It may be true that there’s no geographical cure for a spiritual problem, but sometimes, a change of scenery can provide a welcome distraction, however temporary it may be. That proves to be the case on tonight’s Being Human, in which a road trip breathes a little new life into the proceedings, if only for one episode.
In the aftermath of Marcus’ attack on Emily, she and Josh need to blow town for a while. It seems Marcus is still holding a grudge over Josh’s violent freakout at the vampire nest a few weeks back, and Aidan fears he may strike again at any moment. Much to Josh’s chagrin, Emily will only agree to leave if he accompanies her to their parents’ house in Ithaca. Shortly after their arrival, Josh’s father asks that most embarrassing of parental questions: “How long have you thought you were a werewolf?”
It seems Emily has found Josh’s private journal and passed it on to their psychiatrist father. Josh claims he’s merely working on a graphic novel about a werewolf, which is kind of funny, but probably would have been even funnier had Sam Huntington not overplayed Josh’s whole stammering I-gotta-thinka-something explanation. He tends to do that, though. Somewhat surprisingly, the other Sam proves more adept at comedy when Aidan shows up at the door, and Josh’s mother invites him in for dinner.
Given the show’s haphazard approach to traditional vampire lore, I was amused to see my question about garlic answered this week. Yes, it does affect vampires, but it doesn’t kill them; it merely makes them vamp out at inconvenient moments. With no feverfew or mistletoe available, Aidan is forced to bathe in a tub full of chamomile teabags in order to dispel the ill effects of the offending herb. Of course, it’s more or less at this point that old friend Marcus arrives sans dinner invitation, prompting Josh to tell his father, “If he gets inside, you have to cut his head off.”
Sally is missing all the fun, having stayed back in Boston to continue tormenting Danny. She doesn’t exactly get the reaction she’s hoping for, however, as blowing out lamps and shattering beer bottles elicits only a shrugged “Is that all you got?” from her ex. Bridget proves to be a more receptive target, as Sally manipulates her hand to scrawl “HE KILLED ME” on a notepad. But again, there’s no satisfaction for our ghostly friend, as Danny breaks down and confesses, claiming Sally’s death was an accident, and Bridget is all too willing to forgive him. This turn of events bummed me out, not so much because I feel bad for Sally but because it means this storyline will continue to drag out for the foreseeable future. I’m not too surprised, however, since it doesn’t seem like the show has any idea what else to do with her.
On the plus side, the domestic comedy played pretty well this week, aside from my misgivings about Huntington’s overly broad reactions. At least Josh finally breaks down and has the “I’m really a werewolf” talk with his parents, which, as you know, is always awkward. Mythological developments are mostly on the back burner, although we do get a few hints that Marcus may not be Bishop’s favorite after all. There’s also an effectively creepy teaser for future developments, as Marcus drops in on some sort of Amish barn full of cocooned figures hanging from the rafters.
I’m not saying “True Colors” was any sort of huge creative leap forward for Being Human, but for the most part, it played to the show’s admittedly modest strengths. Faint praise, I know, but it’s the best I can do for now.
Stray observations:
- “It’s not your typical bachelor roofie den.” I’ll have to remember that one next time I’m expecting company.
- I didn’t recognize the actors playing Josh’s parents (and this show is stingy with acting credits), but they were nicely Stepford-ish without going overboard.
- Feverfew, in case you were wondering, is an herbal headache remedy available at your finer health food stores. I’ve never had the pleasure myself.