closed very well, I can see what they were trying to do but I didn't think it came off well. Lia's change was too sudden. I think it was the script that was weak there. Mind you, you could have got a good half episode from that playing out on its own so I guess it is constraints of the format.

Still thinking about the rest - and don't want to be the first to drop big spoilers.

I'll drop the first big spoiler: series four is happening.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/beinghuman/

Yay!

Well I caught up.


Wow.

I really buy into Herrick's smirking sniggering psychopathic killer. ("have you ever heard of something so undignified?") when he went after Nina with the knife. He has this way of widening his grin (or baring all his teeth, if you prefer) and pointing his eyes that is just creepy.

That I find unnerving. Wendell the (shhh... I'll say no more) enh... didn't really buy into the threat he posed. Since it's almost never about violence but imposition and implied power, Herrick had that nailed down (to a bench and vivisected...) Early days for Wendell but I'm not sold yet.

I think the Ictoan's comments addressing Lia's revenge are spot on - it was a nice twist on the "vengeful spirit" idea, but it was too rapid a change - one speech from Annie and it's like "oh okay." Could almost have bumped the series to 9 episodes and devoted most of a chunk of one to unwinding Lia's agony. I suppose it is still a mark of how good this series is that I am arguing for more rather than less.

What an arc for George and Mitchell though. If the aim of this series was to drive a...(wait for it) ... wedge through the trio - then it succeeded brilliantly.

Superb bloody telly!