Review of Being Human ‘The Greater Good’

Bobby the werewolf (BBC)

SPOILERS: Do not read this if you have not seen Being Human ‘The Greater Good’

Hal sums it up best this week when he says ‘all we’re doing is marking time until the end’ because the truth is this episode felt more like time filler than anything else.

At the beginning of the episode we have three interesting characters and by the end they are all dead. Yes, death is a big part of the show but it felt like a lot of potential was extinguished with the demise of Crumb and Alan. It felt like any chances for their characters to develop and really come into their own were scuppered far too early on. I was looking forward to more nerdy-vampire shenanigans from the duo but Alan was staked while Crumb ended it all by drinking werewolf blood. It was all quite anticlimactic until the devil possessed Hal.

As this series only has six episodes compared to the eight instalments that made up the last one, the writers have to cover a lot of ground in a short space of time and yet nothing very significant or meaningful happened this week. The premise for this year is superb and there is a so much room to build up the rise of the devil story arc but this does not happen. While Eve and the impending vampire dystopia really drove the last series, it hasn’t happened this time around and I felt like this episode was a squandered opportunity.

The only real glimmer came from Bobby (Ricky Grover) the werewolf but then again he was more of a device to develop Tom’s character than anything else. It was clear that Tom built up his self-confidence and pride by showing Bobby the ropes of the hospitality industry. The burgeoning bromance really furthered Tom’s self-belief which the young werewolf has always been lacking, and was necessary after last week’s meltdown.

Bobby was a wonderful character and Grover played him well. He was endearing and sweet and the complete antithesis to Larry, who was about as pleasant as getting whiplash and oozed sleaze from every pore. As a viewer I find that even if the plot is stagnating, Tom seems to develop and grow as a character each week. Out of the trinity, he has been the most fleshed out and feels the least two-dimensional.

The other element of interest was in a possible vampire-ghost relationship between Alex and Hal, who have now admitted – if not explicitly – that there is something between them. Much like Annie and Mitchell, they are fated lovers who can never be together or can they? Damien Molony and Kate Bracken have great chemistry, with their lingering exchanged glances that captures something they cannot express in words. On a much more superficial level, they make an attractive pairing with her passing resemblance to Rachel McAdams and his dark brooding looks. Perhaps if this scene is anything to go by then fans of ‘Halex’ can breathe a sigh of relief, they may be dead but their blossoming romance isn’t.

This week’s instalment was poor, there were fleeting moments that lifted the episode. My favourite was Crumb dancing around in his underwear surrounded by corpses while Alan sat in chair wearing a hoodie and plastic crown. It was a tad surreal but things were far too serious and depressing for my liking. Then there was Rook and Hatch (better known as the devil) who were chronically underused. Both of them are such intriguing characters and are not featured nearly as much as they should be. As a viewer whenever either of them are on screen they have my undivided attention because they are so mesmerising.

The Greater Good has been the weakest episode of this series so far and I am desperately hoping that the writers can produce something awe-inspiring on which to end the show.

Next week on Being Human… Things are moving towards their conclusion with only a few episode left. ‘Lord Harry’ has now reverted and starts going on a killing spree and Alex starts to lose the faith.

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• Knowles2

  I think it a shame we lost three potentially great characters, I was kind of hoping we would see the beginning of a new pack form and go their separate ways, after they help our trio save the world at the end of the season from the Devil.

  I think it kind feels like the writers were told they were going to be cancelled half way through the season or half through writing this episode, so they wrote the ending to specifically to kill of all characters they wanted to introduce to being human world but knew they didn’t have time to complete their stories in six episodes so killed them all in this episode to give them more time to complete the devil storyline.

  This is what happens when you hand over the channel with great creative tv shows to an ITV executive that knows nothing but reality TV shows and boring dramas. I am deciding whether to watch in the Flesh or just ignore the series as I got a feeling it will not be renewed under current BBC three leadership.

• ConanTheBrightonian

  Yeah, tend to agree with that review it mirrors my thoughts. Also agree with ‘Knowles2′ in that it does seem that whilst writing this episode the creators, for whatever reason, lost interest in the series and decided to kill off the characters rather than developing them – one supporting character death a week is acceptable, but three was pushing it. A literary equivalent would be reading a thriller where the author lost interest and you come to: “Suddenly a volley of shots rang out and they all fell dead. The End.”

• http://www.facebook.com/people/Ty-Kendall/662755104 Ty Kendall

  Erm…..the devil didn’t possess Hal. It was his “vampire self” taking precedence over his personality. Hal has effectively split his own personality between his vampire half and the part of him that wants to lead a “normal life”. In recent episodes we have seen the beginnings of the return of “badass Hal” i.e. when he killed Larry the werewolf the other week. This episode saw his brief re-emergence and the inkling that Hal’s inner battle is being lost to his darker side.

  In fact, I think they kind of established that the devil is somewhat trapped in the body of the “lunatic” and he doesn’t really have the ability to possess people at the moment. He merely keeps talking them into suicide.

• http://www.facebook.com/people/Ty-Kendall/662755104 Ty Kendall

  Yes, you’re absolutely right, it did

• DisqustedofWB

  I’ve been very disappointed with this series, particularly after what came before. Not even sure if I will stay with it to the end.

• http://beautifulrailwaybridgeofthesilverytay.wordpress.com/ riggbeck

  The story arc is a bit lackadaisical. While I thoroughly enjoyed the foul-mouthed Lady Mary in last week’s episode, there’s not enough cranking up of tension as Hatch prepares to destroy the world. It’s as if he’s only a minor character.

  Profligate wastefulness in killing off three characters in this episode. I wanted to see more of Crumb and Bobby, though Alan was less interesting.

• davidinchelseama

  They MUST have realized they were cancelled after having already written the characters of Ian, Bobby and Alan. Sad the way they had to truncate the arcs of all three characters because of the show being cancelled. I really wanted Ian to redeem himself. His arc could have been amazing.

  Why the HELL did they cancel this excellent program? Fools…..