TV GUIDE: Weekend TV in Review: Fringe Exits, Being Human Returns, Walking Dead and More
Feb 24, 2012
by Matt Roush
... OH THE HUMANITY: There really is no point in comparing the BBC America and Syfy versions of Being Human any more. As the fourth season of the British original kicks off this weekend (Saturday, 9/8c), it quickly evolves into an entirely new show with an almost entirely different cast. It's as if Supernatural had decided to continue with a new set of Winchester brothers, or if The X-Files had gone on without Mulder. (Oh wait.) Maybe the Brits are simply better able to handle such radical transformations between seasons, given the number of times they've seen Doctor Who and his companions change over the years.
Human's wrenching dislocation began at the end of last season, as Mitchell the vampire (Aidan Turner) was staked to oblivion by his best friend/werewolf George (Russell Tovey) in a memorably traumatic act of defiance and mercy, after which it was pretty obvious things would never be the same in this supernatural household. Flash forward a few weeks as the new season begins, with much game-changing mayhem having occurred off-camera — which is, needless to say, less than satisfying, while also terribly unnerving. If that wasn't enough, the story also flashes forward 25 years to a post-apocalyptic future in which vampires rule the world, Terminator-style, and where a resistance movement appears to be beholden to a mysterious prophecy that has something to do with the magical offspring of George and his beloved Nina.
Back to the present, and let's just say Being Human is no longer merely the clever saga of a vampire, werewolf and a ghost (Lenora Crichlow as the larger-than-life-and-death Annie) co-existing in a B&B and yearning to be normal. The stakes, literally and figuratively, are much higher now, with the arrival of ancient vampires on the horizon and a newborn babe to protect as a full moon ominously looms. (This being a show that thankfully still has a sense of humor, there's a terrific joke involving a modified crib for a werewolf baby.)
The rebirth of Being Human involves bringing orphaned wolf-boy Tom (the amusing if often unintelligible Michael Socha) into this fractured family, and eventually welcoming a new hot vamp, Hal (Damien Molony), first shown living in a similar domestic situation as Annie-Mitchell-George used to enjoy, although there's no happily ever after for this threesome, either. In the early going of this new series, there's an awful lot of tragedy to process, but if you can get past all of what happened off camera between seasons, what's happening on camera is as powerfully, provocatively entertaining as ever...
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