Grade: C+
Being Human is probably one of the most steady shows SyFy has ever produced. The only problem with that statement is that it is a show on SyFy & it seems to be plagued with a problem seen on most of their original produced shows, they tend to vary. Like many of their shows they will produce a knockout episode but they seem to always follow that up with a somewhat mediocre follow through. In season 1 we would see this happen in the episodes themselves. Start strong & go weak or start weak & end strong. In
“(I Loathe You) For Sentimental Reasons” we see our characters whine more than anything about the situation that they are stuck in. Wether it be Aiden dealing with Suren & her demands, Sally & her desire to be reborn & not be chased by the thing she let loose, or Josh & his constant desire to solve his & Nora’s wolf problems. Only in the last 15 minutes or so is when we finally see some action by our characters taken & if it wasn’t for Josh’s more precarious situation in the episode it would have felt like a wash leading up to it.
In the episode we find Josh motioning through his routine at the hospital when all of a sudden he is confronted by a girl who is asking him to help get her brother out of the psych ward. Josh, ever on the defense to only worry about himself, is quick to not help out until said girl calls him out as a wolf & proceeds to explain that both her & her brother are wolves & that night is a full moon. We soon find out that this brother & sister team are full blooded werewolves from a long existing clan & they want to help fund Josh in finding a cure. Soon we find out though that their motives are more geared toward themselves & finding a way to constantly stay a wolf. Aiden however is focused on dealing with Suren & her demands for a replacement for the services that Bishop provided. Mixed in are flashbacks to Aiden & his previous protege & how Suren used both of them for her gains. As Suren finds a mobster to help deal with the children of Bishop we see how Aiden is not willing to be side stepped by a protege for Suren again. Finally, Sally is dealing with her new friend, Zoe, in the newborn ward & her love problems.
In the end the episode really just works as a larger setup for development that anything coherent. While most television episodes work this line well it is here that we see
Being Human really fumble. It is obvious that what we are seeing is only to advance the story forward and while the actors try to make their characters actions interesting its really the layout of their story that really does them no justice. Sadly, these types of episode are needed & still a much better use of time unlike one shots seen in the previous season only to fill space after following the shorter first season storyline of the UK series.
