Tuesday 15 February 2011

Review: Becoming Human, Episode 3

In this episode, Matt is trying to get Adam and Christa back on his side so they will help him track down his killer.  Things are slowly coming back to Matt and he now remembers how he died, where he died and with a little help from Christa then manage to figure out roughly when. That just leaves one question, who killed Matt?

The little detail as to where he was and why he was there is basically down to being a hormonal teenage boy. During these revelations from Matt, Christa unknowingly reveals her scars to Adam who just has to say something about them. Christa is quick to retaliate and puts the blame on to herself by making out that she self harms. Matt soon pipes up that her arm is not the only place she has scars.

The teacher in charge of detention reveals a little secret about one of the girls in school, Brandy Mulligan. She isn’t who she says she is. What is she hiding? And that’s exactly what the trio are going to find out next time.

Review: Being Human UK, Series 3, Episode 4 - The Pack

Synopsis

George and Nina search for other werewolves in their quest to find out if their unborn baby will survive the transformation. With the full moon approaching, Mitchell has cause to feel nervous.

What I Thought

Well, this episode was very interesting. Nina and George are on a mission to find out more about the wolves that are inhabiting the woods close to their home and if they can give them any insight to their wolf pregnancy. McNair is not forthcoming with any information on their first acquaintance but when Tom breaks into their house in the middle of the night and ends up with a few injuries, he can’t do anything and Tom tells them about how he was born. Nina tends to his wounds and Tom tells her about his mum and dad. Something doesn’t feel quite right so Nina does some more investigating. It does help that the teenage werewolf is head over heels in love with Nina, so it means extracting information from his is a lot easier than it would be from McNair.
Meanwhile, Mitchell and Annie are trying alternative methods to overcome their physical barrier. Annie being a ghost can’t actually touch anyone. I think we may see some on-screen touching but I don’t think either of them can feel it as Annie doesn’t have a body and well Mitchell can’t feel her because she is a ghost. So Annie comes up with a bright idea of trying to feel everything through another human. This leads to a rather awkward meeting with George in the hallway in the middle of the night. Things don’t go to plan and it leaves our newest couple in despair as to how to carry on their relationship.

Elsewhere in the vampire community, the dog fights are still going on which is good for Mitchell as it gives him the perfect opportunity to serve his latest rival, and threat, up to the local vampires and he hopes that they get rid of him. Unfortunately, Mitchell, leads them straight to the wrong ones. This means he must fight side by side with the werewolves to save his friends. A lot of vampire blood is spilled but it turns out all good in the end. But Mitchell still has to watch out for his ‘Wolf Shaped Bullet’..but he doesn’t have to worry for another month, until the next full moon.

I felt kind of awkward watching Annie and Mitchell to begin with as it was obvious that Annie was trying too hard. But I can understand why she was trying to pursue the matter as much as she was...who wouldn’t want to get down and dirty with Mitchell?! Hehe!! I can’t tell you my favourite part, but I am sure you will figure it out once you are there...it has something to do with Annie’s bright idea.

We caught a glimpse of next week’s episode and I can tell you I am very excited as Herrick is back. I don’t particularly like his character but it will be interesting to see how they introduce Herrick back into Mitchell’s life and hopefully there will be further information as to how he was brought back to life even though he was torn to pieces. I’m intrigued by the whole back story and mythology of the Being Human characters so I am anxious to learn more. On the other hand, I am so depressed because we only have four more episodes left and then we will have to wait and see if it returns for another season. Which might I add, BBC Three, you would be insane NOT to take Being Human back for another series.

Giveaway Winner: Blue by Lou Aronica

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for taking part in my little giveaway!

Now, the winner is;

Mindy

There were 6 entries and random.org selected number 2;


If the winner does not contact me with their postal address within three days, a new winner will be drawn.

Thanks =)

Naomi

Monday 7 February 2011

Review: Becoming Human, Episode 2

Episode two of Becoming Human begins with Adam and Christa chasing down the school bully, Danny Kurtis, to question him about the murder of Matt. They lead him into an empty classroom to tell them what they know; that he was bullying Matt and that they think he killed him.
 
Matt then goes on a rampage around the classroom throwing things around, writing and misspelling the word ‘murderer’ on the whiteboard and launching pasta at Danny. All this ghostly behaviour freaks Danny out and relegates him into confessing that his bullying is a front and that he would never be able to kill someone and go on with life as normal.

Christa and Adam discover that Matt was just using them to get exact his revenge on Danny. This doesn’t sit well with either of them and they promptly quit investigating Matt’s murder. Adam makes it perfectly clear to Matt that they can’t use him and Christa for his own little games as they could end up seriously maiming or kill someone in the process.

Review: Being Human UK, Series 3, Episode 3 - Type Four

Synopsis

Confronted with a ‘type four’, the housemates are forced to stare death in the face. Mitchell meets his biggest fan, who will do anything to impress his hero.

What I Thought

Type Four, I think, is the best episode so far. I feel sorry for my neighbours, listening to me guffawing and laughing out loud at George. I don’t know how he does it but Russell Tovey is a genius when it comes to playing George. His facial expressions just adds more of a punch behind his comical one liners.

In this episode, we get to meet Sasha, the one and only zombie at Honolulu Heights. At first, everyone wants rid of her because of the awful stench of death that follows her around. You see Annie get majorly jealous when she sees Sasha take an interest in Mitchell. I thought that was quite cute and couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Annie being jealous of Sasha. If you have watched the episode you will understand why.

Upon further investigation into Sasha’s existence, Annie and Mitchell, discover some horrific footage of experiments gone wrong and they don’t end nicely. The discovery of this footage makes Annie rush back to Sasha’s side and makes her want to watch over her. Feeling sorry and responsible for Sasha, Nina and Annie take her out clubbing to cheer her up after a disastrous meeting with Gethin, Sasha’s boyfriend.
 
Clubbing and zombies don’t mix, as Annie and Nina find out, as they are soon literally dragging Sasha back to Honolulu Heights. Meanwhile, Mitchell and George have a heart to heart over a few alcoholic beverages. Mitchell is torn between his feelings for Annie. He thinks he will lose her if he tells her about the people he killed on the train back in Bristol but at the same time he knows he will lose her if he doesn’t tell her and she finds out. This dilemma is brought on by an unannounced visit from a strange vampire that is a very bad look-a-like of Mitchell. This vampire, Graham, looks up to Mitchell and wants to be like him, a legend within the vampire community. This doesn’t bode well with our resident vampire, he can’t stand the idea of being a hero to his kind and wants to be left alone. But when Graham threatens to expose Mitchell’s dark deeds to Annie, Mitchell decides it’s time to get it out in the open.
 
George and Nina are going through a tough decision together in this episode. In the middle of the night, whilst getting up for the toilet, George makes a startling discovery of his own and confronts Nina. This doesn’t end well and George is soon out on his ear and sleeping on the floor in Annie’s room. Later on in the episode, we find out why Nina was thinking of making the choice she was thinking at the time. This brings out a whole new vulnerable side to Nina, one that we don’t normally see. Nina normally gives off the vibe that she has a steel armour surrounding her and that nothing can penetrate it and hurt her but as she is partly human she still feels.
 
All in all, great episode. I would love to repeat some of my favourite one liners from the episode but they are so descriptive they could give things away. But I will leave you with this, you will be squealing with delight at the end of the show when there’s some snogging going on. Absolutely brilliant and I was so happy to see it finally happen but I have this sneaky suspicion that everything won’t be smelling of roses for very long. Never is in the supernatural world.

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Review: Becoming Human, Episode 1 - Untitled

Becoming Human is the spin off web series following the life of Adam, a teenage vampire, shortly after he left the Being Human gang in Wales. Adam is on his own journey to try and quench his bloodlust by going cold turkey and trying to get some qualifications behind him. He enrols in the local school, Rathborne High, to try and achieve this.

At his new school, Rathborne High, Adam tries to associated himself with what he thinks are good people but turn out to be the popular and meanest kids in school. After being publically humiliated by the mean kids, he meets a girl, who just so happens to be a werewolf. Well that’s what Adam thinks she is anyway.

Later on, Adam and Krista end up in detention because they were being cheeky to a teacher. Whilst in detention, they notice, Matt, the missing kid from their school. Krista doesn’t catch on at the beginning that he is a ghost, but Adam being the more experienced supernatural twigs straight away. Even when Adam states he is a vampire, Matt is a ghost, and that she, Krista is a werewolf, she vehemently denies the claim and later on she says she is not supernatural. If that’s the case, then I wonder what she is if she gives off wolf vibes? Is it possible she doesn’t know she is a werewolf?

With help from Adam and Krista, Matt is trying to retrace his last steps alive. They are trying Matt figure out how he died. Basically that is where the episode ends just as Matt has realised that it could have been the school bully, Danny Kurtis.
The episode isn’t only a short eleven minutes but a lot of ground is covered in this short time. I especially like Krista’s character as she reminds me of Keira Knightley’s character from Pirates of the Caribbean with her cocky I-don’t-give-a-stuff attitude. My favourite part of the episode was when Matt was listing the last things he could remember eating before he died which transpires into Krista and Adam listing insults that contain puns with the word ‘egg’ in them.

Review: Being Human UK, Series 3, Episode 2 - Adam's Family

Synopsis

Adam’s Family: Will our heroes be able to help teenage vampire Adam control his bloodlust before it’s too late? Vampires Richard and Emma are not only set on making a man of him but have plans for Mitchell too.

 

What I Thought

We are introduced to Adam, a teenage vampire at the very beginning of the show where we see him and his father arguing over having to move house because Adam’s never aging face is starting to become noticeable. Then we see Adam step towards his mother when he says he is ‘hungry’ but his father stops him and tells him to feed from him. Adam’s parents are his only source of blood as he has never been taught anything else. He turns out to be a rather crude and creepy vampire that talks non-stop about sex – basically like a normal teenage boy. I think he is finding vampire life difficult as he looks and acts like a teenager but he is really a middle-aged man who has never grown up literally, the Peter Pan of the vampire world. When Adam’s parents die, he is left to fend for himself, that is until Nina and George catch him and try to help him.

Mitchell is currently being haunted by hell via the television, reminding him that his time is nearly up. I can’t wait to see how Annie, George and Nina react to this tid-bit of information, i.e. what Mitchell had to give up to free Annie, I think it will be fierce. But I think it will be Annie’s reaction I will be looking out for the most as she has such a close bond with Mitchell, more so than with George and Nina I think. Just when things couldn’t get worse for Mitchell after his disastrous interview at the local hospital, the ‘Old Ones’ have decided to do a bit of clearing up after him which means he is being shipped overseas. Mitchell really considers going even though he is literally just back from hell freeing Annie. I could have slapped him a few times upside the head for this, men can be so stupid sometimes. When he finds out that Adam, a blood drinking vampire, has come to stay with him he hits the roof. He doesn’t want any temptations living under his roof and Mitchell becomes very rude about it all. I think he was being totally self absorbed and not very ‘human’ when he was trying to turf Adam out on his own.

Annie is sort of back to her usual self by caring for everyone and trying to help Mitchell out with his interview but you can tell that she is trying desperately to be better so she doesn’t end up back in purgatory. Just as Annie is settling into Wales and goes for a walk with Mitchell to the sea front, you can tell there is a definitely chemistry between these two characters by the way they talk to one another. Annie keeps saying ‘you’, meaning Mitchell, and then adding on George and Nina as an afterthought. I thought this was quite funny and just wanted them to get it over with already, but no, the tension continues to build as Mitchell is talking about how he might not always be around. I could have smacked him around the head again for this. Seriously that man needs some glasses if he can’t see what is standing in front of him or back at the house.

George and Nina spend the entire episode trying to figure out a way to help Adam. Even though Adam has been nothing but sleazy towards Annie and Nina, George finds it in his heart to help him. That’s just how the lovable wolf is. He and Nina go back to save Adam from the other vampires and with Mitchell’s help, gets him back on track and let him go. It’s sort of like they have adopted Adam for the day and get a taste of what it’s like to be a parent to a supernatural being. Wonder if that’s a bit of foreshadowing. Have to wait and see.

Overall, another great episode of Being Human. I was in fits of giggles with George and Nina and the vampires, Annie looked like she needed a good cuddle and Mitchell, well he needed some sense knocked into him this episode which I think Annie achieved after their walk to the beach. Annie has a way with words that I think touch the people around her without sounding too mushy.

The launch series three, episode two of Being Human was also the premier airing of Becoming Human, a spin off involving Adam and his new life. Go and check it out and see what other trouble Adam lands himself in.