By John Keegan

This was a tricky episode for “Being Human”, because as much as it has set up a lot of important plot elements in the first half of the season, the job isn’t quite done.  There are a couple of items to cover with Josh and Aidan before the consequences can start piling up, and in the meantime, they had to find something for Sally to do.

It runs into a lot more standard territory than Sally’s own character arc has this season, but it still pertains to the overall theme of temptation.  If you were in love with someone you couldn’t be with in the living world, what happens when you can be reunited in the afterlife?  Sally’s mother dies, leaving a grieving husband behind, and immediately leaps into the arms of the man she apparently really loved.

Sally has other issues with her mother, of course, such as the fact that her mother sees Sally’s presence in the house where she died as a reminder of her failure to protect her daughter.  But it also puts a spin on the notion of the after-death happy family reunion.  Sally learns a lot of things about her mother that she never knew before, and it shatters her illusions.  It’s actually a good point: if we conceive that the individual psyche persists more or less intact into the afterlife, then we will react in human fashion to the truths that are ultimately revealed.  Enlightenment may not be so immediate!


Meanwhile, Josh finds out about Nora’s ex, and it doesn’t take long for him to figure out that the purebred twins have pulled Nora into their sphere of influence.  Even as he’s under investigation for the murder, thanks to his own wolf-driven actions in the previous episode, he conspires to make all his various problems go away.  Unfortunately, he does so without consulting Nora and involves the vampires, going around Aidan in the process.  Both will likely blow up in his face when the vampires come calling for the twins, thanks to Josh’s frame job.

Aidan is now well off the wagon, drinking heavily of human blood and even killing without much of an afterthought.  This leads to Aidan hallucinating Bishop, who proceeds to give voice to Aidan’s darker side.  (Who knew that Mark Pellegrino would find a career as an evil spirit guide?  Aidan and Sam Winchester should compare notes!)  Considering that Aidan has been trying to figure out what to do with Henry, his own “son”, it quickly becomes a matter of life and death.

Flashbacks remind us that Aidan has serious daddy issues when it comes to Bishop, and Head Bishop is all about giving voice to the suspicions that Aidan has about the consequences of not killing Henry.  And since he’s high as a kite on the blood, his judgment is seriously impaired.  Ironically, even though Head Bishop drives Aidan’s darker side, he’s actually right: it likely would have been better if Aidan had staked Henry and been done with it.

The other nice touch is how the writers manage to use Head Bishop to comment on some of the ridiculous elements of the premise.  The other “Supernatural” connection here is co-writer Jeremy Carver, who knows a little about inserting self-deprecating humor into an otherwise fairly serious show.  This episode finds just the right balance.

John Keegan is the Editor-in-Chief of Critical Myth, a partner site with SciFi Vision.