Besides delivering one of the longest (and funniest) titles of the season, this episode did everything that a fan of the American version of the show might have wanted. After a season of making minor revisions to the plot and characters threads of the first British series, the writers seemed to be delivering the exact same conclusion to this first season. And then, halfway through, they took a severe left turn.
Hopefully the other fans of the American version were as pleased as I was by that turn of events. During the first half of the episode, I was relatively certain that things were going to happen more or less as they did in the British first series finale. Aiden was restored more or less by his ex-lover’s blood, but they really set it up for Josh to rip Bishop apart. As much as they did a great job setting things up to be consistent with the American characterizations, it wasn’t anything new.
Having Josh sidelined in the basement, then, was a total shock. The Aiden/Bishop battle was fairly epic compared to anything we’ve seen on the British version, and it definitely set up some interesting tensions between Aiden and Sally. For just a moment, I thought Sally was going to kill Bishop herself. And that’s why that resolution to the problem was brilliant: it made Aiden a full participant in the resolution of his main plot thread, and also served to add to Sally’s characterization along the way.
Josh’s side of the story was a neat twist on what had been seen before, and makes me wonder if this is a sign of things to come during the fourth season of the British version. Nora’s infection came as one might have expected, when the scene unfolded, but I didn’t see the resolution to her pregnancy coming until it was all too obvious. It makes sense, actually, though I was very concerned that it would result in Nora’s death. I like that she survived, and I look forward to seeing more of her in the second season.
Speaking of which, the way this episode ended made it very clear that the American version will not be heading into a retread of the second series of the British original. As I’ve said before, I’m almost certain they stuck close to the British plot threads so that the finale would be that much more effective, and now they have little need to play that card. I’m genuinely excited to see what Aiden’s leadership position means in the long run, and just who “she” is!
When this series started, I was among the many who felt it was an unnecessary reboot of a solid, if flawed, British series. Now that I’ve seen how well the new version was crafted, essentially Americanizing certain concepts and updating/improving others, I’m happy to set those reservations aside. In fact, I’ll be so bold as to say that this version of “Being Human”, given the ending of the third British series, is the standard bearer for the franchise going forward. Who saw that coming?
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 4/4
Final Rating: 10/10
(Season 1 Final Average: 7.7)
