Being Human: Daddy Ghoul

Hmmm, I think I forgot to write a review for last week's Being Human episode. Never mind.

Last week, a seemingly amnesic Herrick was back to bother our friendly foursome. And indeed it does appear that Herrick has forgotten all that he did as a vampire. But that doesn't mean he's all sweetness and light. He's still plotting behind the scenes, showing Nina the Box Tunnel 20 scrapbook that Mitchell had taken from Graham. Which led to Nina tipping off the police.

This week, after Annie almost catches Mitchell reading about the Bow Tunnel massacre, things head off in another direction as Annie spots something shocking in the obituaries. It appears George's father has died and so George decides to attend the Christian (not Jewish?) funeral. Well, he sort of hides behind a tree watching from a distance and in doing so meets his father doing the same. Of course, George immediately assumes this is George Sands Snr's ghost.

Was it stated where his parents are living and thus where George is from? I'm guessing they're from Bristol but, if so, why didn't George move away from there once he "died". I always assumed George still saw his parents, albeit only rarely (and certainly not during a full moon!), and they still thought he was alive but just going his own way. Considering he's technically considered dead, I wonder how George manages to get a job, rent a place, have a bank account, etc?

Part of the way through the episode - especially when it was raining and the legs of George's father were stopping the ground from getting wet - I realised that Sands Senior wasn't actually dead. Instead, it turns out he'd faked his death in a morbid way to get at his wife for leaving him for another man. Which, of course, meant that George's talk of ghosts, doors to the afterlife and howling at the moon reaffirmed his father's view that George had spent 3 years being treated for psychological problems.

The ending of this little diversion was a bit clichéd though. George Snr reveals to his cheating wife that he's alive and still loves her, she's unsure because he's so boring and unadventurous, the other man (George's old PE teacher) tells George's father to piss off, his father decks the lover and, lo and behold, suddenly his wife is all over him and sorry she ever left him. Everything sorted by a punch? Sounds like a superhero comic.

So, other than this weak, but slightly amusing, story with George and his parents, what else was going on? Well, after Nina's tip-off, a policewoman - Nancy "Drew" - comes round to the B&B to interview Mitchell. And here's where the two best scenes of the show occurred - both involving Herrick. Herrick's feast on a bloody tissue was strangely perverted but that bit in the bathroom as Herrick leans in to 'whisper' his secret to the policewoman was wonderfully tense and scary. A well shot scene with Herrick's mouth approaching Nancy's smooth and defenceless neck, the sound of blood rushing in the background, whilst we hope he doesn't feed on her like he did her tissue. Marvellous.

Thinking she's helping Mitchell out to come clean about Daisy (his partner in crime during the train massacre), Annie rentaghosts off to the police station to leave clues for Nancy to follow. Together with Herrick's gift of the scrapbook, it looks like Mitchell may be in a spot of trouble next week whilst Annie remains oblivious - and sadly underused in the show. Though her playing detective at least gives her something to do.

So, a bit of a weak episode this week although still interesting to watch. This season feels like it has concentrated on Mitchell's fall from grace (which actually happened in the last series) and obsessive fixations on the Box Tunnel 20 and the wolf-shaped bullet far too much. I'm guessing that won't be resolved until the end of the series in two weeks time.

Of course, then there's the Becoming Human webisodes. There's not really a lot to say about this other than to repeat that the shortness of each episode harms the storyline. It's difficult to get into when, before you know it, it's over. Anyway, we've discovered that Matt really liked Christa, that it looks like a man drowned Matt in the toilet, and that CCTV recordings leading towards the toilets may help identify the murderer. My bet (right from the off) is that it's the detention teacher.