BBC Shows

Aahh... the joys of digital television and On Demand. I love catching up on old shows that I missed due to being out of town or just gotten behind on such as Being Human or just the ones that I miss due to being on opposite of other shows that I like such as Rules of Engagement. Although, it is a little annoying in how some channels don't show up on the On Demand channels or just are absent for whatever reason such as CBS has the tired Two and a Half Men but not the superior How I Met Your Mother or Big Bang Theory.

In a small marathon system, I watched the last several episodes of the BBC show Being Human. The Sy-fy channel is developing an American version though I wonder why. If it was being developed for the major networks such as the CW I could see their concern. But, Sy-fy is already a niche channel and most that watch the station aren't really going to care about the pedigree of the actors and shows. I also wonder if it will follow the BBC scripts like NBC did with Coupling or just use it as a starting point? NBC showed that it is possible to recreate a show using the exact same scripts and still manage to produce a complete dud where the original sparked and sizzled.

The premise of the show was originally about three people with mental issues (a sex addict, agoraphobe, and a guy with anger management problems) sharing a house but changed to a supernatural show about a vampire, ghost, and a werewolf sharing a house. In the last few episodes, the werewolf George decides to move in with a girlfriend and her daughter though he hasn't told them about his problems. Meanwhile Mitchell is struggling with the role of leadership he has found himself as he tries to guide other vampires in giving up blood just as he has. This leaves the ghost Annie with the possibility of spending eternity alone as she is once again invisible to most humans. On top of this are the exterior pressures of Kemp, an elderly priest who heads an organization that has targeted them, and Lucy, the female doctor who is working for him but developing a relationship with Mitchell. The organization lures Nina, George's ex- who is also cursed with lycanthropy, with promises of a false cure in hopes to also get George.

Daylight savings time screws things up for George and he practically wolfs out at Parent's Night at his girlfriend's daughter's school. He realizes that his dreams of normalcy will never come true while he is cursed and he agrees to accompany Nina to the secret labs and be cured. The organization also promises Nina to secretly help her move on. Due to finding out more about Mitchell and his group of vampires and when and where they are holding their self-help group meetings, the organization plants bombs, killing all the vampires on site saving Mitchell. As Mitchell hunts the bombers, he discovers the betrayal of Lucy which sets him off on a killing spree. It all culminates with much bloodshed though Lucy and Kemp manage to escape. In a surprising twist, before he leaves, Kemp kills one of his own men in order for a door to the afterlife to be opened, pulling Annie through.

It ends with Nina, George, and Mitchell in a cabin trying to find clues to the whereabouts of Lucy and the priest when Lucy shows up, apologetic for her role, that she really did want to find a cure for lycanthropy. However, if Lucy could find them, is Kemp far behind? He shows up to kill Lucy but then out of the blue in a shockingly creepy scene, Annie blips in, grabs Kemp and takes him through the door of the afterlife while still alive! She then shows up on the television set and pretty much informs them that the waiting room of the afterlife is fairly terrible. It ends with them vowing to some way get Annie back. And, a ritual in a cemetery bringing back Herrick, the vampire adversary of the first season.

A nice season with the characters growing and suffering setbacks of their basic nature. Mitchell's devolvement is especially troubling in accepting him as a sympathetic character. He's akin to the person that is fine as long as he stays off drugs or stays on his proper medication, but his condition makes him a time-bomb waiting to go off. No matter his best intentions, eventually he's going to slip and kill someone. Knowing this should he be held accountable for those he killed? Kemp starts off as the typical holier than thou priest adversary in such shows, but we get a nice scene that explains what set him on this path, seeing vampires slaughter his wife and daughter. Now decades later, he has gone so far as to become a monster himself, valuing human life less than those he hunts. Although, in several scenes it's hard to take him as a credible physical threat considering his age.

In the future season, it would be nice to see an exploration of what other supernatural beings are out there other than just these three.

Good News: It appears that BBC America will soon be showing Law & Order: UK. I like the original and being in a setting like London sounds like an interesting variation and providing a look at a nuts and bolts side of culture and life of the UK that doesn't really get much inspection. It also has the beautiful Freema Agyeman of Doctor Who fame. On the flip side, the opening episode of Law & Order: Los Angeles was flat and dull despite having several actors that I like including the usual excellent Alfred Molina, Oded Fehr, and Jim Beaver (apparently part of his contract now is that his wardrobe must consist of a baseball cap and plaid shirt regardless of his role).

Strangely, BBC's Sherlock is coming to PBS as part of their Mystery Series on Oct. 24 instead of BBC America. As a big Sherlock Holmes fan it looks to be an interesting adaptation, seeing the fact that Holmes & Watson were not written as archaeological artifact but as being contemporary to the time of the original audience. Thus this adaptation gives viewers the chance to experience Holmes in much the same manner as original readers did, a compelling detective of contemporary times. I prefer my Holmes as a Victorian detective, but this move helps avoiding the trap of turning him into strictly a pastiche and capturing some of the original spirit of the characters. The trailer online definitely seems like an enjoyable show with great characters. It has to be truer to the characters than the Robert Downey Jr. movie was.