my best bits… favourite episode from series four

Tags

andrew gower, annie, being human, cutler, damien molony, ghost, hal, lenora crichlow, mark gatiss, mark williams, mr snow, regus, series four, toby whithouse, tom, vampire, werewolf

Series four.  More changes but still in Barry Island, still in Honolulu Heights and it appears someone has managed to get the bits of dead policemen and powdered Mitchell out of the swirly carpet.  And the McNair shaped stain off the attic floor.  There’s no Mitchell, no Herrick, no Nina and barely any George.  And Pineapples was chunked between series – which is marginally unforgivable.  And there’s a baby.  Damn.  That’s never a good sign…

I think that it’s fair to say that The Eve of the War came as a bit of a shock to some.  It was very different and brought us a whole new cast of characters – not all of whom made it into episode two.  It took us to the future, to the Age of the Vampires as promised by Wyndam and some timey-wimey stuff that still gives me indigestion.  We also got prophesies (with added nipple), a new vampire HQ and a new vampire.  A bad vampire.  Excellent.  (I don’t yay.)

It won’t be a great surprise to anyone that I liked Cutler.  Quite a lot.  Evil or at least probably evil, morally ambiguous, devious, a great line in sarcastic remarks and a bit pretty.  What’s not to love?  In the first episode he was pretty nasty but he had me from the moment he walked towards Stokers with that tiny, almost imperceptible, head toss at the sign.  You just knew that inside he was tutting.  He got most of the series’ best lines – but not all in the best episodes.

I’m still sticking to my plan to write these five posts without re-watching or looking things up or checking details. (BTW – please tell me if I do get something tragically wrong!)  What’s interesting about series four is that I’m not remembering it by episode, but by guest character and incident.  I may ponder more on this but I wonder if it’s a reflection on which parts of the overall story arc I felt most invested in.

There were – as is usually the case with Being Human – some cracking guest stars and non-regular characters.  I did rather like Fergus (which meant he was instantly doomed).  Regus I grew to love – especially once he sported his Team Edward T-shirt and his lunch fought back. Kirby was suitably creepy despite it still being a little vague quite how Future Eve got him back through someone else’s door.  In fact he was probably the creepiest of all the various creatures to appear in Being Human. (And that’s creepy for the right reasons, as opposed to skin creeping characters like Lloyd the tissue wielding techie)

I’m quite fond of Golda (UK Operations) with her concubines and limousines and human skin Filofax cover and especially her dislike of bunting.  Wise woman.  Human, cage, prosecco – what else do you need for a party?  Michaela and Allison were a little too caricatured for my taste but they did what they needed to well enough and shifted the plot along nicely.  In contrast Yvonne the succubus was a damn good turn by Selena Griffiths and yet again shows the depth of acting talent Being Human was always so good – and so lucky – at drawing in.

After all the hype the Old Ones rather sadly turned out to be all mouth and well-tailored trousers.  A fang short of a munch.  All that promise, all that impending threat and then – they’re here and they’re hungry.  Sadly that was about it and they damp squibbed through the last episode before being splattered into a haze of bargain vegetable oil.  Mr Snow is allowed to be a dishonourable exception, mainly for the flashback in which he literally took some poor sod’s guts for garters.  Oh, and for that conversation with a frantically blustering CutlerNickCutler  Such languid condescension, the poor boy wasn’t even deemed worthy of the energy it would take to be annoyed.  Also special mention of the scene in the corner of the Cafe on the Corner with Hal.  I’ve been watching you.  Mr Snow has obviously watching reruns of The Prisoner on his bed-sheet sized TV…

I have two episodes heading for a photo finish at the moment with Eve of the War giving them a decent chase in third.  I loved that first episode despite all the clunking and howlers. Toxic werewolf blood anyone?  It was just so… ballsy!  Other than that I’m trying to decide between Making History and The War Child.

The War Child had kick-ass Annie (at last) and medium to rare vampire as we found out what happens when they enter uninvited.  CrispyNickCutler.  Hasn’t that poor carpet suffered enough? Is there enough Shake ‘n’ Vac in the world?  (Or maybe some of that special undead stain remover Shake ‘n’ Vamp?) (Or its sister product just for dust – Stake ‘n’ Vac?) (Enough!)  It left us dangling on tenterhooks – if that’s even possible – with the teasingly tantalising glimpse of Mr Rook, the man in grey, and his archive…

Not to mention the absolute pièce de résistance – Toby blew up a baby!

Making History had flashbacks (I do love a flashback) and we got to see where Cutler came from. In vampire terms that is, not the actual gooseberry bush…    The cutting between the present and 1950 was beautifully done – and showed what had been learned from The Looking Glass.  Much like The Looking Glass it was also packed chock full of other plot.  Annie went to the future with Eve and saw the horrors that might be in store, Alex went on a date with Hal and saw the horrors etc etc – and Tom went to dinner.  With Merlot.  And with Cutler.  That scene was so well structured, Cutler surgically tearing into Tom’s confidence, tying his tie as if it were a noose and leaving him in pieces.  It was also brimming with fabulous lines – mostly Cutler’s – and every setting was perfectly chosen.  It was particularly well filmed – the cold grey light of the future, the slight sepia tint of the past, all contrasting beautifully with the clean bright colours of the bars and restaurants of the present.

I almost ended up tossing a coin but I went with my instincts and it’s going to be Making History.  Not in small part due to doomed Rachel’s very few words that have spawned a thousand fanfics and – let’s face it – a man who can dig a good grave without taking his waistcoat or tie off has to be useful to have around for something!  Although he does need a bit of a scrub down…

*tests bath water temperature with elbow and lathers up large fluffy sponge expectantly*

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So that’s my vote for my best series four episode – what’s yours?

The series four trailer – and a different feel to the promos from the first three with more action and less of the horror and darkness.  And now we know it concealed much more than it revealed!